<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="559" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/download-66.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-425261" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/download-66.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/download-66-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/download-66-129x90.jpg 129w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/download-66-768x537.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Workers from Mondi paper mill stand behind a fence in the town of Stamboliyski, Bulgaria. File photo. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov</figcaption></figure>



Feb 22 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;British packaging company Mondi&nbsp;MNDI.L&nbsp;said on Thursday that its customers, which include consumer goods companies and e-commerce retailers, have been reluctant to change to sustainable packaging due to cost considerations.



In recent years there has been a push to shift away from plastic packaging due to its negative impact on the environment, with companies seeking more sustainable ways to deliver goods.



&#8220;In the short term, we have seen the world naturally distracted by heightened geopolitical and macroeconomic risks, at times slowing down progress on key sustainability issues,&#8221; Mondi CEO Andrew King told analysts in a post-earnings call.



&#8220;We see this in the rate of adoption of some of the sustainable packaging solutions we have developed, where our customers and ultimately the end consumer have been reluctant to make the change due to cost considerations,&#8221; King added.



However, he added that he believed it to be more of a &#8220;cyclical phenomenon&#8221;.



For Mondi, which counts Unilever&nbsp;ULVR.L, Reckitt&nbsp;RKT.L&nbsp;and Tesco&nbsp;TSCO.L&nbsp;among its customers, 82% of its 2022 revenue came from packaging and paper products that are reusable, recyclable or compostable.



Mondi makes &#8216;EcoWicketBags&#8217; which are used to package diapers and toilet paper, as well as paper-based packaging for Reckitt&#8217;s Finish dishwasher tablets.



(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

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Mondi says customers reluctant to switch to sustainable packaging on cost concerns

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107350975-1703235128856-gettyimages-1245866118-70395549-820x547.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-456371" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107350975-1703235128856-gettyimages-1245866118-70395549-820x547.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107350975-1703235128856-gettyimages-1245866118-70395549-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107350975-1703235128856-gettyimages-1245866118-70395549-135x90.jpeg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107350975-1703235128856-gettyimages-1245866118-70395549-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107350975-1703235128856-gettyimages-1245866118-70395549-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107350975-1703235128856-gettyimages-1245866118-70395549-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">People shopping on Oxford Street in London. Picture date: Thursday December 29, 2022. (Photo by James Manning/PA Images via Getty Images) James Manning &#8211; Pa Images | Pa Images | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



LONDON — The U.K. economy slipped into a technical recession in the final quarter of last year, initial figures showed Thursday.



The Office for National Statistics said U.K. gross domestic product shrank by 0.3% in the final three months of the year, notching the second consecutive quarterly decline.



Though there is no official definition of a recession, two straight quarters of negative growth is widely considered a technical recession.



Economists polled by Reuters had produced a consensus forecast of -0.1% for the October to December period.



All three main sectors of the economy contracted in the fourth quarter, with the ONS noting declines of 0.2% in services, 1% in production and 1.3% in construction output.



Across the whole of 2023, the British GDP is estimated to have increased by just 0.1%, compared to 2022. For the month of December, output shrank by 0.1%.



U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt said that high inflation remains “the single biggest barrier to growth,” since it is forcing the Bank of England to keep interest rates firm and stymie economic growth.



“But there are signs the British economy is turning a corner; forecasters agree that growth will strengthen over the next few years, wages are rising faster than prices, mortgage rates are down and unemployment remains low,” he added.



Inflation has come down markedly in the U.K., but remains well above that of the country’s economic peers and the Bank of England’s 2% target, squeezing household finances. The headline consumer price index reading came in at 4% year-on-year in January.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shallow-and-short-lived-recession">‘Shallow and short-lived’ recession</h3>



Marcus Brookes, chief investment officer at Quilter Investors, said that the figures most likely indicate that the recession will be a “potentially shallow and short-lived one that may not reflect the true state of the economy,” which is set to experience a “muted recovery” throughout 2024.



“U.K. GDP contracting in both December and the fourth quarter of 2023 is mainly due to persistently high inflation, structural weaknesses in the labour market and low productivity growth, but also adverse weather conditions,” Brookes said via email.



“These factors affected the performance of the services and construction sectors, which are the main drivers of the U.K. economy.”



He noted that some of these hindrances are temporary and have already started to ease, with the inflation print of January undershooting forecasts for a reacceleration.



“Over the coming months, we expect inflation to fall, potentially easing the pressure on U.K. households, and supporting the recovery of the consumer-driven economy,” Brookes added.



“The key indicator to watch is inflation in the services sector, which accounts for the bulk of the UK’s economic activity and employment and reflects the strength of wage growth and consumer demand, which are crucial for the U.K.’s recovery.”



Neil Birrell, chief investment officer at Premier Miton Investors, said Thursday’s figure and the softer-than-expected inflation data “may give rise to some concern over economic strength in the coming year.”



“Most sectors of the economy were weak, but the optimists will point to the fact that there is plenty of scope to cut interest rates should the current trend in inflation and growth accelerate.”

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UK economy slipped into technical recession at the end of 2023

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107372713-1707821086281-gettyimages-1968040821-20240131-dsc_3484-820x547.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-456040" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107372713-1707821086281-gettyimages-1968040821-20240131-dsc_3484-820x547.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107372713-1707821086281-gettyimages-1968040821-20240131-dsc_3484-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107372713-1707821086281-gettyimages-1968040821-20240131-dsc_3484-135x90.jpeg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107372713-1707821086281-gettyimages-1968040821-20240131-dsc_3484-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107372713-1707821086281-gettyimages-1968040821-20240131-dsc_3484-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107372713-1707821086281-gettyimages-1968040821-20240131-dsc_3484-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Pro-EU demonstrators protest outside Parliament against Brexit on the fourth anniversary of Britain’s official departure from the European Union in London, United Kingdom on January 31, 2024. Future Publishing | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



LONDON — Post-Brexit Britain has “significantly underperformed” other advanced economies since the 2016 EU referendum, according to new analysis from Goldman Sachs, which aims to quantify the economic cost of the Leave vote.



In a note last week entitled “The Structural and Cyclical Costs of Brexit,” the Wall Street bank estimates that the U.K. economy grew 5% less over the past eight years than other comparable countries.



The true hit to the British economy could be anywhere from 4% to 8% of real gross domestic product (GDP), however, the bank said, acknowledging the difficulties of extracting the impact of Brexit from other simultaneous economic events including the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2022 energy crisis. Real GDP is a growth metric that has been adjusted for inflation.



Goldman Sachs attributed the economic shortfall to three key factors: reduced trade; weaker business investment; and labor shortages as a result of lower immigration from the EU.



The U.K. voted 52% to 48% to leave the EU on June 23, 2016, but officially exited the union on Jan. 31, 2020.



Over that period until today, U.K. goods trade has underperformed other advanced economies by around 15% since the Leave vote, according to the bank’s estimates, while business investment has fallen “notably short” of pre-referendum levels.



Meantime, immigration from the EU has fallen — a key pledge of the Vote Leave campaign — only to be replaced by a less economically active cohort of non-EU migrants, primarily students, the research said.



“Taken together, the evidence points to a significant long-run output cost of Brexit,” the report’s authors said.



The bank noted the reduction in trade was in line with expectations and the underperformance in investment was “more pronounced” that anticipated. However, it said the shifts in immigration patterns posed the most important cyclical repercussions for the U.K. economy — and inflation in particular.



“The post-Brexit change in immigration flows has reduced the elasticity of labor supply in the U.K., contributing to the post-pandemic surge in inflation and pointing to more cyclical labor market and inflation pressures going forward,” the report said.



