LBLV Bitcoin falls back to monthly lows on Musk's tweet 2021/17/05

LBLV provides an overview of economic news.


The main economic news for Monday, May 17:

0:00 AT&T to team up with Discovery to fight streaming
1:10 China's production slows due to supply disruptions
1:58 Global markets fluctuate amid mixed Chinese data
2:57 Bitcoin falls back to monthly lows on Musk's tweet

1. AT&T to team up with Discovery to fight streaming
US telecoms giant AT&T Inc is close to striking a deal that will see it merge its media assets, including CNN and HBO, home to the Harry Potter and Batman franchises, with Discovery Inc, owner of lifestyle TV channels with a stable of unscripted home, cooking, nature and science shows, as reported by media, citing unnamed sources. The deal will mark AT&T's recognition that since buying US media conglomerate Time Warner in 2018, TV viewers have turned to streaming services, with the likes of Netflix Inc and Walt Disney Co in the lead. In acquiring Time Warner, AT&T sought to create a media and telecoms holding company combining content and distribution. Meanwhile, the latest merger would create a new company separate from AT&T, which could be valued at $150 billion including debt. Discovery's current market value is about $30 billion. AT&T and Discovery officials declined to comment, but a deal could be announced later this week.

2. China's production slows due to supply disruptions
Industrial production in China slowed in April and retail sales fell well short of expectations, confirming Chinese policymakers words about new challenges affecting the recovery of the world's second-biggest economy. While Chinese exporters reported strong demand, “congestions” in global supply chains and rising raw material costs are putting pressure on production, cooling the economy's rapid growth after last year's downturn. Industrial production growth slowed to an annualized 9.8% in April in line with analysts' expectations, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Monday. Retail sales rose 17.7% year-on-year, well below analysts' forecast of 24.9% and the 34.2% jump recorded in March.

3. Global markets fluctuate amid mixed Chinese data
Asian equity markets showed mixed dynamics on Monday as Chinese retail sales missed expectations and Singapore closed schools from Wednesday to deal with a coronavirus outbreak after reporting the highest number of local infections in months. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan swung on either side of a flat, just above last week's four-month low. Chinese blue-chips were more resilient, rising 1.8%. Japan's Nikkei index lost 0.8%. The data indicates that inflation is a global phenomenon: Wholesale prices in Japan jumped in April as rising energy and commodity costs affected corporate margins. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures fell 0.1% after Friday's rally. EUROSTOXX 50 futures added 0.3% and FTSE futures were almost unchanged. The US data calendar this week is sparse, so the focus is on the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting.

4. Bitcoin falls back to monthly lows on Musk's tweet
The price of Bitcoin fell to a three-month low of $45,000 on Monday following a tweet by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, an outspoken supporter of the cryptocurrency, that Tesla may be considering or have already sold its Bitcoin holdings. In response to an unverified Twitter account called @CryptoWhale, who said: "Bitcoiners will be kicking themselves next quarter when they find out Tesla dumped the rest of their Bitcoin holdings. With the amount of hate he gets, I wouldn't blame him..." Musk replied: "Indeed." It is unclear whether he is confirming the sale or whether he was only referring to the fact that he faced criticism. Musk has stated that Tesla will not sell its Bitcoins, but the cryptocurrency has fallen by almost a quarter since Musk refused to have Tesla accept it as payment.