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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108064788-1731985547539-gettyimages-2184866467-HK_FINANCE_SUMMIT-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-556053" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108064788-1731985547539-gettyimages-2184866467-HK_FINANCE_SUMMIT-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108064788-1731985547539-gettyimages-2184866467-HK_FINANCE_SUMMIT-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108064788-1731985547539-gettyimages-2184866467-HK_FINANCE_SUMMIT-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108064788-1731985547539-gettyimages-2184866467-HK_FINANCE_SUMMIT-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108064788-1731985547539-gettyimages-2184866467-HK_FINANCE_SUMMIT-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108064788-1731985547539-gettyimages-2184866467-HK_FINANCE_SUMMIT.jpeg 1858w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">He Lifeng, China’s vice premier, during the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024.  Paul Yeung | Bloomberg | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Tuesday vowed to boost Hong Kong’s competitiveness by investing in the city’s innovation and delivering supportive financial policies.



Speaking at the third Global Financial Leaders Investment Summit, hosted by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, He reiterated Beijing’s commitment to “explore and implement” measures aimed at building Hong Kong as an “international financial center.” That’s according to CNBC’s translation of his spoken Mandarin.



Beijing’s stimulus measures have already “benefited” Hong Kong, said He, who oversees a key economic and financial policymaking body. “The upward trajectory of the economy is more certain.”



To strengthen its financial industry, Hong Kong needs to leverage measures from mainland China as well as its global connections, Li Yunze, minister of China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration, said in a panel following He’s speech.



Almost 80% of mainland businesses that seek an offshore listing would go to Hong Kong, Li said, stressing the city’s future “has always been intertwined with” China.



During the same panel, Wu Qing, head of China’s securities regulator, said that Hong Kong will continue pursuing policies that attract more foreign investment.



Some of the world’s largest banks have moved to scale back operations and cut jobs in Hong Kong and mainland China amid a prolonged dearth in listing and deal-making activities.



An exodus of capital made the city’s Hang Seng the worst-performing major index last year, marking fourth straight years of decline. And Hong Kong’s stock market saw proceeds from initial public listings (IPOs) and follow-on share sales shrink 16% in the first six months this year, compared to a year ago, according to LSEG data.



Still, operators of Hong Kong’s stock exchange have pointed to signs of pickup in the third quarter as Beijing unveiled a raft of stimulus measures to bolster its flagging economy.



Vice premier He, a close confidant of President Xi Jinping, has been tasked with tackling China’s government debt crisis and protracted property downturn, which have strained the regions financial stability and stunted economic growth momentum.



Earlier this month, Chinese authorities took further steps to attract foreign investment, including lowering the capital threshold for foreign investors holding a non-controlling stake in an enterprise. Under the new regulations, foreign individuals are now allowed to invest in publicly-listed companies.



PBOC governor Pan Gongsheng also said in a meeting on Nov. 7 that that China would continue to implement accommodative monetary policy and bolster ties between domestic and foreign financial markets. Representatives from 11 foreign institutions including HSBC, Standard Chartered and Citigroup attended that meeting, according to a statement.

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108063216-1731601889272-gettyimages-2183863696-20241106_city_skyline_mist_002-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-554559" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108063216-1731601889272-gettyimages-2183863696-20241106_city_skyline_mist_002-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108063216-1731601889272-gettyimages-2183863696-20241106_city_skyline_mist_002-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108063216-1731601889272-gettyimages-2183863696-20241106_city_skyline_mist_002-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108063216-1731601889272-gettyimages-2183863696-20241106_city_skyline_mist_002-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108063216-1731601889272-gettyimages-2183863696-20241106_city_skyline_mist_002-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/108063216-1731601889272-gettyimages-2183863696-20241106_city_skyline_mist_002.jpeg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Bank of England in the City of London on 6th November 2024 in London, United Kingdom. The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the primary central business district CBD of London. The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City is also colloquially known as the Square Mile. (photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images) Mike Kemp | In Pictures | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The U.K. economy grew less than expected in the third quarter of the year, showing only marginal growth following a rebound at the start of the year, initial figures showed Friday.



Gross domestic product came in at&nbsp;0.1% in the&nbsp;three months to September compared to the previous quarter. That’s&nbsp;below the 0.2% growth expected by economists polled by Reuters and&nbsp;follows an expansion of 0.5% in the second quarter of the year.



U.K.’s dominant services sector also grew just 0.1% on the quarter, the Office for National Statistics said. Construction rose by 0.8%, while production slipped 0.2% in the month.



It comes after inflation in the U.K. fell sharply to 1.7% in September, dipping below the Bank of England’s 2% target for the first time since April 2021. The fall in inflation helped pave the way for the central bank to cut rates by 25 basis points on Nov. 7, bringing its key rate to 4.75%.



