The news that incumbent ANC President managed not only to arrest the decline in his party’s share of the vote but reverse it to win 57.5% is a small but encouraging step for the ZAR and the nation.
Hard on the heels of the imposition of US tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods comes the news that talks are going to resume. Having sifted through the goods affected, it is clear that the main area is that of computer and communications technology. Given the push that China continues to make to become a leading global player in that market, it is no coincidence that they will be returning to the table with sharpened pencils. Meanwhile global equity markets lost 2%+ across the board led by the Shanghai Composite that bore the brunt of the poor trade talk.
If you are worth $50 Billion what do you buy? Answer: the toyshop itself. India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani snapped up the loss making Hamleys flagship store at the end of last week from the Chinese company C Banner Intl. A shrewd move given that his company Reliance already manages 88 Hamleys stores across 29 Indian cities and with GBP at the level it is. Could it be better? Both a toyshop and a FX play!
More than 4 out of 10 species of frogs globally are on the edge of extinction due to rising temperatures which encourage the spread of the disease ranavirus. Before you think this is not a UK problem, it is, and the croaking of frogs in ponds and streams will be reducing and likely becoming a rarity in the next ten years. SGM-FX’s James was spotted in his wellies looking for tadpoles in the wetlands of South London over the weekend-bless!
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
Weren’t Tariffs USD Negative? The Dollar proved sensitive to headlines regarding trade during the US overnight session. However, contrary to what many commentaries would have you believe, as the risk of tariffs escalated the Dollar rose. The 90-day pause following Trump’s April ‘liberation day’ tariffs had been set to expire this coming Wednesday. To the […]
Dollar Reserves With the passing of Trump’s original deadline for the reimposition of liberation day tariffs yesterday, markets have breathed a sigh of relief. July VIX futures continued to slide lower. Moreover, what may surprise anyone who had been expecting the issue of tariffs to resurface following the passing of Trump’s new deadline, so too […]
Big Girls Don’t Cry A bond market tantrum and one of the sharpest one day sell offs in Sterling for several years appear to have been catalysed by the Chancellor’s appearance in PMQs yesterday. First: the back story. This Labour government has faced some embarrassment in recent weeks trying to get its welfare bill through […]