U.K. real GDP per capita has barely risen above pre-Covid levels and currently stands 4% above the mid-2016 level, it said. That compares to 8% for the euro zone area and 15% for the U.S.



Meantime, the U.K. has recorded higher inflation over the period, with U.K. consumer prices rising 31% since mid-2016 compared with 27% in the U.S. and 24% in the euro zone, it added.



While the report noted that new non-EU trade agreements could potentially mitigate the costs of Brexit, estimates suggest that the benefit is likely to be small.



The British government estimates that its free trade agreement with Australia will boost U.K. GDP by 0.08% per year, while the economic impact of a new trade deal with Switzerland is unclear.



Meantime, the timelines for prospective new trade deals with major partners such as the U.S. and India have not yet been announced.

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Brexit Britain has ‘significantly underperformed’ other advanced economies, Goldman Sachs says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107365401-1706390936186-gettyimages-1958536825-AFP_34H26WJ-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-455790" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107365401-1706390936186-gettyimages-1958536825-AFP_34H26WJ-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107365401-1706390936186-gettyimages-1958536825-AFP_34H26WJ-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107365401-1706390936186-gettyimages-1958536825-AFP_34H26WJ-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107365401-1706390936186-gettyimages-1958536825-AFP_34H26WJ-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107365401-1706390936186-gettyimages-1958536825-AFP_34H26WJ-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107365401-1706390936186-gettyimages-1958536825-AFP_34H26WJ.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: via CNBC</figcaption></figure>



Inflation rose more than expected in January as stubbornly high shelter prices weighed on consumers, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.



The consumer price index, a broad-based measure of the prices shoppers face for goods and services across the economy, increased 0.3% for the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. On a 12-month basis, that came out to 3.1%, down from 3.4% in December.



Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a monthly increase of 0.2% and an annual gain of 2.9%.



Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core CPI accelerated 0.4% in January and was up 3.9% from a year ago, unchanged from December. The forecast had been for 0.3% and 3.7% respectively.



Shelter prices, which comprise about one-third of the CPI weighting, accounted for much of the increase. The index for that category rose 0.6% on the month, contributing more than two-thirds of the headline increase, the BLS said. On a 12-month basis, shelter increased 6%.



Food prices moved higher as well, up 0.4% on the month. Energy helped offset some of the increase, down 0.9% due largely to a 3.3% slide in gasoline prices.



Stock market futures slid sharply following the release. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were off more than 250 points and Treasury yields surged higher.



Even with the rise in prices, inflation-adjusted earnings increased 0.3% for the month. However, adjusted for the decline in the average workweek, real weekly earnings fell 0.3%. Real average hourly earnings rose 1.4% from a year ago.



“Inflation is generally moving in the right direction,” said Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant. “But it’s important to remember that a lower inflation rate does not mean that prices of most things are falling — rather, it simply means that prices are rising more slowly. Consumers are still feeling the pinch of higher prices for the things they buy most often.”



The release comes as Federal Reserve officials look to set the proper balance for monetary policy in 2024. Though financial markets have been looking for aggressive interest rate cuts, policymakers have been more cautious in their public statements, focusing on the need to let the data be their guide rather than preset expectations.



Fed officials expect inflation to recede back to their 2% annual target in large part because they think shelter prices will decelerate through the year. January’s increase could be problematic for a central bank looking to take its foot off the brake for monetary policy at its tightest in more than two decades.



“The much-anticipated CPI report is a disappointment for those who expected inflation to edge lower allowing the Fed to begin easing rates sooner rather than later,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial. “Across the board numbers were hotter than expected making certain that the Fed will need more data before initiating a rate cutting cycle.”



Generally, the inflation data had been encouraging, even if annual rates remain well above the Fed’s 2% target. Moreover, core inflation, which officials believe is a better guide of long-run trends, has been even more stubborn as housing costs have held higher than anticipated.



In recent days, policymakers including Chair Jerome Powell have said the broader strength of the U.S. economy gives the Fed more time to process data is it doesn’t have to worry about high rates crushing growth.



Market pricing prior to the CPI release indicated a tilt towards the first rate cut coming in May, with a likely total of five quarter-percentage point moves lower before the end of 2024, according to CME Group data. However, several Fed officials have said they think two or three cuts are more likely.



Outside of the jump in shelter costs, the rest of the inflation picture was a mixed bag.



Used vehicle prices declined 3.4%, apparel costs fell 0.7% and medical commodities declined 0.6%. Electricity costs rose 1.2% and airline fares increased 1.4%. At the grocery store, ham prices fell 3.1% and eggs jumped 3.4%.



This is breaking news. Please check back here for updates.

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Prices rose more than expected in January as US inflation won’t go away

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/download-71.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427693" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/download-71.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/download-71-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/download-71-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/download-71-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Gold bars are stacked in the safe deposit boxes room of the Pro Aurum gold house in Munich, Germany, August 14, 2019. REUTERS/Michael Dalder</figcaption></figure>



Feb 9 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Gold&nbsp;prices were subdued on Friday, hurt by a stronger dollar and higher Treasury yields, while investors looked ahead to next week&#8217;s U.S. inflation reading for clues on when the Federal Reserve could begin cutting interest rates.



Spot&nbsp;gold&nbsp;XAU=&nbsp;was down 0.2% to $2,029.80 per ounce at 1236 GMT, with prices down 0.5% over the week. U.S.&nbsp;gold&nbsp;futures&nbsp;GCcv1&nbsp;also lost 0.2% to $2,044.50 per ounce.



The dollar index&nbsp;.DXY&nbsp;remained on track for a weekly rise, making&nbsp;gold&nbsp;more expensive for holders of other currencies, while the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield&nbsp;US10YT=RR&nbsp;also edged higher.&nbsp;USD/US/



Jigar Trivedi, a senior analyst at Reliance Securities, said that Fed Chair Jerome Powell&#8217;s recent comments had reduced the probability of an interest rate cut in March, putting a cap on&nbsp;gold&nbsp;prices.



After several Fed policymakers this week said they would&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3ARR:333&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wait to cut</a>&nbsp;rates until they were more confident that inflation would fall to 2%, all eyes will be on Tuesday&#8217;s U.S. consumer price index report.



Traders now see about a 61% chance of an interest rate cut in May, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CME Fedwatch tool</a>. Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.



On the physical front, physical&nbsp;gold&nbsp;dealers in India charged premiums this week for the first time in four months, encouraged by a pick-up in purchases as local prices eased, while the approaching Lunar New Year festival boosted activity in China and elsewhere.



Elsewhere, palladium&nbsp;XPD=&nbsp;rose 0.3% to $889.62 per ounce and platinum&nbsp;XPT=&nbsp;was down 0.5% to $880.56. Prices of both metals were heading for a second weekly dip.



Prices of auto-catalyst metal palladium&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3ET0R9&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fell</a>&nbsp;below those of platinum for the first time since April 2018 on Thursday.



&#8220;Challenging supply backdrop, heavy platinum loadings and substitution away from palladium are boding well for platinum,&#8221; analysts at ANZ Research wrote in a note.



Spot silver&nbsp;XAG=&nbsp;rose 0.2% to $22.62.



