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China's consumers, factories take a beating as economic gloom deepens

December 13, 2018 9:05 PM EST

By Kevin Yao and Lusha Zhang

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's November retail sales grew at their weakest pace since 2003 and industrial output rose the least in nearly three years as the economy lost further momentum, heaping pressure on Beijing to defuse its trade dispute with the United States.

The world's second-largest economy has been losing momentum in recent quarters as a multi-year government campaign to curb shadow lending put increasing financial strains on companies in a blow to production and investment.

The stresses on broad activity have been compounded by a sharp escalation in China's... More

Pelosi says Trump has not responded to Democrat budget offers

December 13, 2018 11:47 AM EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that President Donald Trump has not answered Democrats' budget compromise proposals on measures to keep the federal government open.

Trump said on Tuesday he would be proud to shut down the federal government if... More

U.S import prices post biggest drop in more than three years

December 13, 2018 8:40 AM EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. import prices fell by the most in more than three years in November as the cost of petroleum products tumbled and a strong dollar weighed on prices of other goods, pointing to subdued imported inflation in the near term.

The Labor Department said on Thursday import prices dropped 1.6 percent last month, the biggest decline since August 2015, after an unrevised 0.5 percent increase in October.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices decreasing 0.9 percent in November.

In the 12 months through November, import prices rose 0.7 percent. That was the smallest annual increase since November... More

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen sentenced to three years prison

December 12, 2018 12:13 PM EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Michael Cohen, U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, was sentenced to a total of three years in prison on Wednesday for his role in making illegal hush-money payments to women to help Trump's 2016 election campaign and lying to Congress about a proposed Trump... More

Exclusive: Trump says Fed shouldn't hike rates, but calls Powell 'a good man'

December 11, 2018 7:49 PM EST

By Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday it would be a mistake if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates when it meets next week, as it is expected to do, continuing his criticism of the U.S. central bank.

"I think that would be foolish, but what can I say?" Trump told Reuters in an interview.

Trump said he needed the flexibility of lower interest rates to support the broader U.S. economy as he fights a growing trade battle against China, and potentially other countries.

... More

Exclusive: Trump says China 'back in the market' for U.S. soybeans

December 11, 2018 7:23 PM EST

By Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that China was buying a "tremendous amount" of U.S. soybeans and that trade talks with Beijing were already under way by telephone, with more meetings likely among U.S. and Chinese officials.

Trump told Reuters in an interview that the Chinese government was "back in the market" to buy soybeans after a Dec. 1 truce in the U.S.-China trade war.

But traders in Chicago said they have seen no evidence of a resumption of such purchases following China's... More

Exclusive: Trump says he could intervene in U.S. case against Huawei CFO

December 11, 2018 6:51 PM EST

By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would intervene in the Justice Department's case against a top executive at China's Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] if it would serve national security interests or help close a trade deal with China.

Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested in... More

Trump says 'very productive' talks with China

December 11, 2018 8:33 AM EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump was upbeat on Tuesday about contacts with China as the two countries discussed a road map for the next stage of their trade talks.

"Very productive conversations going on with China! Watch for some important announcements!" Trump said in a... More

Struggling hedge funds cling to dollar, U.S. yield curve bets: McGeever

December 11, 2018 6:55 AM EST

By Jamie McGeever

LONDON (Reuters) - Hedge funds have struggled badly in 2018, but would be faring far worse were they not on the right side of two of the most reliable trades of the year: a flattening U.S. yield curve and a stronger dollar.

Both trends remain in place, and as the latest data show, speculators look like holding onto them for the rest of the year.

Funds increased their net long dollar position against a range of developed and emerging-market currencies by nearly $2 billion to $32.09 billion in the week to Dec. 4, according to Commodity Futures... More

China sets up online games review panel, raises approval resumption hopes

December 10, 2018 12:11 AM EST

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have set up an online video games ethics committee that has already reviewed 20 titles, state media said, raising hopes the government was preparing to resume an approval process that has been frozen for most of this year.

China, the world's biggest gaming market, stopped approving new titles from March amid a regulatory overhaul triggered by growing criticism of video games for being violent and leading to myopia as well as addiction among young users.

... More

Atlanta Fed pares U.S. fourth-quarter GDP growth view to 2.4 percent

December 7, 2018 11:46 AM EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is expanding at a 2.4 percent annualized rate in the fourth quarter as data showed domestic payrolls growth slowed in November, the Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow forecast model showed on Friday.

This was slower than the 2.7 percent pace for fourth-quarter gross... More

N.Y. Fed trims U.S. fourth-quarter GDP growth view to 2.4 percent

December 7, 2018 11:44 AM EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is growing at a 2.44 percent clip in the fourth quarter as data showed the U.S. trade gap hit its widest in 10 years in October and domestic payrolls growth slowed in November, the New York Federal Reserve's Nowcast model showed on Friday.

... More

Trump: 'China talks are going very well'

December 7, 2018 8:28 AM EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday sounded an optimistic note about negotiations with China on trade issues, but did not offer any details in an early morning tweet, as major companies worried about how the arrest of a top Huawei executive would affect relations between... More