“Central Mexico – Earthquake…”

Central Mexico – Earthquake

The earthquake struck on 19 September 2017 with a magnitude estimated to be 7.1 and strong shaking for about 20 seconds, approximately 55 km south of the city of Puebla. It caused damage in the Mexican states of Puebla, Morelos and the Greater Mexico City area, including the collapse of more than forty buildings. The death toll from Mexico’s powerful earthquake has risen to 273, officials say, as rescuers race against the clock to reach trapped survivors. The quake occurred on the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, which killed about 10,000 people, commemorated with a national earthquake drill at 11 a.m. local time, two hours before this earthquake struck. There had been an even larger earthquake 650 km away off the coast of the state of Chiapas eleven days earlier.

UK – Terrorist Attack in London

A police hunt was underway on Friday as a suspect set off an improvised bomb on a packed London commuter train. Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the UK terror threat level has been raised to critical. After the explosion at Parsons Green station in West London, passengers were caught in a stampede as they tried to flee. People were rushed to hospital in ambulances and although injuries were not life-threatening, most were suffering from flash burns according to police. At least 30 people were injured. According to witnesses after the device had detonated passengers standing nearby had their hair, faces and hands burnt. Troops will be deployed in order to free up some 1,000 armed police so that they can protect transport hubs and events. The attack is the fifth one happening in the UK and according to police, arrests related to terrorism have risen to 68 percent over the past year. Many of the attacks have been claimed or praised by Jihadist group Islamic State. Two suspects were arrested in connection with the blast.

UK – Bank of England

Minutes from the Bank’s September meeting which were released on Thursday last week warned that an interest-rate increase could happen within months if the economy performs as officials are expecting. With this in mind, traders have increased their bets that policy makers are ready to deliver their first hike in more than a decade. The majority of the BOE policy officials made reference to some withdrawal of monetary stimulus which will be appropriate over the coming months.

EU

The European Finance Ministers met for a two day meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, seeking to make headway and unite the bloc. The two day gathering should focus on ways to further integrate the remaining 27 members of the region after the UK leaves the bloc in an effort to bolster the economy and to shield the region from any further financial turmoil. The talks came about after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker laid out his vision for the future of the EU and after some of the EU’s senior figures including France newly elected President Emmanuel Macron have called for reform.

North Korea

An intermediate range missile was fired on Friday from Pyongyang North Korea over the northern island of Hokkaido which is the second largest and least developed of Japan’s four main islands, reaching an altitude of 770 kilometres before landing in the Pacific Ocean. The missile has travelled far enough to put the U.S. territory of Guam in range. North Korea that pledged more than a dozen missiles this year had pledged to retaliate after the UN Security Council punished the country for its sixth and most powerful nuclear test. Investors on Friday disregarded what happened on Friday showing that financial markets are getting accustomed to the provocations of North Korea and the responses of the US and its allies.

China

The Central Bank of China is drafting a package for reforms which would give foreign investors greater access to the nation’s financial services industry. The China Banking Regulatory Commission is also involved in the proposal. The details of the plan still have to be finalised and may include permission for foreign institutions to control their local finance-sector joint ventures. Other plans include raising the current 25 percent ceiling on foreign ownership in Chinese banks. Furthermore, it may also allow foreign firms to provide yuan-denominated bank card clearing services. Last month China’s cabinet said the country will continue to open up various industries including banking, securities and insurance as well as electric cars.

US – Trump and his first speech at UN

In his first appearance during a session on reforming the United Nations at the UN Headquarters in New York, President Trump will call on world leaders to confront North Korea and Iran seeking a broad alliance as he considers them as the greatest threats. As he welcomes leaders from almost 200 nations he will urge them in public and in private to join US efforts to oppose missile and nuclear programs in both North Korea and Iran. Tensions have increased sharply with both nations since Trump took office as he is more confrontational than his predecessor Barack Obama.

US – Federal Reserve Meeting

The Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting started on Tuesday for two days. On Wednesday the Federal Reserve took the first step to unwind its economic stimulus and begin to roll off its USD 4.5 trillion balance sheet in October. Most of the assets entail Treasuries and Mortgage Backed securities acquired under the quantitative easing program. At the same time the US Central Bank did not raise the bench mark interest rates from its current 1% to 1.25% target, but indicated the likelihood of a one more hike this year.

S&P hit the 2500 milestone

In the final minutes of trading on Friday, the S&P 500 Index passed the 2500 milestone since January. The dollar has weakened after an unexpected decline in retail sales in August that raised concerns over the strength of the economy. As investors seem to have shrugged off the tensions from the terrorist attack in London and those arising from the missile launches assets from yen to gold have declined.

Hurricane Maria and Jose

Hurricane Maria is taking course towards the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico after the Caribbean island nations are still recovering from Hurricane Irma. Hurricane Maria follows Harvey which struck the Gulf Coast of Texas while Irma, was over Florida. The storms left dozens dead and effected energy and agriculture markets. Although Maria is following the south path, dangerous winds will still reach Barbuda and other islands that were devastated by Irma. On the other hand Hurricane Jose which is forecast to weaken to a tropical storm will linger in the Atlantic after bringing gusty winds and rains across Long Island, Rhode Island and Massachusetts through Wednesday. This hurricane season has seen an estimated $ 143 billion in damages across the south of the country from Texas to Florida.

Bitcoin Crash

Bitcoin has tumbled for its worst week since January 2015 in the week ending 15th September 2017 as China aims to stop exchange trading of cryptocurrencies by the end of September. China’s moves that include a ban on initial coin offerings has fuelled a reversal in bitcoin digital currency which has soared more than 700 percent in the 12 months through August. Although the motivation for the exchange ban is unclear, it comes amid a clampdown on financial risk in the run-up to a Communist Party Leadership reshuffle next month. The surge in Bitcoin over the past two years has raised concerns of a bubble and prompted warnings of potential crash. China accounts for about 23 percent of bitcoin trades.

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