Good morning! Here’s what you need to know in markets on Friday.
1. Asian rebounded from declines on Friday as China’s efforts to bolster investor confidence helped its share markets rally. Data showing China’s economy growing at the slowest pace since 2009 capped broader gains. Chinese policy makers have stepped up their efforts to ease concerns about the ongoing sell-off in domestic stocks.
2. US President Donald Trump said missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi is likely dead based on “intelligence coming from every side.” Trump said there would be “very severe” consequences if the Saudis killed him. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is reportedly planning to admit Jamal Khashoggi was murdered. Officials reportedly plan to scapegoat a two-star general and say he botched a plan to interrogate Khashoggi and accidentally killed him. More officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, are pulling away from Saudi Arabia. Here’s the full list.
3. Insurer AIG said on Thursday it expects third-quarter pre-tax catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, of between $1.5 billion and $1.7 billion. “These losses are largely associated with multiple events in Japan, including Typhoons Jebi and Trami, as well as Hurricane Florence and revisions to our loss estimates on the California mudslides,” AIG said. The shares fell about 4% in extended trading.
4. Banks on Thursday pushed back on how regulators are attempting to simplify rules prohibiting banks from trading on their own account, a development that is likely to delay efforts to wrap up the overhaul in the coming months. On May 30, U.S. regulators unveiled a plan to modify the so-called Volcker Rule introduced following the 2007-2009 financial crisis, aiming to make compliance easier for many firms and relieving small banks altogether.
5. The US is pulling out of an obscure 144-year-old treaty to take a shot at China in the trade war. The Universal Postal Union helps set international postage rates, and Chinese goods coming into the US are currently subject to lower postage rates.
6. A top US commander in Afghanistan survived a deadly insider attack that killed senior Afghan officials and wounded two Americans. The incident follows two other fatal insider attacks this year.
7. Government debt levels are about to become a 'major focus' for global markets. Global markets are becoming increasingly vulnerable to rising levels of government debt, warns ANZ. The analysts said a troubling shift is underway in the fiscal policies of the US and Europe which may prove difficult to unwind. In short, government debt levels are back on the rise again.
8. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that any country that threatens Russia with nuclear weapons will "drop dead." Putin said that aggressors who strike Russia will perish as sinners, while Russian "martyrs" will go to heaven.
9. President Trump threatened to summon the military and wreck a Mexico trade deal amid a burgeoning migrant crisis.Trump is concerned about a caravan of migrants that has grown to 4,000 people, and is currently trekking through Guatemala en route to the US.
10. China's biggest retailer is coming to America with the help of Google. It will be the first time the Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com can sell directly to US customers.