EM assets keep outperforming as US jobs data softens. Powell faces DOJ subpoena. Trump ordered Fannie/Freddie to buy $200bn MBS, pushing 30y yields down. Iran protests lifted oil; US shielded Venezuela funds; Argentina $3bn repo; Japan snap poll talk.
US operation in Venezuela seized Maduro; AI rally renewed. Hassett tipped as Trump’s next Fed chair. Russian crude exports hold up via Asia; Korea offers repatriation tax breaks to support won. Argentina passes Milei budget; Fitch: Ukraine up, Gabon down.
ECB held; BoE cut 25bp; BoJ hiked 25bp; Thailand/Chile/Mexico eased. US announced $11bn Taiwan arms & blocked Venezuelan oil; EU okayed €90bn Ukraine loan. Fitch/S&P upgrades; Colombia downgraded; Argentina unveiled new FX plan.
China said it will share a China-made coronavirus vaccine with other EM countries, such as Brazil, Indonesia, and Turkey as soon the vaccine is fully developed.
In the latest in US-China tensions, a US court blocked the proposed closure of WeChat, while Bytedance kept a majority shareholding position and control over its algorithm in TikTok.
Equity markets declined on the back of a sharp correction in US technology stocks, but EM assets outperformed. Brazil renewed emergency support for poor families and presented an administrative reform to Congress.
Ecuador recently undertook a successful sovereign debt restructuring in record speed, followed by Argentina after a somewhat more long-winded and volatile process.