Platinum-to-palladium ratio&nbsp;<a href="https://reut.rs/3weVJli" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://reut.rs/3weVJli</a>



Spot&nbsp;gold&nbsp;price in USD per oz&nbsp;<a href="https://reut.rs/3wdw8Jq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://reut.rs/3wdw8Jq</a>



(Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese and Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Mark Potter)

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Gold pressured by firm dollar, higher yields as traders seek Fed clues

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="728" height="485" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/VWGGGHRVGFNNBKICEKKB2G2CXI.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419501" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/VWGGGHRVGFNNBKICEKKB2G2CXI.jpg 728w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/VWGGGHRVGFNNBKICEKKB2G2CXI-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/VWGGGHRVGFNNBKICEKKB2G2CXI-135x90.jpg 135w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A bitcoin representation is seen in a file photo, in Paris, France, June 23, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/BTC.CM=/">Bitcoin</a>&nbsp;marched higher to end the week, with its price breaching the $47,000 level for the first time in almost two years.&nbsp;



On Friday the flagship cryptocurrency rose more than 4% to $47,307.00, according to Coin Metrics, a level not seen since March 2022.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/ETH.CM=/">Ether</a>&nbsp;advanced 3% to $2,511.75.&nbsp;



Bitcoin trading volume and sentiment have been suppressed over the past two weeks as investors worried about big outflows from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/">Grayscale Bitcoin ETF</a>&nbsp;and a deeper pullback in its price ahead of an expected rip higher this year. Nevertheless, bitcoin’s now up 10% for the week, while ether is on track for a 9% gain.



Positive sentiment appears to be returning now as the GBTC outflows have slowed. Additionally, momentum from the S&amp;P 500 briefly touching 5,000 Thursday for the first time ever may be spilling over to crypto.



“The recent price appreciation of bitcoin could be attributed to recent inflows into the spot ETFs, the prospect of the halving around the corner, which tends to generate optimism from investors as prices often shoot&nbsp; up after, and general market momentum,” said Sylvia Jablonski, CEO and chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs. “In the past, there have been parallels between bitcoin and tech stocks. Lower rates, falling inflation, earnings growth and indices like the S&amp;P 500 hitting groundbreaking levels certainly improve risk sentiment for the asset class.”



The move pulled crypto equities higher in premarket trading. Crypto exchange&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/COIN/">Coinbase</a>&nbsp;and bitcoin proxy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/MSTR/">Microstrategy</a>&nbsp;each gained more than 6%, while the biggest miners,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/RIOT/">Riot Platforms</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/MARA/">Marathon Digital</a>, rose 10% and 11%, respectively.



Bitcoin is nearing a key resistance level, which Fairlead Strategies earlier this week identified at $48,600. Hitting that level would open the door to a new all-time high, the firm said.



On Thursday, bitcoin&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/08/bitcoin-rises-above-45000-its-highest-level-in-almost-a-month.html">passed $45,000 for the first time since Jan. 12</a>, the day after U.S. bitcoin ETFs began trading. The cryptocurrency has struggled to maintain its pre-ETF highs but has avoided falling to as low as $36,000, as expected. It has not fallen below $39,000 in the past month.

FILE PHOTO: Bitcoin representation is seen in an illustration picture taken at La Maison du Bitcoin in Paris

Bitcoin breaks above $47,000 for the first time since March 2022

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107367289-17067309052024-01-31t193846z_1251250014_rc26t5afcbas_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-453156" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107367289-17067309052024-01-31t193846z_1251250014_rc26t5afcbas_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107367289-17067309052024-01-31t193846z_1251250014_rc26t5afcbas_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107367289-17067309052024-01-31t193846z_1251250014_rc26t5afcbas_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107367289-17067309052024-01-31t193846z_1251250014_rc26t5afcbas_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/107367289-17067309052024-01-31t193846z_1251250014_rc26t5afcbas_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed.jpeg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference following the release of the Fed’s interest rate policy decision at the Federal Reserve in Washington, U.S., January 31, 2024.  Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell vowed in an interview aired Sunday that the central bank will proceed carefully with interest rate cuts this year and likely will move at a considerably slower pace than the market expects.



In a wide-ranging interview with “60 Minutes” after last week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Powell expressed confidence in the economy, promised he wouldn’t be swayed by this year’s presidential election, and said the pain he feared from rate hikes never really materialized.



“With the economy strong like that, we feel like we can approach the question of when to begin to reduce interest rates carefully,” he told the news magazine’s Scott Pelley, according to a transcript CBS released.



“We want to see more evidence that inflation is moving sustainably down to 2%,” Powell added. “Our confidence is rising. We just want some more confidence before we take that very important step of beginning to cut interest rates.”



As he did during a Wednesday news conference, he said it’s unlikely the FOMC will make that first move in March, which futures markets had been anticipating.



The meeting concluded with the committee holding its benchmark borrowing rate in a range between 5.25%-5.5%. In its post-meeting statement, the committee said it would not be cutting “until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving” to the 2% target.



Markets have been making aggressive bets on how many cuts the Fed would make this year. Current pricing is pointing to five quarter-percentage points reductions, though Powell backed the FOMC’s December “dot plot” grid of individual members’ estimates that pointed to just three moves.



“We’ll update [the outlook] at the March meeting. I will say, though, nothing has happened in the meantime that would lead me to think that people would dramatically change their forecasts,” he said, noting that “the time is coming” for cuts but perhaps not yet.



Powell was broadly optimistic about the economy, noting that inflation, while still above the Fed’s target, has moderated while the jobs market is strong. Nonfarm payrolls accelerated by 353,000 in January, the Labor Department reported Friday. The biggest risk, he said, is likely from geopolitical events.



During the Fed’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in August 2022, in the early days of the rate-hike cycle, Powell warned that the policy tightening would cause “some pain.” However, that hasn’t been the case, he said in the “60 Minutes” interview.



“It really hasn’t happened. The economy has continued to grow strongly. Job creation has been high,” he said. “So really the kind of pain that I was worried about and so many others were, we haven’t had that. And that’s a really good thing. And, you know, we want that to continue.”



In another matter, Powell reiterated that neither he nor his colleagues would be swayed by political pressure during this presidential election year.



“We do not consider politics in our decisions. We never do. And we never will,” he said.

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Powell insists the Fed will move carefully on rate cuts, with probably fewer than the market expects

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107223161-1681220740794-gettyimages-1243887539-IMF_WORLD_ECO-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-451521" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107223161-1681220740794-gettyimages-1243887539-IMF_WORLD_ECO-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107223161-1681220740794-gettyimages-1243887539-IMF_WORLD_ECO-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107223161-1681220740794-gettyimages-1243887539-IMF_WORLD_ECO-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107223161-1681220740794-gettyimages-1243887539-IMF_WORLD_ECO-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107223161-1681220740794-gettyimages-1243887539-IMF_WORLD_ECO-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107223161-1681220740794-gettyimages-1243887539-IMF_WORLD_ECO.jpeg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: via CNBC</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG/WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) &#8211; The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday edged its forecast for global economic growth higher, upgrading the outlook for both the United States and China &#8211; the world&#8217;s two largest economies &#8211; and citing faster-than-expected easing of inflation.



The IMF&#8217;s chief economist, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, said the global lender&#8217;s updated World Economic Outlook showed that a &#8220;soft landing&#8221; was in sight, but overall growth and global trade still remained lower than the historical average. However the fund downgraded its Sub-Saharan Africa forecast on subpar growth in Nigeria and South Africa, the region&#8217;s largest economies.



&#8220;The global economy continues to display&nbsp;remarkable&nbsp;resilience, with inflation declining steadily and growth holding up. The chance of a &#8216;soft landing&#8217; has increased,&#8221;&nbsp;Gourinchas&nbsp;told reporters in Johannesburg, adding, &#8220;We are very far from a global recession scenario.&#8221;



But he cautioned that the base of&nbsp;expansion&nbsp;was slow and risks remained, including geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and attacks in the Red Sea that could disrupt commodity prices and supply chains.



