JOE MCDONALD
Global stock markets declined on Tuesday ahead of an update on U.S. retail spending after China reported that an economic slump deepened in July and its central bank cut a key interest rate to shore up growth.
London, Shanghai and Wall Street futures declined. Tokyo advanced. Oil prices fell.
Chinese consumer and factory activity slowed more than expected in July, official data showed. The People’s Bank of China cut its interest rate on one-week loans to banks.
“Policymakers are starting to hit the panic button,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a report.
Also Tuesday, Russia’s central bank raised its main lending rate by 3.5 percentage points to 12% in an emergency move to strengthen the ruble after the currency reached its lowest value since early in the war with Ukraine. The ruble has lost one-third of its value since the start of this year.
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