Hyundai Motor & LGES Consider Building Two JV Battery Plants in USA
Hyundai and LG Energy Solution of South Korea are considering establishing two joint venture battery plants in the United States, according to a local online news outlet on Monday.
According to an unnamed source, the plants would be built in Georgia and would have an annual capacity of about 35 gigatonne hours (GWh), enough to power approximately 1 million electric vehicles.
MACROECONOMIC DATA ANALYSIS
The Indian economy is expected to return to a more normal 6.2% annual growth rate in July-September after a double-digit expansion in the previous quarter, according to a Reuters poll, but weaker exports and investment will limit future activity. Asia's third-largest economy grew 13.5% year on year in April-June, owing primarily to the corresponding period in 2021 being depressed by pandemic-control restrictions.
Hong Kong private home prices dropped 2.4% in October, the most since November 2018, according to official data released on Monday. The decline was caused by deteriorating market sentiment and a bleak economic outlook. In one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the world, home prices fell last month after dropping by a revised 2.1% in September. In the first ten months of this year, home prices in the financial center have decreased by 10.5%.
CURRENCIES
The U.S. dollar climbed on Monday as protests in China against COVID restrictions shook financial markets, sending the yuan lower and luring nervous investors to the safe-haven greenback. The Dollar Index, which measures the value of the US dollar against a basket of six other currencies, rose 0.33% to 106.270.
GOLD
Gold prices declined on Monday morning as markets awaited further cues on U.S. monetary policy from this week's key economic data. Copper prices plunged amid growing civil unrest in China over the renewal of COVID-19 lockdowns. Gold futures fell by 0.25% to $1,750 per ounce.
OIL
Oil futures dropped more than $2 a barrel on Monday’s early hours, with Texas-based WTI crude reaching an 11-month low as concerns about demand were fueled by protests in China over the stringent COVID-19 curbs. Brent crude futures tumbled by 2.64% to $81.50 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude declines by 2.66% to $74.23 a barrel.
INDICES
USA: S&P500 -0.03%, Dow Jones Industrial Average +0.45%, Nasdaq Composite -0.70%
Europe: FTSE 100 +0.27%, DAX +0.01%, CAC 40 +0.08%
Asia: Nikkei 225 -0.42%, Hang Seng -1.85%, CSI 300 -1.46%, Nifty 50 +0.38%
Newest
Morgan Stanley has fined employees who use messaging apps like WhatsApp and others for work-related communications, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The fines, which ranged from a few thousand dollars to over $1 million per employee, were established by taking into account various elements, including the quantity of messages sent, seniority, and whether or not they had previously been warned.
Top advertisers cut their spending on Twitter by 71% in December as a result of Elon Musk’s recent takeover, according to data from an advertising research firm.
The latest Standard Media Index (SMI) data comes as Twitter works to reverse the advertiser exodus. It has launched a slew of initiatives to win back advertisers, including offering some free ads, lifting a ban on political advertising, and giving businesses more control over the placement of their ads.