Friday Morning Briefing: Stocks slide on specter of a global trade war
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March 2, 2018
Reuters News Now
Highlights
While Holi celebrations are underway across India,the picture isn't quite as vivid in the United States. "Trade wars are good, and easy to win," Trump tweeted today, striking a defiant tone after global criticism of his plan to slap tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum. Fears of an escalating trade war roiled Asian markets, hitting the share prices of steelmakers and manufacturers supplying U.S. markets particularly hard.
Businesses blocked doors with sandbagsand officials warned residents of waterfront homes to be ready to evacuate as the northeastern United States braced for a powerful storm that threatened to flood coasts from Maine to North Carolina.
Kachalla Bukar's eyes filled with tearswhen he looked at a blue plastic basket containing his 14-year-old daughter's belongings. Aisha Kachalla is one of 110 girls abducted on Feb. 19 by suspected Boko Haram militants from her school in Dapchi, northeast Nigeria. Her parents, like many others, cherish keepsakes that provide the only connection to their children while they wait for news.
Commentary:If true, Russia's development of advanced new nuclear weapons "could have serious consequences for U.S.–Russian bilateral relations and implications for nuclear nonproliferation efforts worldwide,” writes CATO Institute policy analyst Caroline Dorminey. However, Washington's nuclear deterrent threat is secure and U.S. policymakers shouldn't overreact.
The gasps in the audience were clearly audible at the auction of Mexico’s oil blocks a month ago as Royal Dutch Shell’s hefty bids were announced one by one. The size of Shell’s cash payments - $343 million out of the total of $525 million that Mexico earned in the sale - far outstripped its competitors’ offers, guaranteeing that the company swept up nine of the 19 offshore blocks. The Anglo-Dutch major knew something no one else did.
Cryptocurrencies are failing as a form of money and have shown classic signs of being a financial bubble, requiring regulators to protect consumers and stop their use for illegal activities, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said.
General Motors’ South Korean unit plans to slash 5,000 jobs, or about 30 percent of its workforce, but keep production steady if Seoul agrees to its $2.8 billion proposal for the loss-making operation, according to a document seen by Reuters.
