European stocks fall on China slowdown

EUroPe A n stocks and oil re-

In T ernATIonA L Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) said on Monday its cargo handling operations at the La Plata Port adjacent to Buenos Aires in Argentina has received the inaugural call of Zim Integrated Shipping Services’ Patagonia e x press Service (PeS).

The said service connects Argentinian trade to the United States and the Caribbean gu lf, among other destinations.

“We are pleased to receive the Contship Key at TecPlata and start this new connection with the north American gulf coast. This strategic alliance with ZIM enables us to offer new services and logistics distribution to our clients.

We are confident that this service will strengthen TecPlata’s position as a strategic trade port on the east Coast of South America,” TecPlata Ceo Juan Pablo Trujillo said.

The service links Argentina to the Caribbean and the US gu lf Coast through the ports of Kingston, a major Caribbean hub, and Houston in the gu lf of Mexico.

PeS made the inaugural call at TecPlata with the arrival of the 1,000-TeU boxship Contship Key.

Trujillo said with its present network set up, the service expected to call TecPlata every 45 days.

He added that the maritime service from La Plata to Kingston and Houston provides a “reliable and efficient connection” for Argentinian foreign trade, offering commercial opportunities that promote economic growth in the region. Lorenz S. Marasigan

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

EnergY Secretary r aphael Lo- tilla is hopeful that the latest Court of Appeals (CA) decision that allowed the power units of SMC global Power Holdings Corp. to adjust its locked-in power rates will not have an adverse impact on the committed liquefied natural gas (Lng) projects.

“We anticipate while there are possible effects, I don’t think this, in the long run, is going to affect the other projects. The situation is evolving and we continue to monitor the situation. I am hopeful this is not going to delay or interact the Lng projects.

As you know, the Philippines now has two storage and regassification for Lng and one of them is actively connected with or related to the Ilijan power plant that SMC is operating,” said Lotilla during a television interview on Monday. treated, while bonds rallied as more evidence pointed to a slowdown in China’s economy.

SMC global Power, which received a favorable decision from the appellate court, recently took delivery of the country’s first-ever Lng cargo that will fuel its Ilijan power plant.

The CA has upheld the position taken by the units of SMC global Power that the grant of the fuel price adjustment is the least cost option rather than buying replacement power from the spot market or other suppliers.

“We expect that by August or September this will be fully functional, although it already started to contribute to the supply for the country as early as around June,” added Lotilla.

The CA granted the petitions filed by South Premiere Power Corp.

(SPPC) and San Miguel energy Corp. (SMeC) to annul the 2022 orders issued by the energy r egulatory Commission (erC) that rejected the generation companies’ plea for electricity price increase.

The CA ruled that the erC acted “with grave abuse of discretion” by denying the petitions of SPPC, SMeC and the Manila electric Company (Meralco) for a rate hike of around P0.30 per kwh due to higher fuel costs. The erC will appeal the case.

“Most probably, it is going to appeal that particular decision to the Supreme Court,” Lotilla said.

“It is important we look at the stability of contracts…between distribution utilities and power generation firms. We don’t want to undermine that because then everything else will be unstable,” he added.

Lv MH and Hermes International lost more than 4 percent, leading declines among French luxury stocks and dragging the CAC 40 Index down 1.3 percent. Cartier owner r ichemont sank 9 percent after reporting an unexpected drop in sales from the Americas.

After a week of historic stockmarket gains, investors started Monday on a downbeat note after data that showed China’s growth for the second quarter missed estimates.

The narrative that Chinese shoppers coming out of Covid lockdowns would be able to carry the global economy, despite rising US and european interest rates is looking increasingly shaky as economic reports continue to signal slowing momentum. “China growth weakness has been brewing in the background for months,” said Pooja Kumra, senior european rates strategist at Toronto Dominion Bank. “Clearly growth has not been able to keep pace with expectations.”

The MSCI ACWI of stocks worldwide dipped 0.1 percent on Monday after surging 3 percent last week. Shares in mainland China were the worst performers in Asia.

With its heavy dependence on the Chinese import market, european stocks are especially vulnerable. Companies tied to energy and raw materials together make up about 12 percent of the Stoxx europe 600, and consumer discretionary industries account for 11 percent. JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists expect further weakness in the region driven by lower bond yields as well as earnings disappointments.

Bonds extended a rally as investors looked to hedge any downturn in stocks and the economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell five basis points to 3.77 percent.

Crude futures dropped 1.5 percent as traders weighed disappointing Chinese economic data and restarting Libyan supplies against signs of a tightening market.

In other commodity markets, wheat futures jumped after ru ssia terminated a grain-export deal, jeopardizing a key trade route from Ukraine, one of the world’s top grain and vegetable oil shippers. e l sewhere, Activision Blizzard Inc. rallied 4 percent in US premarket trading after a US appeals court on Friday denied a Federal Trade Commission bid to pause Microsoft Corp.’s acquisition of the company.

The next pressure point for markets will be earnings, with hundreds of companies reporting over the next few weeks. S&P 500 firms are expected to post a 9-percent drop in profits in the second quarter, making it the worst season since 2020, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence. In europe, it may be even worse, with a projected 12-percent slump. Bloomberg News