Delays in announced fiscal consolidation in what Gourinchas called &#8220;the biggest global election year in history&#8221; could boost economic activity but might also spur inflation, he added.



The IMF said the improved outlook was supported by stronger private and public spending despite tight monetary conditions, as well as increased labor force participation, mended supply chains and cheaper energy and commodity prices.



The IMF forecast global growth of 3.1% in 2024, up two-tenths of a percentage point from its October forecast, and said it expected unchanged growth of 3.2% in 2025. The historical average for the 2000-2019 period was 3.8%.



Global trade was expected to expand by&nbsp;3.3% in 2024 and 3.6% in 2025, well below the historical average of 4.9%, with gains weighed down by&nbsp;thousands of fresh trade restrictions.



The IMF stuck with its October forecast for headline inflation of 5.8% for 2024, but lowered the 2025 forecast to 4.4% from 4.6% in October. Excluding Argentina, which has seen inflation spike, global headline inflation would be lower, Gourinchas said.



Advanced economies should see average inflation of 2.6%, down four-tenths of a percentage point from the October forecast, with inflation set to reach central bank targets of 2% in 2025. By contrast, inflation would average 8.1% in emerging market and developing economies in 2024, before easing to 6% in 2025.



The IMF said average oil prices would drop 2.3% in 2024, versus the 0.7% decline it had predicted in October, and said prices were expected to drop 4.8% in 2025.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-red-sea-attacks">RED SEA ATTACKS</h2>



&#8220;Staying on the path to a soft landing will not be easy,&#8221; Gourinchas said, noting that&nbsp;new commodity price spikes from geopolitical shocks, including&nbsp;continued attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, could prolong tight monetary conditions.



Gourinchas told reporters the IMF was watching developments in the Middle East closely, but the broader economic impact&nbsp;appeared&nbsp;&#8220;relatively limited&#8221;&nbsp;as of now.



&#8220;It doesn&#8217;t seem to represent, as of now, a major source of potentially reigniting supply-side inflation,&#8221; he&nbsp;said.



The United States got one of the biggest upgrades in the January update of the IMF outlook, with its GDP now forecast to expand by 2.1% in 2024 versus the 1.5% forecast in October. Growth was expected to ease to 1.7% in 2025.



Gourinchas credited fiscal support and consumer spending for the upgrade, but said the IMF had&nbsp;warned&nbsp;Washington that some of its subsidies from domestic producers and other industrial policies could violate global trade rules.



The euro area got a downgrade, and was now expected to grow just 0.9% in 2024 and 1.7% in 2025, with the biggest European economy &#8211; Germany &#8211; expected to see minimal GDP growth of 0.5% in 2024 instead of the 0.9% forecast in October.



China&#8217;s GDP was expected to grow by 4.6% in 2024, an upward revision of four-tenths of a percentage point from October, and 4.1% in 2025. Gourinchas said the boost reflected significant fiscal support from the authorities, and a less-severe-than-expected slowdown stemming from the property sector.



The U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England were expected to&nbsp;start lowering interest rates gradually in the second half of 2024, Gourinchas said, adding, &#8220;We are not quite there yet.&#8221;



The Bank of Japan was expected to maintain low interest rates, and that was &#8220;appropriate,&#8221; but the IMF had told it to be ready to raise rates if inflation spiked, he said.



Gourinchas added that markets had been &#8220;excessively optimistic&#8221; on the prospects for early interest rate cuts by major central banks, and a repricing could increase long-term interest rates and trigger more rapid fiscal consolidation that would weigh on growth prospects.



Emerging market and developing economies&nbsp;were expected to grow by&nbsp;4.1% in 2024, with&nbsp;emerging&nbsp;and developing Europe getting an upgrade due to&nbsp;stronger-than-expected growth in Russia on the back of&nbsp;military spending for the war in Ukraine.



Russia&#8217;s GDP was expected to grow 2.6% in 2024, 1.5 percentage points more than expected in October, with growth seen easing to 1.1% in 2025. The IMF said there could be further revisions since the numbers were preliminary and there were questions about the extent of Russia&#8217;s fiscal stimulus.



Negative growth in Argentina depressed the forecast for the Latin America and Caribbean region, with growth seen dropping to 1.9% in 2024, four-tenths of a percentage point lower than in October. Growth should edge higher to 2.5% in 2025, the IMF said.



Gourinchas said the global outlook reflected more balanced upside and downside risks, with the risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East offset by the prospect that lower fuel prices could help inflation fall faster than expected.



&#8220;We see them as broadly balanced at this point,&#8221; he said, noting that a lot of the downside risks &#8211; especially with respect to disinflation &#8211; seen a year ago had not materialized.



(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Paul Simao)

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IMF lifts 2024 global growth outlook, lowers Sub-Saharan Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107355390-1704724879173-gettyimages-1896093454-vcg111472304231-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-450070" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107355390-1704724879173-gettyimages-1896093454-vcg111472304231-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107355390-1704724879173-gettyimages-1896093454-vcg111472304231-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107355390-1704724879173-gettyimages-1896093454-vcg111472304231-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107355390-1704724879173-gettyimages-1896093454-vcg111472304231-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107355390-1704724879173-gettyimages-1896093454-vcg111472304231.jpeg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">SUIXI, CHINA &#8211; DECEMBER 30: An employee works on the production line of aluminum foil at a workshop of Anhui Limu New Material Technology Co., Ltd on December 30, 2023 in Suixi County, Huaibei City, Anhui Province of China. (Photo by Li Xin/VCG via Getty Images) Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Global commodity markets are in a “super squeeze” amid supply disruptions and lack of investment — and it’s only going to get worse as geopolitical and climate risks exacerbate the situation, HSBC said.



“For some time now we have described global commodity markets as being in a ‘super-squeeze,’” its chief economist Paul Bloxham told CNBC.



A commodity “super squeeze” is denoted by higher prices driven by supply constraints more than a robust growth in demand, he explained.



“If it’s a supply constraint that’s driving high commodity prices, it’s a very different story for global growth,” said via Zoom. Higher prices as a result of a super squeeze are “not as positive.”



“We see the deeper ‘super-squeeze’ factors on the supply-side as still set to play a key role in keeping commodity prices elevated,” he said, outlining factors like political uncertainties, climate change and the lack of investments into the green energy transition.



Geopolitical risks include the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza and the Ukraine war, which have hampered global trade, as seen in shipping disruptions from the recent Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.



Another reason is climate change, which disrupts supply chains as well as commodities supply, especially in the agricultural space.



“The super squeeze could be deeper, or more prolonged if geopolitical, climate change or energy transition related supply disruptions are larger than expected,” he added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lack-of-investments"><a></a>Lack of investments</h2>



The world’s pursuit of a net-zero carbon future is fueling demand for energy transition metals such as copper and nickel, Bloxham pointed out.



However, there are insufficient investments allocated to procuring these critical minerals, leading to a sharper supply squeeze on energy transition metals — in particular copper, aluminum and nickel, he said.



As energy transition ramps up, markets could be looking at a shortage of a slew of metals like graphite, cobalt, copper, nickel and lithium in the next decade, the Energy Transitions Commission said in a report in July.



At the recent COP28 climate change conference, more than 60 countries backed a plan to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, in what is largely deemed as a step forward for energy transition and a further boost in demand for metals required for that transition. 



“Large-scale mining projects can take 15-20 years, and the last decade has seen a lack of investment in exploration and production for key energy transition materials,” the report said.



Annual capital investments in these metals averaged $45 billion in the last two decades, and must rise to around $70 billion each year through to 2030 to ensure an ample stream of supply, according to the ETC report.



