Weekly News Summary For June 7-13

Friday, June 7: Yuan Falls, PBOC Open to Softening Policy

The Chinese yuan posted its biggest loss in more than three weeks against the US dollar on Friday, as People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang, signaled that there would be no further compromise for the currency and that he was open to softening policy to protect the economy from a trade war fallout.

The offshore yuan was down as much as 0.5%, its largest fall since May 13 led it to lows not registered since mid-November, although it recovered slightly to trade at 6.9608 per dollar.

Monday, June 10: Stocks Rise as Trump Postpones Tariffs on Mexico

Global stocks strengthened on Monday as markets welcomed US President Donald Trump’s decision to postpone his 5% tariff plan on Mexican goods.

Asian and European equities gained about 1%, although Australian, German, and Swiss markets were closed for a holiday, while US futures indicated smaller increases at the open, coming off from what was their most solid weekly rise since November.

Tuesday, June 11: Amazon Becomes the World’s Most Valuable Brand

Online retailer Amazon.com was able to claim the top spot as the world’s most valuable brand, surpassing tech rivals Google and Apple.

A global ranking released on Tuesday showed that Amazon outperformed Google and Apple with a price tag of $315.5 billion, as the company’s smart acquisitions send its 2018 brand value up by 52%, placing Amazon from third to first this year.

Wednesday, June 12: Oil Prices Fall on Demand Concerns

Oil prices experienced further losses on Wednesday after the US government’s lower expectations for global oil demand renewed concerns about a glut in world markets.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell by 2.8% to $51.80 per barrel, while Brent futures dropped by 2.6% to $60.67 a barrel, after the US government revised down its oil demand growth forecasts by 160,000 barrels per day to 1.22 million bpd.

Thursday, June 13: Initial Jobless Claims Seen Declining to 215,000

The Labor Department is set to report an overall count of the people who filed for unemployment benefits for the week ended June 8, with economists expecting initial jobless claims to fall from 218,000 to 215,000.

The upcoming data comes less than a week after the Labor Department released lower-than-expected employment figures for the month of May, which raised hopes for a rate cut decision from the Federal Reserve at its July meeting.