Kaohoon Morning Brief – 18 November 2021

1) Hungary, Jamaica and Iceland hiked interest rates 

Hungary, Jamaica and Iceland are the latest three nations that the central banks decided to increase interest rates by 30bps to 2.1%, 50bps to 2.0% and 50bps to 2.0%, respectively. The number of hikes this year  increased by three from last week to 92 as central banks are pushing for rate hikes amid gradual economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

2) U.S. asked nations to release some oil reserves

The Biden administration has reportedly asked Japan, China and some of the world’s largest oil consumers to consider releasing some of their crude reserves in an effort to help relax the spike in oil price and also in a move to stimulate the economic recovery.

 

3) Angela Merkel expressed concerns on the 4-th wave of Covid-19

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed concerns on the ongoing Covid-19 situation in her country, describing it as “dramatic” and saying that the fourth wave is hitting Germany with full force.

The infection rate in the country is now at an 7-day average of 41,000 per day. The numbers continued to rise from lower than a thousand in early July.

Germany recorded more than 5.1 million cases in total and more than 98,000 fatalities in total.

 

4) Evergrande Group entered a deal to sell HengTen Network Holdings for $273 million

Cash-strapped property developer China Evergrande Group, in a filing, said that it is selling the entire stake in film and television streaming company HengTen Network Holdings for HK$2.13 billion (approx. $273 million). The sale of HengTen is Evergrande’s latest effort to raise capital.