Without more investment in new capacities, supply will be constrained, HSBC’s Bloxham said, adding that “for any given amount of demand,” it should be expected that commodity prices will stay more elevated than in the past.



“That seems to be playing out across many of the commodities at the moment.”



Technology could also be a gamechanger if a development came along and made it much easier to extract the metals used in the battery space, Bloxham added.



He did not say how long it will take global commodity markets to move out of the squeeze, but one way out of it — which would also push commodity prices lower — is a “bigger and deeper [economic] downturn globally,” he said.



“Commodities are notoriously volatile asset classes, with a long history that is prone to a short squeeze and the current landscape points to more of the same,” said Brian Luke, senior director and head of commodities at S&amp;P Dow Jones Indices. He highlighted that extreme weather events and geopolitics have also impacted the agricultural and energy commodity baskets.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Metals most impacted</h2>



Analysts say metals will likely see the most upside.



Bloxham noted that aside from clean energy metals, iron ore was also on his list due to falling inventory and a lack of investments into expanding capacity.&nbsp;



Iron ore has seen a price jump of over 24% in the last year, according to data from FactSet. The benchmark 62%-grade iron ore last traded at $135.48 per ton.



“The reason why [iron ore] has a sudden squeeze-up is because inventory has been very low,”&nbsp;said Bank of America Securities’ head of Asia -Pacific basic materials, Matty Zhao.



She noted that in spite of China’s property crisis, steel production has continued, fueling demand for iron ore and coking coal, which are integral to steelmaking.



China, which makes around 55% of the world’s steel, produced 874.7 million tons of steel in the first 10 months of 2023 — up 1.4% across the same period in 2022.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>What squeeze?</h2>



While risks remain, one analyst is of the view that commodity markets are still “adequately supplied” for the most part.



“The commodity markets are currently focused on slumping demand due to the sluggish global economy. As such, there’s not too much concern about supplies,” said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at financial services firm StoneX.



Oil, for one, saw an increase in global oil inventories in 2023.



Some are still hoping that a rebound in Chinese demand will help.



“A resurgence from Asia will go a long way in determining if commodities will have a breakout year,” said S&amp;P’s Luke, adding that 2023 saw a year of unfulfilled demand from China which weighed heavily on commodity markets.&nbsp;

107355390-1704724879173-gettyimages-1896093454-vcg111472304231

Commodity markets are in a ‘super squeeze’ — and higher prices could be here to stay

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107353683-1704290729465-gettyimages-1825446250-cfoto-chinasto231205_npegz-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-449191" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107353683-1704290729465-gettyimages-1825446250-cfoto-chinasto231205_npegz-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107353683-1704290729465-gettyimages-1825446250-cfoto-chinasto231205_npegz-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107353683-1704290729465-gettyimages-1825446250-cfoto-chinasto231205_npegz-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107353683-1704290729465-gettyimages-1825446250-cfoto-chinasto231205_npegz-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107353683-1704290729465-gettyimages-1825446250-cfoto-chinasto231205_npegz.jpeg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A securities business hall in Fuyang, China, in December 2023. Costfoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



China is considering a rescue package backed by offshore money to stave off a slump in its struggling stock markets, according to Bloomberg News.



The report, citing people familiar with the matter, said Chinese authorities are aiming to get about 2 trillion yuan ($278 billion), primarily through offshore accounts of Chinese state-owned companies to help stabilize the market by purchasing stocks onshore through Hong Kong markets.



According to Bloomberg, Chinese policymakers have also put aside 300 billion yuan of local funds that would be used to invest into onshore shares through state-owned financial firms China Securities Finance Corp. or Central Huijin Investment Ltd.



Mainland China’s CSI 300 index slid 11.4% last year, clocking its third straight year of falls. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell nearly 14% in 2023, making it the worst performing major Asian stock market.



The Bloomberg report comes a day after Chinese Premier Li Qiang said during a state council meeting the country will be rolling out measures to stabilize its stock markets.



“We must take more powerful and effective measures to stabilize the market and confidence,” Li said, according to state media.

107353683-1704290729465-gettyimages-1825446250-cfoto-chinasto231205_npegz

China is weighing measures to prop up its stock markets, could reportedly mobilize $278 billion

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107355902-1704799006982-gettyimages-1862396365-li1_5971-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-444613" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107355902-1704799006982-gettyimages-1862396365-li1_5971-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107355902-1704799006982-gettyimages-1862396365-li1_5971-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107355902-1704799006982-gettyimages-1862396365-li1_5971-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107355902-1704799006982-gettyimages-1862396365-li1_5971-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107355902-1704799006982-gettyimages-1862396365-li1_5971.jpeg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">PARIS, FRANCE &#8211; DECEMBER 20: French Education Minister Gabriel Attal during the weekly cabinet meeting at the presidential Elysee Palace on December 20 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Christian Liewig &#8211; Corbis/Getty Images) Christian Liewig &#8211; Corbis | Corbis News | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday named Gabriel Attal as the country’s new prime minister, as he seeks to set a fresh course ahead of the summer’s European Union elections.



Attal, the current education minister, will become the youngest person to occupy France’s second-highest office at 34 years old.



It follows the apparently reluctant resignation of Elisabeth Borne on Monday afternoon, who said in a letter that she had been informed it was Macron’s wish. Borne said it was “more necessary than ever to continue the reforms” being carried out by the government.



In France, the prime minister leads the government and is appointed by, but cannot be directly dismissed by, the president.



Macron and Borne struggled through a turbulent 2023, with the government narrowly avoiding being toppled amid lawmaker and public opposition to its move to raise the retirement age.



The government suffered another blow in December, when an initial draft of an immigration bill seen as a signature Macron policy was voted down. It eventually passed after it was redrafted to become more hardline.



Macron’s personal disapproval rating is currently 68%, according to a Politico aggregate of polls.



Ensemble, a liberal coalition comprising Macron’s Renaissance party, is trailing both the far-right National Rally and left-wing New Ecological and Social People’s Union.



Attal, a close ally of Macron, is the most popular government minister, polls suggest. He will be the first openly gay prime minister of France.



“I know I can count on your energy and your commitment to implement the rearmament and regeneration project that I announced,” Macron said on X, formerly Twitter, addressing Attal.



The political move comes ahead of elections for the European Parliament in June, in which Renaissance is seeking to avoid an embarrassing blow given its series of political controversies.



The choice of the relatively junior Attal, rather than one of several more senior ministers who were reportedly vying for the role, was likely an effort to avoid infighting within the party ahead of the elections, political consultant Julien Hoez told CNBC.



“There have been many rumors of friction between Macron and Borne, with Borne resistant to be seen as the sacrificial lamb fronting the government’s less popular positions,” Hoez said by phone.



“With all the drama of last year, the riots that were never properly responded to, the immigration law fiasco, the pension reform, Macron likely thought the time had come to move on and provide a palate cleanser.”



“Attal is reasonably well known, with a reputation for working hard. But overall policy is not going to change much from Macron’s existing agenda,” he added.

107355902-1704799006982-gettyimages-1862396365-li1_5971

Gabriel Attal becomes France’s youngest prime minister in modern history

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="678" height="452" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/images-4.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-444190" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/images-4.jpeg 678w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/images-4-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/images-4-135x90.jpeg 135w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A screen displaying an advertisement for iPhone 11 Pro is seen outside an Apple store in Beijing, China October 31, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



BEIJING, Jan 8 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Apple&nbsp;AAPL.O&#8217;s iPhone sales in China dropped by 30% in the first week of 2024, Jefferies analysts said in a note, adding to signs of growing competitive pressures from domestic rivals such as Huawei&nbsp;HWT.UL&nbsp;for the U.S. tech giant.