The Bank of England said last week it expects the Labour Government’s tax-raising budget to boost GDP by 0.75 percentage points in a year’s time. Policymakers also noted that the government’s fiscal plan had led to an increase in their inflation forecasts.



U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said Friday she was “not satisfied” with the numbers.



“At my Budget, I took the difficult choices to fix the foundations and stabilise our public finances.&nbsp;Now we are going to deliver growth through investment and reform to create more jobs and more money in people’s pockets, get the NHS back on its feet, rebuild Britain and secure our borders in a decade of national renewal,” she said in a release.



A rate cut at the BOE’s next meeting in December now looks “improbable,” according to Suren Thiru, economics director at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He said inflation risks and growing global headwinds will likely prevent policymakers from pursuing back-to-back rate cuts.



“These figures suggest that the economy went off the boil even before the budget, as weaker business and consumer confidence helped weaken output across the third quarter, particularly in September,” Thiru said in emailed comments.



The outcome of the recent U.S. election has fostered much uncertainty about the global economic impact of another term from President-elect Donald Trump. While Trump’s proposed tariffs are expected to be widely inflationary and hit the European economy hard, some analysts have said such measures could provide opportunities for the British economy.



Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey gave little away last week on the bank’s views of Trump’s tariff agenda, but he did reference risks around global fragmentation.



“Let’s wait and see where things get to. I’m not going to prejudge what might happen, what might not happen,” he told reporters during a press briefing.



The British pound ticked slightly higher by 0.1% against the U.S. dollar at 7:33 a.m. in London. It dipped 0.15% against the euro following Friday’s GDP release.

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TJORLERHRFO4NIRPMFSZ32CFMA.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-529012" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TJORLERHRFO4NIRPMFSZ32CFMA.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TJORLERHRFO4NIRPMFSZ32CFMA-300x205.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TJORLERHRFO4NIRPMFSZ32CFMA-132x90.jpg 132w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TJORLERHRFO4NIRPMFSZ32CFMA-768x525.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: An oil pump jack outside Almetyevsk in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, June 4, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



Oil prices may see a drastic fall in the event that oil alliance OPEC+ unwinds its existing output cuts, said market watchers who are predicting a bearish year ahead for crude.



“There is more fear about 2025′s oil prices than there has been since years — any year I can remember, since the Arab Spring,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at OPIS, an oil price reporting agency.



“You could get down to $30 or $40 a barrel if OPEC unwound and didn’t have any kind of real agreement to rein in production. They’ve seen their market share really dwindle through the years,” Kloza added.



A decline to $40 a barrel would mean around a 40% erasure of current crude prices. Global benchmark Brent is currently trading at $72 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures are around $68 per barrel.



Given that oil demand growth next year probably won’t be much more than 1 million barrels a day, a full unwinding of OPEC+ supply cuts in 2025 would “undoubtedly see a very steep slide in crude prices, possibly toward $40 a barrel,” Henning Gloystein, head of energy, climate and resources at Eurasia Group, told CNBC.&nbsp;



Similarly, MST Marquee’s senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic posited that should OPEC+ unwind cuts without regard to demand, it would “effectively amount to a price war over market share that could send oil to lows not seen since Covid.”



However, the alliance is more likely to opt for a gradual unwinding early next year, compared to a full scale and immediate one, the analysts said.



The oil cartel has been exercising discipline in maintaining its voluntary output cuts, to the point of extending them.



In September, OPEC+ postponed plans to begin gradually rolling back on the 2.2 million barrels per day of voluntary cuts by two months in an effort to stem the slide of oil prices. The 2.2 million bpd cut, which was implemented over the second and third quarters, had been due to expire at the end of September.&nbsp;



At the start of this month, the oil cartel again decided to delay the planned oil output increase by another month to the end of December.



Oil prices have been weighed by a sluggish post-Covid recovery in demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy and leading crude oil importer. In its monthly report released Tuesday, OPEC lowered its 2025 global oil demand growth forecast from 1.6 million barrels per day to 1.5 million barrels per day.



The pressured prices were also conflagrated by a perceivably oversupplied market, especially as key oil producers outside the OPEC alliance like the U.S., Canada, Guyana and Brazil are also planning to add supply, Gloystein highlighted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bearish-year-ahead-for-oil"><a></a>Bearish year ahead for oil</h2>



The market consensus is that there’ll be a “substantial” oil stock build next year, said Citibank energy strategist Martoccia Francesco.



“Should the producers group proceed with their production plan, the market surplus could nearly double… reaching as much as 1.6 million barrels per day,” said Francesco.&nbsp;



Even if OPEC+ doesn’t unwind the cuts, the future ofl prices is still looking break. Citi analysts expect Brent price to average $60 per barrel next year.



