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Groton Daily Independent
Friday, May 17, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 3088 ~ 54 of 55
government debts that have piled up over the years. The government has also told the current attorney general, who cleared Najib of wrongdoing in 2016, to go on leave, and has relieved the country’s treasury chief, who is also the 1MDB chairman.
The government has set up a five-member committee, including a former attorney general and an ad- viser to Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority, to handle the 1MDB case.
Asian stocks marginally higher on backdrop of US-China talks By YOUKYUNG LEE, AP Business Writer
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Asian stock markets were marginally higher on Friday as U.S. and Chinese officials held a new round of talks seeking to avert a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.4 percent to 22,925.04 and South Korea’s Kospi index also added 0.2 percent to 2,452.48. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.1 percent to 30,965.82. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.2 percent to 3,161.40. But Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2 percent
to 6,081.40. Stocks rose in Taiwan and were mixed in Southeast Asia.
ANALYST’S TAKE: “A lack of data lies ahead of this Friday, leaving the U.S.-China trade developments the
key item to occupy the market’s attention into the end of the week,” said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at IG in Singapore. “This all leaves risk assets with little guide of a direction.”
TRADE TALKS: The Trump administration has proposed tariffs on up to $150 billion in Chinese products to punish Beijing for forcing American companies to turn over technology in exchange for access to the Chinese market. China has countered by targeting $50 billion in U.S. products. Neither country has im- posed the tariffs.
TRUMP: While fielding questions from reporters Thursday afternoon, Trump suggested the talks may not end up averting a trade war with China: “Will that be successful? I tend to doubt it,” Trump said.
WALL STREET: U.S. stock indexes closed slightly lower, with the S&P 500 index down 0.1 percent to 2,720.13. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.2 percent to 24,713.98. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.2 percent to 7,382.47. But the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 0.6 percent to 1,625.29.
OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 8 cents to $71.57 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract finished flat at $71.49 per barrel in the previous session. Brent crude, used to price international oil, gained 22 cents to $79.52 per barrel in London. It closed at $79.30 a barrel in the previous day, up 2 cents, after briefly touching above $80 a barrel, its highest level since November 2014.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 110.95 yen from 110.76 yen. The euro strengthened to $1.1801 from $1.1795.
Today in History By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Friday, May 18, the 138th day of 2018. There are 227 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 18, 1953, Jacqueline Cochran, 47, became the first woman to break the sound barrier as she
piloted a Canadair F-86 Sabre jet over Rogers Dry Lake, California.
On this date:
In 1152, Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, married Henry, Duke of Normandy (the future King Henry II),
two months after her marriage to King Louis VII of France was annulled.
In 1642, the Canadian city of Montreal was founded by French colonists. (On this date in 1765, one-
quarter of Montreal was destroyed by a fire.)
In 1652, Rhode Island became the first American colony to pass a law abolishing African slavery; how-
ever, the law was apparently never enforced.