The decline in&nbsp;Apple&#8217;s sales was the primary catalyst for an overall double-digit drop in China smartphone shipments for the first week, according to a note the brokerage published on Sunday. Other Android brands and Huawei achieved relatively flat growth year-over-year during this period, the note said.



This decrease in Apple&#8217;s sales took place despite aggressive discounting of multiple iPhone models through major Chinese online marketplaces, according to the research note. For example, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max received a 16% price reduction on the e-commerce platform Pinduoduo in the first week of 2024.



The 30% drop represents an acceleration from the 3% year-over-year decline the U.S. company saw for all of 2023 in its third-largest market, Jefferies said, adding that the brokerage derived this from its own market tracking. Specifically, the 3% decline in 2023 equated to a 0.4% decrease in&nbsp;Apple&#8217;s market share.



Jefferies analysts said&nbsp;Apple&#8217;s decline is largely attributed to competitive pressures from Chinese rivals, especially Huawei, which launched its Mate 60 series of phones in August last year.



Apple&nbsp;and Huawei did not immediately respond to requests for comment.



The Mate 60 line is widely viewed as marking Huawei&#8217;s comeback to the high-end smartphone market after years of U.S. sanctions that had previously hampered its progress.



For the final quarter of 2023, Huawei&#8217;s share in the Chinese smartphone market rose by about 6%, according to the note.



According to the Jefferies analysts,&nbsp;Apple&nbsp;will likely face more competitive pressure from domestic rivals throughout 2024. Their forecast predicts&nbsp;Apple&#8217;s shipment volumes will continue declining by double digits in 2024, while Huawei is expected to continue gaining market share.



Specifically, they estimate that Huawei will ship approximately 64 million smartphones worldwide in 2024 &#8211; up substantially from the estimated less than 35 million shipped in 2023.



Following a years-long slump, the Chinese smartphone market is poised for a rebound other analysts have forecasted, with research firm IDC predicting unspecified year-on-year sales growth in the fourth quarter after ten consecutive quarters of falling shipments.



(Reporting by Yelin Mo and Brenda Goh, Editing by Louise Heavens)

images (4)

Apple iPhone sales in China fall 30% in first week of 2024 – Jefferies

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107354239-1704378066799-gettyimages-1773121742-js1_7395_t864nkzd-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-443136" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107354239-1704378066799-gettyimages-1773121742-js1_7395_t864nkzd-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107354239-1704378066799-gettyimages-1773121742-js1_7395_t864nkzd-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107354239-1704378066799-gettyimages-1773121742-js1_7395_t864nkzd-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107354239-1704378066799-gettyimages-1773121742-js1_7395_t864nkzd-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107354239-1704378066799-gettyimages-1773121742-js1_7395_t864nkzd-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107354239-1704378066799-gettyimages-1773121742-js1_7395_t864nkzd.jpeg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A now hiring sign is posted in front of a U-Haul rental center on November 03, 2023 in San Rafael, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



When the December jobs report is released Friday morning, markets will be looking for a number that hits a sweet spot between not so robust as to trigger more interest rate hikes and not so slow as to raise worries about the economy.



In market jargon, that quest for the middle is sometimes referred to as a “Goldilocks” number — not too hot, not too cold — that can be difficult to find.



But in this case, the good news is that the range looks to be pretty wide with a higher probability of good news than bad.



While the Dow Jones estimate is for a nonfarm payrolls gain of 170,000, Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Financial, said the acceptable range is really something like 100,000-250,000.



“I just feel like we have a much better receptivity to good news being good news now that we know that that’s not going to induce another rate hike,” Hogan said. “It’s just going to push off a rate cut.”



As things stand, markets figure the Federal Reserve is done hiking rates and could start cutting as early as March, eventually lopping off 1.5 percentage points from its benchmark rate by the end of 2024. Recent news coming out of the Fed is pushing back at least a little on that anticipated trajectory, and a strong jobs number could dampen the likelihood of policy easing that quickly.



“If we were to get above [250,000], then people might look at that and say we have to cancel March as a potential rate cut and maybe take one off the table for this year,” Hogan said. “Frankly, we know we’re at a place now where the Fed is done raising rates. So if that’s the case, clearly good news could be good news. It’s just how good the news could be before you get concerned that some of the hope for rate cuts might get pushed out into the back half of the year.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-high-hopes-for-cuts"><a></a>High hopes for cuts</h2>



Markets have gotten off to a rocky start in the new year as rate-sensitive Big Tech stocks have lagged. Traders are anticipating that the Fed will ease up on monetary policy, though such an aggressive schedule of cuts could imply something more than winning the battle against inflation and instead may infer economic weakness that forces the central bank’s hand.



Hogan said investors should be taking that into consideration when thinking about the impact of lower rates.



“This is a market that’s gotten itself a little jazzed up about rate cuts and when they’re going to happen,” he said. “People need to focus on why they’re going to happen.”



“If the wheels are coming off the economic cart and the Fed has to rush in to stimulate that, that’s bad rate cuts, right?” he added. “The good rate cuts are if the path of inflation continues toward the Fed’s target. That’s a good rate cut. So if that doesn’t happen until the second half, I’m fine with that.”



As usual, markets will be looking at more than the headline payrolls number for the health of the labor market.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-digging-through-details"><a></a>Digging through details</h2>



Wages have been a concern as an inflation component. The expectation for average hourly earnings is a 12-month growth rate of 3.9%. If that proves accurate, it will be the first time wage gains come in under 4% since mid-2021.



The unemployment rate is expected to tick up to 3.8%, which will still keep it below 4% for 23 straight months.



“The overall picture is one in which the labor market is gradually decelerating in a very orderly fashion,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at online jobs marketplace ZipRecruiter. “I expect December to continue the trend of just gradual cooling to around 150,000 [new jobs], and possibly a small uptick in unemployment because so many people have been pouring into the workforce.”



The labor force grew by about 3.3 million in 2023 through November, though the trend has had little impact on the unemployment rate, which was up just 0.1 percentage point from the same month in 2022.



However, Pollak noted that the hiring rate is still below where it was prior to the Covid pandemic. The quits rate, a Labor Department measure that is looked at as a sign of worker confidence in finding new employment, has tumbled to 2.2% after peaking at 3% during the so-called Great Resignation in 2021 and 2022.



The jobs picture overall has shifted since then, with the once-hot tech sector now lagging in terms of job openings and health care taking the lead, according to Nick Bunker, economic research director at the Indeed Hiring Lab.



“We’re seeing a labor market that is not as tight and as hot as what we saw the last couple years,” Bunker said. “But it’s got into a groove that seems more sustainable.”

107354239-1704378066799-gettyimages-1773121742-js1_7395_t864nkzd

Friday’s jobs report will be a big signal for a market looking for good news

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GettyImages-1319228121-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-420940" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GettyImages-1319228121-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GettyImages-1319228121-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GettyImages-1319228121-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GettyImages-1319228121-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GettyImages-1319228121-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GettyImages-1319228121-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">China&#8217;s national flag in Hong Kong. Photographer: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg</figcaption></figure>



BEIJING, Dec 21 (Reuters) &#8211; China, the world&#8217;s top processor of rare earths, on Thursday banned the export of technology to extract and separate the strategic metals, in a further step towards protecting its dominance in several strategic metals.



The commerce ministry sought public opinion last December on the potential move to add the technology to its &#8220;Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited and Restricted from Export&#8221;.



