North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies have over 2,000 German-made Leopard tanks, considered to be among the most sophisticated in the world, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Russia's Influence Wanes in Ex-Soviet States as It Pursues Ukraine War
MOSCOW-Escalating tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan are exposing the declining influence of Russia in its backyard, as the Kremlin diverts money and manpower to the war in Ukraine.
The situation regards Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory in the South Caucasus that has been disputed, often violently, by the two former Soviet republics for almost three decades. The enclave is home to 120,000 people, mostly ethnic Armenians, but is internationally recognized as being part of Azerbaijan.
French Workers Strike in Protest of Macron's Plan to Raise Retirement Age
PARIS-Thousands of people took to the streets and workers across France went on strike Thursday to protest the government's plan to raise the country's retirement age, kicking off what is expected to be a protracted battle between unions and President Emmanuel Macron.
The French capital ground to a halt as teachers and railway, health and oil workers went on strike, forcing many schools and nurseries to shut down. Several museums, including the Louvre, said parts of their collections wouldn't open. Trains, subways and buses were severely curtailed, and dozens of flights were canceled. More than 10,000 police officers were deployed across the country, including 1,500 in Paris.
GLOBAL NEWS
Treasury to Begin Extraordinary Measures to Pay Bills Amid Debt-Ceiling Debate
The Treasury Department is set to begin taking special measures to keep paying the government's bills on Thursday as the divided Congress braces for a potentially lengthy and difficult debate over raising the debt ceiling.
With the federal government about to run up against the debt limit, which Congress set at roughly $31.4 trillion in 2021, the Treasury Department has said it expects to start deploying so-called extraordinary measures. Those accounting maneuvers, which include suspending investments for certain government accounts, will allow the Treasury to keep paying obligations to bondholders, Social Security recipients and others until at least early June, the department said last week.
Big Hedge Funds Are Top Performers, for a Change
Lately, bigger is better for hedge funds.
For the first time since 2018, larger hedge funds outperformed smaller hedge funds. The evidence: HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index, which gives equal weight to funds of all sizes, fell -4.25% in 2022, while the HFRI Asset Weighted Composite Index, which gives more weighting to the larger funds, rose: 0.97%.
China's Property Bust Compounds Economic Pain
HONG KONG-China's housing market flipped from being a growth driver to an economic drag in 2022, with sales slumping, prices falling and widespread job losses. The prognosis for this year isn't much better, compounding Beijing's efforts to get its economy back on firmer footing.
Sales of new residential properties in the country tumbled 28% last year to the equivalent of $1.7 trillion in value terms, a five-year low. By floor area, they dropped to their lowest level in nearly a decade, after a wave of real-estate developer debt defaults, delays in construction of unfinished apartments and Covid-19 lockdowns dampened consumer confidence.
Two Fed Officials Back Quarter-Point Rate Rise Next Month
NEWARK, Del.-Two Federal Reserve officials said they would favor raising interest rates at the central bank's next meeting by a quarter percentage point, further slowing the pace of increases.
The Fed raised rates by a half point at its meeting last month, stepping down the pace after four consecutive increases of 0.75 point aimed at combating high inflation. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said Wednesday she supported that decision "and the same considerations suggest slowing the pace further at the upcoming meeting" on Jan. 31-Feb. 1.
Stocks flash rare bull-market signal for first time in nearly 3 years. But some have their doubts.
A technical signal that has portended previous turning points for the U.S. stock market arrived for the first time in nearly three years, according to data supplied by its creator.
But some on Wall Street suspect it may no longer be as reliable as it once was.
Australia Interest-Rate Expectations Shift as Economy Sheds Jobs
SYDNEY-Australia's economy unexpectedly shed 14,600 jobs in December, suggesting that interest-rate rises by the country's central bank could be starting to have an impact.
The unemployment rate was unchanged from November's restated 3.5%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Thursday. Economists had expected the jobless rate to remain at a 48-year low of 3.4% for a third consecutive month, with the addition of about 25,000 jobs.
Japan Exports Logged 22nd Straight Month of Growth in December
Japan's exports rose for the 22nd consecutive month in December 2022, driven by overseas demand for autos and mineral fuels, Ministry of Finance data showed Thursday.
Exports rose 11.5% in December from a year earlier, which was weaker than November's 20% increase but stronger than the 9.5% increase forecast by economists surveyed by data provider FactSet.
Treasury Rally Intensifies After Signs of Slowing Growth
The 2023 rally in U.S. Treasurys picked up new momentum on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan maintained its cap on bond yields while new data pointed to a further slowdown in U.S. inflation and economic activity.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note settled at 3.374%, according to Tradeweb, down from 3.534% Tuesday and marking its lowest close since early September.
Crypto Platform Bitzlato Charged With Laundering More Than $700 Million of Illicit Money
U.S. authorities designated cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato Ltd. as a primary money-laundering concern and charged its founder for allegedly facilitating money laundering for criminals.
The Treasury Department designated Bitzlato under a section of the USA Patriot Act, a law used to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, for allegedly laundering illicit funds for ransomware actors based in Russia. This type of action, a rarely used so-called death-knell sanction that cuts off the entity from the U.S. financial system, has been used mainly in the past against banks and other financial institutions and in most cases has forced the institution to close.
Jacinda Ardern to Step Down as New Zealand Prime Minister
SYDNEY-New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she would step down by Feb. 7 after over five years as leader, as the country grapples with the prospect of a recession stemming partly from its strict response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ms. Ardern, 42 years old, has struggled to reverse her Labour Party's slide in the polls ahead of an election due later this year, and said on Thursday that she lacked the energy to do the job. It marks a turnaround for a leader whose pandemic policies, including lengthy border closures, helped her party to a landslide win in the last election in 2020.
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-19-23 0613ET
