Pelosi’s new offer
Speaker of the US House of Representatives Democrat Nancy Pelosi, announced on Monday a new $2.2 trillion aid bill prepared by her party to counter the economic devastation caused by the Covid19 pandemic.
In a letter sent by Pelosi’s office to Democratic representatives, it was stated that the bill “includes new funds for schools, small businesses, restaurants, performance spaces, and airline employees.”
Pelosi recently said that she thought an agreement could be reached with the White House on a new coronavirus aid package.
It was not clear when the Democratic proposal would be voted on.
Pelosi and Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer held talks throughout the summer with Trump administration’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows over a 5th aid package, but negotiations collapsed on August 7, when the parties disagreed on the size of the package.
Pelosi and Mnuchin spoke again on the phone Sunday and Monday. The two sides are scheduled to speak again on Tuesday morning.
Oil market
Oil prices fell on Tuesday as continued demand concerns over the coronavirus outbreak outweighed the hopes of a new stimulus package in the US.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures fell 34 cents, or 0.8%, to $ 40.26 / barrel at 06:45 London time.
Brent crude oil futures, which were more active for December, fell 32 cents, or 0.8%, to $ 42.55 a barrel. November contracts, which end Wednesday, fell 27 cents to $ 42.16 a barrel.
Investors will look for signs of growth in American energy demand from American Petroleum Institute data on Tuesday and from the US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. Analysts estimate that US crude inventories rose by 1.4 million barrels over the past week.
Investors are also following the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. If the conflict escalates, oil and gas exports from Azerbaijan could be affected.
Meanwhile, data from the Japanese Ministry of Finance showed that the country’s crude oil imports fell more than 25% in August compared to the previous year.
Dollar and indices
As the markets await the first debate among the US presidential candidates, signs of progress in US fiscal stimulus talks, and economic data, including German inflation, the dollar approached 2-month highs on Tuesday.
The dollar recouped some losses on Monday after raising its biggest weekly gains since early April last week as investors were cautiously looking for safer assets. The dollar index hovered between 94.07 and 94.30 on Tuesday ahead of the debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden.
The 90-minute television debate, scheduled for Tuesday at 9:00 PM EST (Wednesday at 01:00 AM GMT), will be watched closely for signs of how the market is responding to the success of both candidates’ efforts to gain an advantage over each other.
European shares fell on Tuesday amid investors’ expectations of the first US presidential debate and fiscal stimulus package talks in Washington.
The wide range Euro STOXX 600 fell 0.4%, losing gains from the previous day, with indices in Frankfurt DAX, Paris CAC, and London FTSE each falling between 0.4% and 0.5%.
Meng case
Canadian prosecutors are preparing to present new arguments Tuesday after lawyers defending Meng Wanzhou, director of finance at Chinese tech giant Huawei, stepped up efforts to stop her extradition to the United States.
The hearing will take place in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province. Meng’s lawyers made an additional defense Monday regarding their claim of abuse of power by Canadian and US officials during the arrest of their clients.
Meng, 48, was detained by Canada at the behest of the US in December 2018 on charges of misleading HSBC over Huawei’s trade deals in Iran and causing the bank to violate US sanctions law, leading to an ongoing technological and diplomatic confrontation between the two North American countries and China.
