Weekly News Summary for October 16- 22, 2020

Friday, Oct. 16, 2020: US Retail Sales Accelerate in September

US retail sales climbed in September at the quickest rate in three months, beating expectations and capping a robust third quarter for consumer spending, although economic rebound from the pandemic recession is at a crossroads as the government money runs out of cash and rounds of layoffs continue.

Figures released by the US Commerce Department on Friday showed that overall retail sales were up 1.9% in the previous month after increasing 0.6% in August.

Monday, Oct. 19, 2020: China’s GDP Improves in Q3

China continued to be the only major economy in the world on track for growth this year, as the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose 2.7% in the third quarter and improved 4.9% from 2019.

While the latest data showed a sharp slowdown from a revised 11.7% gain in the three months through June and was lower than the expected 3.2%, the quarter nonetheless ended quite strongly, with retail sales and industrial output both posting their best results in September since the pandemic occurred.

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020: Intel to Sell NAND Unit to SK Hynix

US chipmaker Intel Corp. has agreed to sell its NAND memory chip unit for $9 billion to its South Korean counterpart SK Hynix Inc., as the company focuses on more diverse technologies while removing a major Chinese manufacturing site during a heated trade conflict between the US and China.

Excluding Intel’s Optane business, the deal, which is expected to receive the green light from the government by late 2021, will see SK Hynix acquiring Intel’s NAND memory chip and storage business, including its factory in Dalian.

Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020: US Treasury Yields Hit Four-month Highs

US Treasury yields were up to their highest in over four months, driven by signs of progress in Washington toward a deal on a $2 trillion stimulus package.

Hopes for the deal send the US 10-year Treasury note as high as 0.83% to mark its highest intraday level since June and the 30-year Treasury yield up 1.61% to also record a June high, while growing confidence led the US dollar index to a six-week low.

Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020: Asian Stocks Fall as Stimulus Talks Drag

Asian shares slipped on Thursday, and US Treasury yields dropped as uncertainty over the passage of a new stimulus package, and a new wave of COVID-19 cases in the US kept investors on edge.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1%, while the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2%, KOSPI fell 0.6%, CSI 300 shed 0.2%, and Nikkei 225 declined 0.7%.