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Markets track US losses with rates seen rising further

Global markets fell as central banks consider interest rate hikes to combat high inflation, with uncertainty surrounding the Fed’s tightening cycle.

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HONG KONG, CHINA — Markets in Asia and Europe fell on Thursday as traders contemplated the prospect of more central bank interest rate hikes as they struggle to tame persistently high inflation.

Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell dealt a blow to investors hoping its tightening cycle may be near an end by warning US lawmakers it “may make sense” to keep lifting.

His comments came as pressure built on the Bank of England to announce a bigger-than-expected increase at Thursday’s meeting after news that the United Kingdom’s inflation was unchanged at 8.7 per cent in May, confounding forecasts.

The European Central Bank last week joined Canada and Australia in hiking further, with Switzerland following suit on Thursday. Norway is also tipped to lift later in the day.

Turkey was also tipped to reverse course from years of unconventional economics promoted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and dramatically raise interest rates to fight soaring inflation and steady the troubled lira.

After holding rates last week for the first time since starting last March, speculation had been growing that the Fed was close to calling it a day altogether, thanks to slowing price rises and a softer jobs market.

However, in congressional testimony on Wednesday, Powell said: “Given how far we’ve come, it may make sense to move rates higher but to do so at a more moderate pace.”

He added that while progress was being made — inflation dropped to 4.0 per cent last month from 4.9 per cent in April — it “has consistently surprised us — and essentially all other forecasters — by being more persistent than expected”.

Two more rate hikes this year was “a pretty good guess”, he said.

The Fed has already raised its benchmark lending rate by five percentage points since March 2022, from close to zero to 5.0-5.25 per cent.

Traders say there is a 75 per cent probability officials will hike by 25 basis points at their July meeting, according to data from CME Group.

The expected increase in rates has revived worries the economy will tip into recession.

“The Fed is clearly not nearing the end of its tightening cycle and if other central banks seem poised to deliver more than a couple rate hikes, that might make it easier for the Fed to remain aggressive with tightening,” said OANDA’s Edward Moya.

“Powell said lowering inflation has a long way to go and that could very well mean that they won’t stop until the fall.”

All three main indexes on Wall Street fell for a third-straight session, and Asia followed on Thursday.

Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, Manila, Wellington, Mumbai, Wellington, Bangkok and Jakarta were all in the red, though Seoul eked out a gain.

London, Paris and Frankfurt were also sharply lower at the open.

Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed.

Markets across Asia have gone into reverse this week, having enjoyed a healthy run-up in previous weeks on hopes that the tightening cycle was nearing an end and on talk that China was preparing a raft of stimulus measures.

The optimism was fanned by the central bank’s decision to cut borrowing costs last week, though a smaller-than-expected reduction in the main benchmark rate this week knocked confidence.

The failure of Beijing to unveil any concrete policies to kickstart the stuttering economy has fed fears that the recovery from a Covid lockdown-induced slowdown has already come to an end.

Analysts said the traders are now looking ahead to a key meeting next month that will be headed by President Xi Jinping.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

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25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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