It also banned the export of production technology for rare earth metals and alloy materials as well as technology to prepare some rare earth magnets.



The catalogue&#8217;s stated aims include protecting national security and public interest.



China has significantly tightened rules guiding exports of several metals this year, in an escalating battle with the West over control of critical minerals.



It introduced export permits for chipmaking materials gallium and germanium in August, followed by similar requirements for several types of graphite since Dec. 1.



The move to protect its rare earth technology comes as Europe and the United States scramble to wean themselves off rare earths from China, which accounts for 90% of global refined output.



Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets for use in electric vehicles, wind turbines and electronics.



China has mastered the solvent extraction process to refine the strategic minerals, which Western rare earth companies have struggled to deploy due to technical complexities and pollution concerns.



It is not clear to what extent the technology is actually being exported. China has discouraged its export since 2007, said a rare earths analyst, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the topic.



&#8220;Other countries like the U.S., Japan and France all have the separation technology but China has the top efficiency and cost advantage,&#8221; he said. (Reporting by Siyi Liu, Dominique Patton and Beijing newsroom; editing by Toby Chopra, Jason Neely, Kirsten Donovan and Tomasz Janowski)

Chinese National Flag

China bans export of rare earth processing tech over national security

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Global-banks-see-no-recession-US-companies-are-more-circumspect-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-438421" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Global-banks-see-no-recession-US-companies-are-more-circumspect-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Global-banks-see-no-recession-US-companies-are-more-circumspect-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Global-banks-see-no-recession-US-companies-are-more-circumspect-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Global-banks-see-no-recession-US-companies-are-more-circumspect-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Global-banks-see-no-recession-US-companies-are-more-circumspect-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Global-banks-see-no-recession-US-companies-are-more-circumspect-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Wall Street sign is pictured at the New York Stock exchange (NYSE) in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., March 9, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



SINGAPORE, Dec 20 (Reuters) &#8211; Heading into 2024, analysts say the U.S. recession they&#8217;d been forecasting for two years isn&#8217;t coming anymore. Everyone else, from companies to investors, is still bracing for a slowdown caused by tepid consumer demand.



Dissonance between the habitually bullish investment bank analysts and the more circumspect money managers is not new. What&#8217;s different this time is the level of prudence and caution from some top companies as they outline their plans for next year.



Real money managers are in no doubt about which side to trust. After months of being wrong footed, sell-side analysts are a bit too bullish about growth prospects, Fed rate cuts and a consumption recovery, they say.



&#8220;Take a grain of salt maybe to measuring the efficacy of some of these sell-side forecasts,&#8221; says Patrick McDonough, a portfolio manager for PGIM Quantitative Solutions. &#8220;I would be a little bit more on the side of the companies.



Consensus forecasts from major banks, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Barclays, are for global growth to be constrained in 2024 by elevated interest rates, pricier oil and a weakened China, but with low odds for a recession. A year ago, many banks were forecasting a U.S. recession.



Businesses are sounding more grim than they did last year. In its collection of management commentary from 150 earnings calls in the third-quarter reporting season, Deutsche Bank last month said companies broadly characterized demand as being somewhat weak, but not alarmingly so. Companies have continued to cut inventories as they adjust to sluggish demand for goods.



The words used by companies to describe demand included soft, sluggish, slow, lackluster, choppy, muted, constrained, challenging, weak, pressured and uneven, Deutsche said.



Retailer Walmart said earlier this month that while it has been surprised by the resilience of the consumer this year in the face of rising prices, that behaviour was changing and it was turning cautious.



Walmart&#8217;s chief financial officer John David Rainey told a Morgan Stanley consumer and retail conference earlier this month the firm wasn&#8217;t trying to ring an alarm bell, but that caution was &#8220;certainly a departure from what we saw in the first three quarters of the year&#8221;.



In its latest earnings transcript, discount chain Dollar General said gross profit was down, interest expenses had climbed and that it anticipated &#8220;customer spending may continue to be constrained as we head into 2024, especially in discretionary categories.&#8221;



Consumer giant Procter &amp; Gamble sounded a more optimistic note. Andre Schulten, the company&#8217;s chief financial officer, recently said P&amp;G was able to grow its share of volume and value in U.S. markets in the latest quarter, noting the &#8220;consumer remains strong.



The disconnect does not perturb fund managers. What matters to them however is whether the Federal Reserve manages to avert recession and yet contain inflation, without hurting consumers.



After leaving markets guessing for months, the Fed&#8217;s most recent update shows it recognizes that need for balance and that officials are sensitive to the risks of over-tightening policy and pushing the economy into a faster than necessary slowdown.



Several companies are already feeling the slowdown.



&#8220;The consumer is starting to slow down a little bit and the consumer-based companies, which really are almost all the big companies at this point, are starting to talk about that,&#8221; said PGIM&#8217;s McDonough. The global asset manager has $1.27 trillion in assets.



Consumer spending has indeed been cooling, as per surveys from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). A November survey from the Conference Board showed about two-thirds of consumers still perceived a recession to be &#8220;somewhat&#8221; or &#8220;very likely&#8221; to happen over the next year.



RECESSION IS COMING?



The past two years haven&#8217;t been easy for macro pundits trying to reconcile the drivers of a post-pandemic bounce and trillions of dollars worth of stimulus in global markets alongside hawkish central banks.



Indicators from manufacturing surveys to an inverted U.S. yield curve and a bumper fiscal spending plan all screamed slowdown, or even recession.



Reuters polls conducted through 2022 and until mid-2023 consistently showed economists&#8217; median probability for a U.S. recession within a year were above 60%. That probability is now closer to 45%.



&#8220;To be fair, it&#8217;s been a difficult year,&#8221; said Chris Rands, a senior portfolio manager with the global multi-asset team at Nikko Asset Management.



&#8220;If you were to go back and look historically, if you use U.S. lead indicators, for example, they&#8217;ve been telling you that the U.S. should have entered a recession 12 months ago.&#8221;



&#8220;But if you&#8217;ve been able to make that argument for 12 months, you&#8217;ve potentially got egg on your face.&#8221; Big banks forecast the global economy slowing in 2023, with a likely U.S. recession. Even the most bullish forecasts had the S&amp;P 500 rising about 9% in 2023. It has rallied 21% so far.



In 2022, sell-side analysts from major banks expected growth to stumble but for stocks to keep rising. The S&amp;P 500 fell 19% that year.



Forecasts for 2024 are more conservative, and laced with caveats. Even the most bullish Street forecasts for US stocks are for single-digit gains.



&#8220;Companies talk to their bankers and to economists and consultants, and so on. And so they are all getting the same picture, which is there&#8217;s going to be a slowdown,&#8221; said Deutsche Bank&#8217;s Thatte.



&#8220;They are biding their time and being cautious which makes sense. And so if growth picks up, they will respond accordingly.&#8221;



(Additional reporting by Rae Wee Graphics by Sarupya Ganguly; Editing by Anna Driver)

The Wall Street sign is pictured at the New York Stock exchange (NYSE) in the Manhattan borough of New York City

Global banks see no recession, US companies are more circumspect

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1815432571-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-431887" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1815432571-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1815432571-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1815432571-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1815432571-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1815432571.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Attendees arrive at the Blue Zone on day three of the COP28 climate conference at Expo City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. More than 70,000 politicians, diplomats, campaigners, financiers and business leaders will fly to Dubai to talk about arresting the world&#8217;s slide toward environmental catastrophe. Photographer: Annie Sakkab/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) &#8211; After winning a fraught bid to host next year&#8217;s United Nations climate talks in Baku, a senior Azerbaijani official promoted the country&#8217;s gas reserves in aiding the global the energy transition.