Further fueling the bearish outlook is the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, whose return is associated by some with a potential trade war, said analysts who spoke to CNBC.



“If we do get a trade war — and a lot of economists think that a trade war is possible, and particularly against China — we could see much, much lower prices,” said OPIS’ Kloza.



Trump has also touted a “drill baby drill” policy for U.S. producers, vowing to cut energy prices in half.



For that to happen to retail gasoline prices, oil would need to drop to “below $40” per barrel, said Matt Smith, Kpler’s lead oil analyst.



Right now, retail gasoline prices are at a “sweet spot” at $3 per gallon, where consumers do not feel the pinch and input prices are still sufficiently high for producers, Smith added.

FILE PHOTO: An oil pump jack outside Almetyevsk, Russia

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/107351661-17036182092023-10-24t101848z_1359207624_rc2yy3ac3wuf_rtrmadp_0_fintech-crypto-bitcoin-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-553187" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/107351661-17036182092023-10-24t101848z_1359207624_rc2yy3ac3wuf_rtrmadp_0_fintech-crypto-bitcoin-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/107351661-17036182092023-10-24t101848z_1359207624_rc2yy3ac3wuf_rtrmadp_0_fintech-crypto-bitcoin-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/107351661-17036182092023-10-24t101848z_1359207624_rc2yy3ac3wuf_rtrmadp_0_fintech-crypto-bitcoin-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/107351661-17036182092023-10-24t101848z_1359207624_rc2yy3ac3wuf_rtrmadp_0_fintech-crypto-bitcoin-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/107351661-17036182092023-10-24t101848z_1359207624_rc2yy3ac3wuf_rtrmadp_0_fintech-crypto-bitcoin-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/107351661-17036182092023-10-24t101848z_1359207624_rc2yy3ac3wuf_rtrmadp_0_fintech-crypto-bitcoin.jpeg 1858w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Dado Ruvic | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



Bitcoin was trading just shy of $90,000 Monday night after breaching $80,000 just a day earlier.



The flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by 12% at $89,100, according to Coin Metrics. Earlier Monday, it rose as high as $89,623.00. Its price is expected by many investors to continue making fresh records on its way up to $100,000 later this year.



“Bitcoin is now in price discovery mode after breaking through all-time highs early last Wednesday morning when it was officially declared that Trump won the election,” said Mike Colonnese, an analyst at H.C. Wainwright. “Strong positive sentiment is likely to persist through the balance of 2024 and [we] see bitcoin prices potentially reaching the six-figure mark by the end of this year.”



Crypto investors have been cheering President-elect Donald Trump’s promises to make the regulatory environment more supportive and even friendly toward crypto businesses, which have long struggled with a lack of clarity of the rules of the road.



While bitcoin has long been deemed a safe asset in Washington – that is, not subject to securities laws – the long tail of cryptocurrencies and crypto-related startups have been operating in a risky grey area.



“That’s just shifted 180 degrees,” Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise Asset Management, told CNBC. “We’re now in a positive regulatory environment, we now have tailwinds from that, and that comes in the case of a market that was already in a bull market … that’s going to push us higher.”



Ether was trading higher by 5.8% Monday evening. Payments token XRP rose nearly 4% and the token linked to decentralized finance project Polygon gained more than 4%. Dogecoin has been one of the biggest winners – likely due to its connection with Elon Musk, who helped get Trump elected. It’s up 38%.



In the stock market, Coinbase and MicroStrategy gained about 3% and 5%, respectively, in extended trading. In the regular session on Monday, Coinbase surged 19% to trade above $300 for the first time since 2021. It’s now about 6% from its high from that year.



Traders and analysts agree this rally is just only beginning.



“It does seem like there’s an air gap between the previous [bitcoin] all-time highs around $72,000 and $100,000,” Hougan said. “It’s hard exactly to see what would force sellers to come into this market and halt the momentum before we get to that level. Of course, there are no guarantees. You could see pullbacks, but we’re in a new crypto market cycle. … I do think that we are right to be bullish and the bias is still on the upside.”

107351661-17036182092023-10-24t101848z_1359207624_rc2yy3ac3wuf_rtrmadp_0_fintech-crypto-bitcoin

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AI has a tricky relationship with facts. Can that be fixed?

Why Americans Love Iced Coffee

China’s vice premier vows to boost Hong Kong competitiveness, says stimulus push has ‘benefited’ the city

Can a president fix the U.S. economy?

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UK economy ekes out 0.1% growth in the third quarter, below expectations

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Oil could plunge to $40 in 2025 if OPEC unwinds voluntary production cuts, analysts say

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Are Companies ‘Quiet Quitting’ DEI Initiatives?

Bitcoin is closing in on $90,000 for the first time ever

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