Broker LBLV Latest Economic News for May 15, 2019

Broker LBLV provides an overview of economic news.

The main economic news for Wednesday, May 15:

1. PM May to bring the Brexit deal back next month
British Prime Minister Theresa May will bring her deal back to Parliament at the start of June to approve Britain’s exit from the European Union before the summer break, setting a new deadline for her Brexit plan and a potential timetable for her own departure.
Nearly three years after the United Kingdom voted 52% to 48% to leave the EU, politicians still disagree about when, how or even if the divorce will take place.
“It’s time for Parliament to make a decision,” Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay told the BBC. “The country needs to move forward. Business needs to have certainty.”
But for many Labour MPs, the defeat of May’s deal, and her removal and a replacement with a leader who has little more chance of getting anything through Parliament, is a necessary step toward the fresh referendum that they want in order to reverse Brexit. And for Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Opposition, it’s a step toward a general election that could see him running the country.

2. Donald Trump expected to sign order, barring Huawei
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order this week barring U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment on the ground of national security risk paving the way for a ban on doing business with China’s Huawei, three U.S. officials familiar with the plan told Reuters.
If signed, the executive order would come at a delicate time in relations between China and the United States as the world’s two largest economies ratchet up tariffs in a battle over what U.S. officials call China’s unfair trade practices.
The United States has been actively pushing other countries not to use Huawei’s equipment in next-generation 5G networks that it calls “untrustworthy.” In August, Trump signed a bill that barred the U.S. government itself from using equipment from Huawei and another Chinese provider, ZTE Corp.

3. Australia shares rise on rate cut expectations
Australian shares rebounded on Wednesday, with the broader market underpinned by prospects that interest rates may be cut while a fall in the Aussie boosted miners.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.7% or 44.3 points to 6,284.20 at the close of trade. The benchmark fell 0.9% on Tuesday.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the wage price index rose 0.5% in the three months ended March, unchanged from the December quarter.
However, analysts were of the view that while the wage growth data did build on the case for a rate cut, employment data would paint a more concrete picture of the labour market.
“The RBA has said that the smoking gun to cut rates is the labour market. If we do see that breaking down, and there are signs that that could be the case...one could say that the chance of a June cut could rise,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone brokerage.
The prospect of a rate cut and disappointing data from China led investors to dump the Australian dollar sending it to a 4-1/2-month trough, which prompted a strong rally among export-oriented stocks such as miners and healthcare.