FURTHER FURTHER READING
- Jack Lew perfects the art of dodging questions.
- India's currency crisis, and its options.
- Brazil and Mexico are heading in different directions.
- Central bankers have given up on fixing global finance.
- Emerging markets should stop whining.
- The second part in the FT's China debt series.
ROUND-UP
US markets round-up: "Mounting concerns about the possibility of western military strikes against the Syrian government, plus lingering uncertainty over the outlook for US monetary policy, sent a wave of risk aversion rippling through global markets. Equities retreated across the board and emerging market assets suffered renewed losses as highly-rated government bonds and gold proved more attractive for investors. Brent crude reached a six-month high amid worries that an escalation of tensions in the Middle East could disrupt oil supplies. As such, disappointing recent data on the US housing market and Monday's news of a steep drop in durable goods orders last month have prompted some to argue that the Federal Reserve might well delay the much anticipated scaling back – or "tapering" – of its monthly assets purchases." (Financial Times)
US house prices rise but outlook more cautious on rate fears: "US home prices rose sharply in June but the pace of gains has slowed amid rising mortgage interest rates, data on Tuesday showed. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index, which tracks property values in 20 metropolitan regions across the US, rose 12.1 per cent in June from the same month in 2012. This followed a 12.2 per cent jump in the year ended in May, which was the biggest gain since March 2006. Economists had expected a slightly higher 12.2 per cent uptick." (Financial Times)
US tops league of governments probing Facebook users: "Facebook received more demands from the United States government for information about its users than from all other countries combined, the social network said on Tuesday. The publication of Facebook's first transparency report follows weeks of disclosures about US intelligence agencies' Prism programme and other data-gathering techniques that have raised questions about the scale and legality of online surveillance conducted in the name of national security." (Financial Times)
