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A32 WORLD NEWS
DIAMARS 22 SEPTEMBER 2020

Asian markets lower after Wall St declines for third week

(AP) — Asian stock mar- posite lost 1.1% to 10,793.28.
kets were mostly lower
Monday after Wall Street Apple Inc. dropped 3.2%,
declined for a third week Microsoft Corp. fell 1.2%
and Britain reported a rise and Amazon.com Inc. slid
in coronavirus infections. 1.8%. Markets also are on
Benchmarks in Shanghai, edge about U.S.-Chinese
Hong Kong and Sydney tension over trade, technol-
retreated. Japanese mar- ogy and security. The White
kets were closed for a holi- House said Friday it would
day. ban downloads of the popu-
lar Chinese-owned Chinese
On Friday, Wall Street’s apps TikTok and WeChat,
benchmark S&P 500 index citing security concerns.A
lost 1.1%, led by a sell-off of federal judge on Saturday
tech companies that led this agreed to postpone the re-
year's rebound. Investors strictions on WeChat on the
worry they might have be- grounds they might interfere
come to expensive. with free speech. The same
Market momentum shifted day, President Donald Trump
after the Federal Reserve said endorsed an agreement for
last week the U.S. economic TikTok, a unit of China’s
outlook is uncertain. Growth ByteDance Ltd., to form a
in some industries has slowed U.S. company with Oracle
after additional unemploy- infections, its biggest daily vanced. Corp. and Walmart Inc.
ment benefits that supported rise since early May. An offi- Global markets have recov- Forecasters warn, however,
consumer spending slowed. cial estimate shows new cases ered most of this year’s loss- that the rebound might be In energy markets, bench-
Congress has yet to agree on and hospital admissions are es, though the bulk of gains too early to be supported by mark U.S. crude gained 11
a new support package. doubling every week. went to big tech companies uncertain economic activity cents to $41.22 per barrel
“With 43 days to the U.S. The Shanghai Composite and a handful of stocks, while as infection numbers rise in in electronic trading on the
election, fingers crossed may Index lost 0.2% to 3,330.03 most issues still are down. the United States, Brazil and New York Mercantile Ex-
be what little one can do and the Hang Seng in Hong Investors have been encour- some other countries. change. Brent crude, the
when it comes to the fiscal Kong shed 0.6% to 24,310.84. aged by central bank infu- Some governments have re- price standard for interna-
stimulus hopes,” said Jingyi The Kospi in Seoul was up sions of credit into struggling imposed anti-disease con- tional oils, advanced 9 cents
Pan of IG in a report. less than 0.1% at 2,413.19, economies and hopes for a trols that hamper business. to $43.24 per barrel in Lon-
while Sydney’s S&P-ASX vaccine to end the coronavi- On Wall Street, the S&P 500 don.
Investors also were rattled by 200 sank 0.7% to 5,823.70. rus pandemic that plunged declined to 3,319.47 on Fri- The dollar declined to 104.37
a rise in coronavirus cases in the global economy into its day. The Dow Jones Indus- yen from Friday 104.18 yen.
Britain. On Sunday, the gov- New Zealand declined, while deepest downturn since the trial Average dropped 0.9% to The euro gained to $1.1861
ernment reported 4,422 new Singapore and Jakarta ad- 1930s. 27,657.42. The Nasdaq com- from $1.1843.

UK defends planned Brexit deal breach as Biden slams move

(AP) — The British gov- to break parts of the EU di- government bill would un- intended “precisely to make The EU has demanded the
ernment faced more op- vorce deal relating to North- dermine Northern Ireland sure that the Belfast Agree- British government drop its
position Thursday to its ern Ireland has triggered fears peace, if passed by lawmak- ment is upheld in all circum- plan by the end of Septem-
plans to breach the Brexit it could undermine the 1998 ers. stances.” ber or face legal action. The
agreement with the Euro- Good Friday peace accord “We will continue to engage bill, which began its jour-
pean Union, with Demo- that ended decades of vio- Raab is meeting U.S. poli- with our U.S. partners on ney through Parliament this
cratic presidential candi- lence between Irish national- ticians including House a bipartisan basis to ensure week, has also caused an up-
date Joe Biden becoming ists and British unionists. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who that our positions are under- roar in Britain.
the latest American politi- has warned that Britain won’t stood,” he said. Johnson has
cian to express alarm and “We can’t allow the Good Fri- secure a much sought-after suggested the bloc might not Five former British prime
the EU rejecting the U.K.'s day Agreement that brought trade deal with the United be negotiating in good faith ministers have criticized
stated rationale. peace to Northern Ireland to States — which would re- in talks on post-Brexit rela- Johnson’s willingness to
become a casualty of Brexit,” quire congressional approval tions — an accusation which break international law, and
An EU spokesman insisted Biden tweeted. — if it undermines the peace irked the EU. the government’s top legal
the 27-nation bloc was ne- “Any trade deal between the accord. “I can point to hundreds, civil servant and most senior
gotiating in good faith with U.S. and U.K. must be con- Raab insisted the U.K. has literally hundreds of inter- law officer for Scotland have
the U.K. and had "literally tingent upon respect for the an “absolute” commitment national agreements signed both resigned. In an attempt
hundreds” of international Agreement and preventing to the Good Friday Agree- with very, very different three to quiet unease among law-
deals with which to prove its the return of a hard border. ment. He described Britain’s parties of all of all kinds,”sEU makers from Johnson’s Con-
reliability as a partner after Period,” he wrote. planned law as “precaution- spokesman Eric Mamer said. servative Party, the govern-
British Prime Minister Boris Britain and the EU jointly ary” and “proportionate.” “They are testifying to, as I ment late Wednesday offered
Johnson insinuated the op- promised in the Brexit di- Secretary of State Mike Pom- think you say in English, a a compromise that would
posite. vorce agreement to ensure peo said the U.S. was clear on rather splendid track record require Parliament to vote
Johnson has argued that his there are no customs posts or the importance of the peace when it comes to carrying out before the government took
government is pursuing a law other obstacles on the North- accords but understood “the negotiations in good faith.” any actions that broke inter-
that would override parts of ern Ireland-Ireland border. complexity of the situation.” If Johnson had any doubts, national law.
the Brexit deal as an insur- The open border is key to the Mamer said, “what I would
ance policy against “unrea- stability that underpins the “We trust the United King- simply do is ask you to go The U.K. withdrew from the
sonable” behavior by the EU peace settlement. dom. I am confident they’ll and talk to those third parties EU’s political institutions on
that could threaten the U.K. British Foreign Secretary get it right,” he said after with whom we have signed Jan. 31 but remains in a tar-
unity by disrupting trade be- Dominic Raab is in Washing- meeting Raab. these agreements. And I’m iff-free transition period until
tween Northern Ireland and ton this week, and has been Jamie Davies, a spokesman sure that they will testify to the end of the year while ne-
the rest of the country. trying to assuage Ameri- for the British prime minis- the quality of our negotia- gotiators work out the terms
JThe prime minister's move can concerns that a British ter, said the proposed law was tion.” of a future