In political terms, Biden’s arrival in Israel represents a gesture of support.
From an economic perspective, consumer momentum contributed to the improvement of the Chinese economy last quarter.
In the business context, Morgan Stanley saw a 9% drop in profits due to declining revenue in investment banking. On the other hand, Bank of America’s profits exceed forecasts. In turn, he broke with tradition at PwC with the unexpected retirement of Tim Ryan.
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Policy
- On Wednesday morning, President Biden arrived in Israel in a gesture of support for this US ally, in the midst of the conflict with Hamas, as the number of victims rises on both sides. While Israelis and Palestinians blamed each other for a deadly explosion that devastated a hospital in Gaza where many civilians were taking shelter amid Israel’s daily bombardment, killing hundreds of people. In turn, President Biden said he relied on a U.S. military assessment in saying that an errant Islamic Jihad missile was responsible for the deadly hospital explosion, and not an Israeli airstrike.
Economy
- Official data released on Wednesday showed that the Chinese economy grew 4.9% year-on-year in the third quarter and 1.3% compared to the previous quarter. The latter figure was almost twice as fast as the second quarter’s 0.8% increase. In September, there was a notable increase in consumer loans. Outstanding medium- and long-term loans, which are a benchmark for mortgages, increased by 324 billion yuan, approximately $44 billion. These numbers represented the highest level since January and the second highest in almost two years.
Business
- Morgan Stanley reported a 9% decline in third-quarter earnings compared to a year ago, primarily due to a notable drop in deal-making activity. Investment banking revenue decreased 27% to $938 million. Overall, major banks are facing a continued slowdown in dealmaking activity, but Morgan Stanley underperformed compared to others. JPMorgan Chase reported a slight decline in investment banking revenue, while Citigroup and Bank of America reported increases. Goldman Sachs maintained relatively stable investment banking revenues.
- Bank of America reported a rise in third-quarter profits as the country’s second-largest bank continued to benefit from higher interest rates, and its traders had their best performance in a decade. The bank reported a 10% increase in profits, reaching $7.8 billion for the quarter compared to the same period a year earlier. This growth in earnings was accompanied by a 3% increase in revenue. The bank’s results were further strengthened by cost-cutting measures, which included the elimination of more than 4,000 positions in the last six months, reducing total headcount to just under 213,000 at the end of September.
- Tim Ryan, who has led PwC’s U.S. operations since 2016, surprised colleagues by withdrawing his candidacy and informing them that he would retire in June, breaking the convention that PwC’s U.S. leaders rise to the top job globally. . This decision was made ahead of planned final presentations by the shortlisted candidates to the firm’s global board, which is expected to make its decision before the end of the year.
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