Flagship

US market jumps on Trump win

US stock markets surged in the hours following Donald Trump’s reelection as US president, with the Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 indexes all reaching record highs yesterday. Joe Biden’s presidency long touted its tough approach to business, notably the blocking of several major mergers and acquisitions. The prospect of widespread deregulation under Trump and the expected departure of the heads of key regulatory watchdogs boosted the surge in the market. Meanwhile shares in private equity groups jumped between 8 and 10% on Wednesday, the Financial Times reported. Big Tech is hopeful too, having been the target of a series of antitrust investigations under Biden-appointed figures.

Central banks’ Trump conundrum

Central bankers across the world face a tricky few months ahead with the imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House. The US president-elect has said he will impose widespread tariffs on imports, a move the Bank of France chief said would bring “more protectionism” that “increases risks for the global economy.” The US Federal Reserve is today expected to announce a quarter-point cut in interest rates, but Trump’s victory has “set up traps” for the world’s central banks, the Financial Times’ economics commentator wrote. While most have been on a rates-cutting regime for months, Trump’s tariff agenda — which, if implemented, would worsen inflation — could pressure rate setters to raise the cost of borrowing again.

Biden’s last push on Ukraine aid

US President Joe Biden is racing to push through his foreign policy agenda with a bare three months before he leaves office. The administration “now has an expiration date, and a to-do list,” Foreign Policy reported, particularly getting around $6 billion of aid earmarked for Ukraine to Kyiv. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to cut assistance for Ukraine — “he’s going to halt it early, I’m certain of it,” one former Pentagon official told Politico — and Europe is trying to take the strain, with leaders meeting today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss boosting the continent’s support. But the problems they will face are symbolized by the meeting being held in Hungary, hosted by “genuine Trump fan” and Moscow sympathizer Viktor Orbàn, Politico noted.

China questions trade restrictions

China and other developing nations said that trade restrictions are contributing to rising global emissions, a move that comes in response to the European Union’s recent decision to impose import tariffs on Chinese EVs. The complaint — which Beijing hopes will be discussed at next week’s COP29 climate summit — follows a lawsuit China filed against the World Trade Organization over breaches to the body’s rules, The New York Times reported. Should trade barriers continue to go up against Chinese green tech, the sustainability agenda “could be dealt a devastating blow” at a time when the globe is reaching its highest temperatures ever, an expert warned on Project Syndicate.

Germany’s coalition collapses

Germany’s government is collapsing, and that may be a good thing, argued the Financial Times’ Europe editor Ben Hall. On Wednesday a seemingly minor dispute over a trivial budget shortfall finally split the three parties in Berlin’s ruling coalition after months of paralysis. The argument was a proxy for a “wider, and ultimately unbridgeable, ideological divide,” over Germany’s debt and spending, Hall wrote, and the government was non-functional. With France in political disarray and Europe’s wider economy stumbling, “Germany is Europe’s indispensable nation,” and the European Union cannot afford a power vacuum in Berlin, said Hall: Someone must take leadership to arm Ukraine and bolster the continent’s security.

South Africa’s economic hopes

Ratings agency Fitch signaled it may upgrade South Africa’s credit rating if the government sticks to its current debt-stabilization path. South Africa’s government debt as a share of GDP has soared to 75% — up more than 100% from 2010 — as Pretoria has attempted to reduce the impact of an economic crisis that has pushed the unemployment rate above 33%. However, the economy may be turning a corner: Investors have been heartened by the new coalition government, helping drive a revival of the country’s stock market. Meanwhile a government infrastructure investment package is expected to boost economic growth to 1.5% next year, the highest rate in three years.

Brazil’s sports betting problem

Just six years after sports betting was legalized in Brazil, gambling addiction has taken hold in the country. According to a recent government estimate, the sports betting market recorded $21 billion in transactions last year, up 71% from 2020. Brazil is now the third-biggest market in the world for sports betting, following the US and UK. To support their betting habit, many Brazilians have turned to loan sharks, while the soaring rates of addiction has also fed a wave of demand for Gambling Anonymous. The global sports betting market is forecast to grow at an annual rate of more than 10% through the rest of the decade, as countries ease restrictions on the industry.

Australia wants to ban social media

Australia’s government proposed to ban under-16s from using social media. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “Social media is doing harm to our kids,” and that parents should be able to say “Sorry, mate, it’s against the law.” Tech firms would be responsible for enforcing the ban, while children and their parents would not face penalties for flouting it. But key details of the proposed law are so far unclear, and one digital-media researcher told the Australian broadcaster SBS that the policy “will not work, and in fact, it may spectacularly backfire,” thanks to the difficulties of policing online activities.

Soccer star turns podcast impresario

A former England soccer star built one of the biggest podcast empires in the world, partly by accident. Gary Lineker was one of his country’s greatest goalscorers before becoming a sports broadcaster. But in 2019 his production company Goalhanger backed a small podcast about World War II history, which became a hit; he followed it up by supporting The Rest is History, in which two donnish Englishmen discuss topics such as Richard Nixon or the Battle of Agincourt, in bantering but knowledgeable style. Its stars now earn millions and fill stadiums for their live events, and later spinoffs have become nearly as successful, Esquire reported. Goalhanger is now the biggest non-US podcast company, and is trying to break America with The Rest is Politics US.

Japanese sake booms overseas

Sake is soaring in popularity overseas, part of a years-long boom in Japanese cuisine. The fermented rice drink is now sold to 75 countries and regions, with exports up 70% from three years ago and its brewing method set to make a UNESCO list, Nikkei Asia reported — but rising temperatures threaten the craft. Premium Japanese ice is also having a moment, especially in the US. Upscale bars like the high-purity, shaped ice because it is slow to melt and made from soft, low-mineral water that doesn’t alter the flavor of alcoholic drinks, unlike harder American tap water. In Japan, however, it’s a different story: Sake consumption is in decline and young people are increasingly shunning alcohol, leading hundreds of ice makers to close.

• Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
• The UN releases its report card on progress made in financing climate adaptation from rich countries to poor countries.
• The annual Field of Remembrance poppy display, in memory of those who lost their lives in World War I and World War II, opens at London’s Westminster Abbey.

The number of hours of observations on the James Webb Space Telescope for which astronomers have applied in its next year-long cycle. That is nine times the number of actual hours in a year. Webb has been a huge success since its deployment in 2022 — it has detected strange exoplanets and analyzed their atmospheres; it has seen galaxies from almost the very dawn of the universe. As a result, scientists are desperate to get observation time on it, and the supply — limited by the number of hours in a day — is far outweighed by demand.

Songs of a Lost World by The Cure. Robert Smith and friends return, 16 years after their last album. They’re not young any more, but then, “have The Cure ever been truly young?” asked Pitchfork: “Even as teenagers in England’s punk era, there was something suspiciously adult about this darkly elegant band,” and maybe that’s “why maturity suits them so well.” The new record is “regal, weary, and deliciously slow,” an “object lesson in the way rock music can age gracefully.” Listen to Songs of a Lost World on Spotify.

General Atlantic and its partner could begin construction of their first green hydrogen project in Oman within 18 months and have products to ship by 2030, Semafor’s Mohammed Sergie reported. The country has ambitions to become one of the world’s largest green hydrogen exporters, and expects its sales to exceed those of liquefied natural gas by 2050.