It's time now for an in-depth look at the global markets this afternoon, and for that
I'm joined on the line by Dr. Hwang Seiwoon, Research Fellow at the Korea Capital Market
Institute.
Dr. Hwang, thanks for coming on today.
You're welcome.
Here in Korea, the government is expecting a growth rate for the local economy of 2.4
to 2.5 percent.
It's that low mainly because of concerns abroad.
Today, though, the government's announced some new measures to revive economic activity
here.
What do you see in those measures, and in the second half of the year do you think they'll
help bring about a rebound?
The government's latest estimate represents a drop from its previous forecast of between
2.6 percent and 2.7 percent in December.
South Korea blamed slowing exports and sluggish investment, as well as trade friction between
the United States and China, for its downward revision.
South Korea's growth outlook could be lowered unless parliament approves a 6.7 trillion-won
extra budget in July for a quick implementation.
But it remains unclear when the National Assembly might vote on the bill due to a political
standoff.
It is less likely for Korean economy to recover in the second half of 2019.
Many of the market analysts are expecting that Korea will continue to experience declining
economic growth due to its heavy reliance to export and the global economic slowdown
caused by the trade dispute.
So this week, after the G20 and what seems like progress in the U.S.-China trade war,
Wall Street has been setting new records.
Up again for a second day in a row on Tuesday.
What's the story today?
U.S. stocks edged higher to a fresh record, while haven assets from Treasuries to gold
resumed rallies as investors awaited a slew of economic data around the Fourth of July
holiday.
The S&P 500 swung between gains and losses before rising into the close for a second
straight all-time high.
Asian shares were subdued on Wednesday as initial enthusiasm over the latest U.S.-China
trade truce was overtaken by fresh concerns over Washington’s threat of tariffs on additional
European goods.
Global growth concerns also weighed on investor confidence, with South Korea the latest trade-reliant
economy to cut its economic growth and export targets, a day after weaker factory readings
worldwide.
Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.63 percent, while Shanghai Composite lost 1.02 percent.
South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.72 percent as of close today.
The U.S. Trade Representative has started the public hearing process to put tariffs
on 4 billion dollars of goods from Europe in retaliation for what it sees as the EU's
unfair subsidies for Airbus.
Do you think they will actually go ahead with these tariffs, and what's the view of the
market?
The U.S. government on Monday threatened to impose tariffs on $4 billion of additional
European Union goods in a long-running dispute over aircraft subsidies.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s office released a list of products — including olives,
Italian cheese and Scotch whiskey — that could be hit with new levies in additional
to those introduced in April.
This brings the running total of imports subject to potential levies to about $25 billion and
offers a reminder that Trump’s trade war has no practical end in sight.
The EU said it remained open to negotiations provided these are without preconditions and
aim at a fair outcome, but added it was also preparing to retaliate as soon as the WTO
arbitrator had ruled on its rights to do so.
Washington signaled its openness last month to working on an enforceable mechanism to
govern government subsidies for aircraft production, potentially resolving the dispute.
The possibility that the U.S. will actually impose tariffs is not that high because it
will be quite burdensome even for the U.S. to have two battle fields in Asia and Europe.
Alright, Dr. Hwang.
That's where we'll have to leave it today.
Thanks so much for coming on today.