Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has held a telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“Had a long informative telephone conversation with the head of China Xi Jinping. I believe that it, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China will give a powerful boost to the development of our bilateral relations,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
The president of Ukraine has appointed Pavlo Ryabikin as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the People’s Republic of China.
According to the official portal of the President of Ukraine, this is enshrined in the decree of the head of state No. 239/2023 of April 26, 2023
From November 2021 to March 2023 Ryabikin was the Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine.
Stock indices of Asia-Pacific region do not show common dynamics at the trading on Wednesday.
Pressure on the market is growing fears of a new wave of banking crisis in the U.S. after the publication of reports First Republic Bank, which showed a sharp outflow of investors’ funds from deposits at the bank in the first quarter.
Investors’ attention is focused on the next meeting of the Bank of Japan, the results of which will be summarized on Friday. The day before the new head of the Japanese Central Bank Kazuo Ueda confirmed his intention to keep soft monetary policy in the country.
“Given the current economic, inflation and financial conditions, I think it is appropriate to maintain a soft policy with the current yield curve control,” Ueda said during a speech to a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
In addition, the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party is due to meet this week. Experts expect the ruling party leaders to focus on measures to improve business sentiment, boost employment and strengthen the housing market without additional stimulus.
Traditionally, the results of the meeting of the Politburo set the tone for the Chinese government policy in the coming months.
Chinese stock index Shanghai Composite gained 0,19% in the course of trading on Wednesday, the Hong Kong Hang Seng went up by 1,02%.
Leaders of the decline in mainland China are shares of technology companies: Dawning Information fell by 5.5%, 360 Security Technology fell by 3.1%, Inspur Electronic fell by 2.5% and iFLYTEK fell by 4.8%.
Shares of Chinese liquor maker Kweichow Moutai Co. are up 1.1% thanks to the company’s strong first-quarter report.
Aluminum Corp. of China gained 2.4 percent despite a decline in the aluminum maker’s net income and revenue last quarter.
In Hong Kong, shares of JD.Com (+4.1%), BYD Co. (+3.4%) and Geely Automobile (+3%) rose.
Hong Kong exports fell 1.5% to $367.2 billion in March, official data showed. The drop was recorded for the 11th month in a row, but its pace was the weakest since last May.
Imports fell 0.6%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index lost 0.7% in trading.
Shares of financial companies Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui fell in price by 1.8% and 2.5% respectively.
The value of Nidec securities fell by 2.2%, Hitachi – 1.5%, Sony Group – 1.6%.
South Korea’s KOSPI stock index lost 0.06% in trading and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.05%.
Inflation in Australia slowed to 7% in the first quarter of 2023 from 7.8% in the fourth quarter of last year, according to released data. The rate of inflation in January-March was the slowest since the second quarter of 2022.
Agro-industrial holding Astarta does not expect a significant drop in income because of the ban on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine imposed by Poland and other neighboring countries, as it intends to export its products to Western European countries, representatives of the company’s board said at an online conference on Tuesday.
“We have permission to transit through these countries. Rather, our export targets are Western European countries, such as Spain, Italy, Greece and Croatia. We don’t see much risk to our revenues,” Infostrefa quoted Astarta Commercial Director Vyacheslav Chuk as saying from a conference call Tuesday.
Julia Bereshchenko, director of investor relations, expressed confidence that Astarta will be supported by expected sugar shortages in the EU and world market.
“Sugar shortages are expected not only in the EU, but worldwide as the world’s largest sugar producers, such as Brazil and India, begin to use sugar to produce ethanol. This could potentially reduce these countries’ exports,” she said.
As reported, Astarta agro-industrial holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, received EUR65.16 million net profit in 2022, down 46.8% compared to 201.
The holding’s EBITDA shrank by 23.2% to EUR154.77 mln, while revenues increased by 3.8% to EUR510.07 mln.
Oil prices are declining on Tuesday afternoon after rising in the previous two sessions amid a stronger dollar. In addition, investors continue to evaluate the prospects for fuel demand.
The price of June Brent crude futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange stood at $82.18 a barrel by 3:17 p.m. Tuesday, down $0.55 (0.66%) from the previous session’s closing price.
The price of June WTI futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is down $0.51 (0.65%) to $78.25 a barrel by this time.
The DXY index, which shows the value of the U.S. dollar against six major world currencies, is up 0.2% in trading, making oil less attractive to holders of other currencies.
The market also fears further tightening of monetary policy by central banks, which could have a negative impact on global economic growth and demand for energy, writes Trading Economics.
Additional pressure on prices is reducing the profitability of processing at Asian enterprises. Analysts attribute the decline in profitability to, among other things, the increase in production at new refineries in the Middle East.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has provided state guarantees to the Export Credit Agency, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said.
“We are intensifying the work of the Export Credit Agency. We want as many Ukrainian businesses as possible to export their products abroad. Moreover, we see that there is a demand from business, but many enterprises lack resources and need state support,” Shmygal said at a government meeting on Tuesday.
In this regard, he said, the government passed a resolution to strengthen the Export Credit Agency.
“Now the agency will get state guarantees to more actively support Ukrainian exporters. This will increase the competitiveness of Ukrainian goods and services and contribute to a more rapid recovery of our economy,” Shmygal added.
As the representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada Taras Melnychuk reported in Telegram, the procedure for providing state guarantees to secure debt obligations of the private joint stock company Export Credit Agency, namely, providing state guarantees for debt obligations of the company (obligations of a borrower to a creditor on a loan (loan), arising from the placement (issue) of debt securities or entering into loan agreements) was approved.
