Weekly News Summary for December 6-11, 2019

Friday, December 6, 2019: Saudi Aramco $25.6B IPO Surpasses Alibaba

Saudi Aramco has broken on Friday the world’s biggest initial public offering (IPO), beating Alibaba, after the state-owned oil giant priced its offering at $8.53 per share, raising a total of $25.6 billion.

The deal places the company’s value at around $1.7 trillion, although the valuation was 15% short of what the kingdom had initially expected.

Monday, December 9, 2019: British Pound Registers 7-month High vs. US Dollar

The British pound reached its highest in nearly eight months against the US dollar on Monday, after a survey data showed that the Conservative Party increased its lead over the Labor Party to 14 percentage points.

Against the greenback, the sterling hit a seven-month high of $1.3180, while the euro fell at 0.8406 pounds, marking its weakest level since May 2017.

Tuesday, December 10, 2019: US Reportedly Plans to Hold Off 15% China Tariffs

Washington and Beijing are reportedly planning to postpone the next set of import tariffs on Chinese goods set to be imposed on December 15, as both parties attempt to reach an agreement to curb the impact of their 17-month long trade war.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that negotiators from the two sides are laying the groundwork for the US to delay the planned 15% duties on $160 billion worth of Chinese products.

Wednesday, December 11, 2019: Fed Rate Decision in Focus

Markets will be shifting their focus on the Federal Reserve’s final rate decision due later Wednesday, although there are unlikely to be any surprise announcements as central bank members, including Chairman Jerome Powell, have deemed further rate cuts to be unnecessary.

The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to leave the benchmark rate untouched at a 1.5%-1.75% range, while the possibility of no changes is at 98.5%.