. ASIA/PACIFIC
-Australia’s stock market extended its gains on Friday for third consecutive day. Asian stocks were mixed following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight.
-China’s exports for May beat analyst expectations with 7.6% growth year-on-year in dollar terms. Meanwhile, imports went up by 1.8%.
-Japan’s household spending data misses estimates, rising in April for the first time in 14 months. Eyes are now on a decision next week by the Bank of Japan
. EUROPE
-Major stock market indices in Europe opened mostly higher on Friday with investors assessing the European Central Bank’s rate cut.
-Russia’s unemployment rate fell to a new record low of 2.6% in April 2024, down from 2.7% in the previous month and compared with market expectations of 2.7%.
– Annually, U.K. house prices rose for the sixth consecutive month in May, increasing by 1.5%, according to Halifax’s House Price Index report published on Friday.
. AMERICASÂ
North America
-U.S. stock futures opened little changed on Friday as investors geared up for Friday morning’s nonfarm payrolls report.
-Canadians need to be prepared for a very gradual reduction in interest rates that will likely be accompanied by many pauses along the way, wrote Craig Alexander, a contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail.
Latin America
– A sudden tax change in Brazil is shaking up the agricultural industry, outraging top crop traders like Cargill Inc. and Bunge Global SA., the Rio Times reported.
-Moody’s said it will wait for further information on Mexico’s new president Claudia Sheinbaum’s plans before it assesses whether it changes the country’s credit profile.
. AFRICA
-African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced an additional disbursement of US$925 million under the syndicated US$3.3 billion crude oil-backed prepayment facility sponsored by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
–Â The Central Bank of Congo (BCC) has mandated that all Electronic Payment Terminals (EPTs) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) only accept Congolese francs. This move aims to boost the use of the national currency and reduce reliance on the US dollar.
-South Africa’s annualised trade surplus widened to R183.4 billion from R90.9 billion in the fourth quarter, central bank data showed.
. MIDDLE EAST
-UAE-based Alef Education, an AI-powered learning solutions provider announced that its initial public offering was oversubscribed 39 times, with total gross demand from local, regional, and international investors amounting to over Dh74 billion.
-Saudi Aramco’s mega stock offering is set to raise at least $11.2 billion, the biggest such deal globally in three years, Bloomberg reported.
-Oil prices rose on Friday, continuing to climb after OPEC+ members Saudi Arabia and Russia indicated readiness to pause or reverse output agreements.