&#8220;Azerbaijan is also a gas exporting country, and gas &#8211; if you compare it with some other sources of energy &#8211; is a much cleaner sort of energy,&#8221; said Hikmet Hajiyev, foreign policy adviser to President Ilham Aliyev, in a meeting with reporters on Tuesday. &#8220;Azerbaijan has quite serious potential of gas,&#8221; he said.



The country has an estimated 2.5 trillion cubic metres of natural gas reserves, according to the 2021 BP Statistical Review of World Energy.



While the global warming emissions from burning natural gas are lower than those from coal or oil, they remain much higher than green energy sources.



Climate scientists have said that rising production of natural gas is emerging as one of the biggest drivers of climate change, and could cripple efforts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.



The decision this month at COP28 talks in the UAE to host COP29 in Baku resolved months of geopolitical deadlock over the location of the 2024 U.N. climate summit.



Azerbaijan&#8217;s bid received approval from nearly 200 countries, including longtime adversary Armenia, which have recently agreed to basic peace treaty principles after decades of conflict.



&#8220;I am glad that we found a way out of the situation,&#8221; said Hajiyev. &#8220;Now, we can build a coalition between climate action and the peace agenda&#8221;.



But climate campaigners have raised concerns about again holding the U.N. climate talks in another oil producing nation.



Asked to respond to such criticisms, Hajiyev said oil-exporting nations should lead by example and that hosting the summit was complementary, not a paradox.



He added the country, which is a member of OPEC+, supported a &#8220;transitional approach&#8221; to moving away from fossil fuels, rather than an immediate phase out.



&#8220;When will we stop (drilling)? I don&#8217;t have a clear answer for that,&#8221; said Hajiyev, noting the country had to meet standing contracts with business partners. BP is Azerbaijan&#8217;s largest foreign investor.



Hajiyev said there was still a need for fossil fuels beyond energy demand, including their use in plastics &#8211; which are also the subject of an international treaty under negotiation that could curtail their use.



&#8220;We should be very realistic and have a broader vision with regards to fossil fuels,&#8221; he said.



Hajiyev also highlighted the country&#8217;s new investments in green energy, including wind and solar, and efforts to construct an electric cable under the Black Sea to transfer green Azeri energy from planned Caspian Sea windfarms to Europe. (Reporting by Gloria Dickie; editing by David Evans)

Day Three of COP28 Climate Conference

COP29 climate summit host Azerbaijan touts country’s gas potential

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/F4TO3YKQWNK6NCNXZJUQ2UEGC4-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423316" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/F4TO3YKQWNK6NCNXZJUQ2UEGC4-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/F4TO3YKQWNK6NCNXZJUQ2UEGC4-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/F4TO3YKQWNK6NCNXZJUQ2UEGC4-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/F4TO3YKQWNK6NCNXZJUQ2UEGC4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/F4TO3YKQWNK6NCNXZJUQ2UEGC4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/F4TO3YKQWNK6NCNXZJUQ2UEGC4-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A man walks past the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, U.S., May 10, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/</figcaption></figure>



WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) &#8211; The International Monetary Fund&#8217;s governing body has approved a 50% increase in quota resources to be contributed by member countries in proportion to their current IMF shareholding, bringing total quotas to $960 billion, the IMF said on Monday.



Governors representing nearly 93% of the total voting power of the fund voted for the 50% increase the IMF&#8217;s executive board recommended last month, exceeding the 85% required. The voting deadline ended on Friday.



The quota increase, which follows years of extensive discussions among members, will become effective by Nov. 15, 2024 once member countries agree to their respective quota changes, which requires legislative approval in many cases.



The decision largely follows a U.S.-backed plan that would enhance IMF lending resources but delay any IMF shareholding increases for China, India, Brazil and other fast-growing emerging market economies.



But the governors asked the IMF to develop possible approaches for a new quota formula by June 2025, in line with the executive board&#8217;s recommendation.



The 50% increase in quota funding &#8212; equivalent to about $320 billion at current exchange rates &#8212; will not increase the fund&#8217;s overall lending firepower of about $1 trillion, but would shift the composition to about 70% more permanent resources while reducing reliance on borrowed resources, the IMF said.



IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva called the decision &#8220;a strong vote of confidence for the work of the Fund. It will reduce the reliance of the Fund on borrowed resources, restore the primary role of quotas in our lending capacity and reinforce the role of the IMF at the center of the Global Financial Safety Net,&#8221; she said.



Georgieva said the move would strengthen the IMF’s capacity to help &#8220;safeguard global financial stability and respond to members’ potential needs in an uncertain and shock-prone world.&#8221;



Currently, the IMF relies on bilateral borrowing arrangements and pledges to a crisis lending fund called the New Arrangements to Borrow. The executive board will discuss proposals for reducing the crisis lending fund in early 2024. Zuzana Murgasova, deputy director of the IMF&#8217;s finance department, told Reuters that work on the guidance for a further quota realignment would begin very soon, but declined to provide further details since the discussions were confidential.



&#8220;What is really important is that the membership has recognized that this is an urgent priority, and the work will start very soon,&#8221; she said.



Murgasova said the governors&#8217; votes were also confidential, and declined to say which country or countries did not approve the quota increase. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Editing by Franklin Paul and Josie Kao)

International

Mondi says customers reluctant to switch to sustainable packaging on cost concerns

UK economy slipped into technical recession at the end of 2023

Brexit Britain has ‘significantly underperformed’ other advanced economies, Goldman Sachs says

Prices rose more than expected in January as US inflation won’t go away

Gold pressured by firm dollar, higher yields as traders seek Fed clues

Bitcoin breaks above $47,000 for the first time since March 2022

Powell insists the Fed will move carefully on rate cuts, with probably fewer than the market expects

IMF lifts 2024 global growth outlook, lowers Sub-Saharan Africa

Commodity markets are in a ‘super squeeze’ — and higher prices could be here to stay

China is weighing measures to prop up its stock markets, could reportedly mobilize $278 billion

Gabriel Attal becomes France’s youngest prime minister in modern history

Apple iPhone sales in China fall 30% in first week of 2024 – Jefferies

Friday’s jobs report will be a big signal for a market looking for good news

China bans export of rare earth processing tech over national security

Global banks see no recession, US companies are more circumspect

COP29 climate summit host Azerbaijan touts country’s gas potential

IMF governors approve 50% increase in lending resources with no shareholding changes

News Tips

Advertise With Us

International

Mondi says customers reluctant to switch to sustainable packaging on cost concerns

UK economy slipped into technical recession at the end of 2023

Brexit Britain has ‘significantly underperformed’ other advanced economies, Goldman Sachs says

Prices rose more than expected in January as US inflation won’t go away

Gold pressured by firm dollar, higher yields as traders seek Fed clues

Bitcoin breaks above $47,000 for the first time since March 2022

Powell insists the Fed will move carefully on rate cuts, with probably fewer than the market expects

IMF lifts 2024 global growth outlook, lowers Sub-Saharan Africa

Commodity markets are in a ‘super squeeze’ — and higher prices could be here to stay

China is weighing measures to prop up its stock markets, could reportedly mobilize $278 billion

Gabriel Attal becomes France’s youngest prime minister in modern history

Apple iPhone sales in China fall 30% in first week of 2024 – Jefferies

Friday’s jobs report will be a big signal for a market looking for good news

China bans export of rare earth processing tech over national security

Global banks see no recession, US companies are more circumspect

COP29 climate summit host Azerbaijan touts country’s gas potential

IMF governors approve 50% increase in lending resources with no shareholding changes

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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