10 things you need to know in markets, October 19

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Good morning! Here’s what you need to know in markets on Friday.

1.Asian rebounded from declines on
Friday as China’s efforts to bolster investor confidence helped
its share markets rally. Data showing
China’s economy growing at the slowest pace since 2009 capped
broader gains. Chinese policy makers
have stepped up their efforts to ease concerns about the ongoing
sell-off in domestic stocks.

2. US President Donald Trump said missing journalist Jamal
Khashoggi is likely dead based on “intelligence coming from every
side.” Trump said there would be
“very severe” consequences if the Saudis killed him.
Meanwhile, Saudi
Arabia is reportedly planning to admit Jamal Khashoggi was
murdered. Officials reportedly plan to scapegoat a
two-star general and say he botched a plan to interrogate
Khashoggi and accidentally killed him. More
officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, are
pulling away from Saudi Arabia. Here’s
the full
list.

3. Insurer AIG said on Thursday it expects
third-quarter pre-tax catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, of
between $1.5 billion and $1.7 billion. “These
losses are largely associated with multiple events in Japan,
including Typhoons Jebi and Trami, as well as Hurricane Florence
and revisions to our loss estimates on the California mudslides,”
AIG said. The shares fell about 4% in extended trading.

4. Banks on Thursday
pushed back on how regulators are attempting to simplify
rules prohibiting banks from trading on their own account, a
development that is likely to delay efforts to wrap up the
overhaul in the coming months. On May 30, U.S.
regulators unveiled a plan to modify the so-called Volcker Rule
introduced following the 2007-2009 financial crisis, aiming to
make compliance easier for many firms and relieving small banks
altogether.

5. The
US is pulling out of an obscure 144-year-old treaty to take a
shot at China in the trade
war. The Universal Postal Union
helps set international postage rates, and Chinese goods coming
into the US are currently subject to lower postage rates.

6. A
top US commander in Afghanistan survived a deadly insider attack
that killed senior Afghan officials and wounded two
Americans. The incident follows
two other fatal insider
attacks this year.

7. Government
debt levels are about to become a ‘major focus’ for global
markets.
Global
markets are becoming increasingly vulnerable to rising levels of
government debt, warns ANZ. 
The analysts said a troubling shift is underway
in the fiscal policies of the US and Europe which may prove
difficult to unwind. 
In
short, government debt levels are back on the rise again.

8. Russian
President Vladimir Putin warned that any
country that threatens Russia with nuclear weapons will “drop
dead.” Putin said that aggressors
who strike Russia will perish as sinners, while Russian “martyrs”
will go to heaven.

9. President
Trump threatened to summon the military and wreck a Mexico trade
deal amid a burgeoning migrant crisis.Trump is
concerned about a caravan of migrants that has grown to 4,000
people, and is currently trekking through Guatemala en route to
the US.

10. China’s
biggest retailer is coming to America with the help of
Google. It will be the first time
the Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com can sell directly to US
customers.