AFP

Opposition leader Juan Guaido’s rival Venezuelan government said Friday it was a step closer to taking control of the oil-rich country’s gold reserves, after the latest judgment by a UK court.

High Court judge Sara Cockerill ruled against President Nicolas Maduro’s regime in a technical ruling concerning appointments made to the Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV) by Guaido.

She found that rulings by Venezuela’s supreme court, blocking the appointments, could not be recognised in English law.

Cockerill cited “clear evidence” that the Supreme Tribunal of Justice had been stacked with Maduro-supporting judges, although she also found that the evidence was not conclusive.

“This is an unfortunate ruling that ultimately rests on a narrow issue of law about the recognition of foreign judgments,” said Sarosh Zaiwalla of the law firm Zaiwalla and Co, representing the Maduro-backed BCV.

“The BCV is considering an appeal,” he added.

But in a statement, Guaido expressed gratitude for Britain’s “honest and transparent judicial process”, contrasting it with the Maduro government’s focus on “power and money”.

“This decision represents another step in the process of protecting Venezuela’s international gold reserves and preserving them for the Venezuelan people and their future,” he said.

The ultimate thrust of the case remains to be decided, after the UK Supreme Court last year ruled that the dispute should be heard again by the lower Commercial Court in London.

Cockerill’s ruling put the value of the 31 tonnes of Venezuelan gold deposited with the Bank of England at about $1.95 billion. Maduro wants to recover the gold. 

But access has so far been denied as Britain, in line with other countries including the United States, acknowledges Guaido as interim president.

UK judges have already ruled that they are obliged to follow the British government’s decision on which government to recognise but had left open the legal point decided on Friday. 

Further hearings are expected later this year before the case as a whole can be decided.

The United States and Venezuela severed diplomatic ties in 2019 after Maduro was re-elected the year before to a second term in a ballot boycotted by the opposition.

In a tentative sign of a potential warming of relations, however, Washington sent a high-level delegation to energy-rich Venezuela in March, just days after Russia invaded Ukraine. 

European and US stock markets climbed Friday despite persistent recession concerns, while oil prices surged.

European stocks closed solidly higher after official data showed eurozone growth holding up in the face of soaring inflation.

Frankfurt rose 1.5 percent and Paris climbed 1.7 percent.

The EU’s official data agency said the 19-country eurozone’s economy grew by 0.7 percent in the second quarter.

But the euro failed to gain much traction, which analysts put down to the other piece of data released Friday: inflation rose to a new record of 8.9 percent in July. 

“This means that consumers are facing even more pressure on their disposable incomes, which should translate into lower spending and thus weaker economic activity,” said Fawad Razaqzada at City Index and FOREX.com.

Meanwhile, Wall Street continued to add to a rally that began Wednesday on the belief that the US Federal Reserve will now slow its pace of interest rate hikes, after hiking them by three-quarters of a percentage point.

The belief even overcame data Thursday showing the US economy shrank by 0.9 percent in the period from April to June, and Friday’s data that prices are continuing to rise faster than consumers’ income.

That followed a 1.6 percent contraction in the preceding three months, meaning that the world’s largest economy had met the technical definition of a recession of two consecutive quarters of contraction.

But the reading was taken as a sign of good news, since it could give the Fed room to take its foot off the pedal.

Treasury yields — considered a barometer of future interest rates — eased, while stocks surged higher.

Companies are in the midst of reporting quarterly earnings, and many are showing the strains from inflation and disrupted supply chains.

But the fact that earnings have been broadly better than investors feared has created positive sentiment.

Market analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets said investors are “taking comfort from earnings numbers that have by and large been better than expected, despite concerns about the growth outlook.”

And while debate rages over whether the US is really in recession — the formal determination is made by the National Bureau of Economic Research — the consensus is that the economy is struggling.

“The more important point is that the economy has quickly lost steam in the face of four-decade high inflation, rapidly rising borrowing costs, and a general tightening in financial conditions,” said Sal Guatieri, of BMO Capital Markets.

China is also struggling, hit by Covid-induced lockdowns in major cities including Shanghai and Beijing that have hammered all sectors and supply chains.

But oil traders didn’t focus Friday on the risk of recession destroying demand for crude, choosing instead to focus on supply concerns.

“Oil prices are rising again amid reports that OPEC+ will leave output targets unchanged next month when it meets on Wednesday,” said Craig Erlam at OANDA trading platform.

The main US contract, WTI, surged by more than five percent to rise back above $100 per barrel.

– Key figures at around 1530 GMT –

New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 32,582.21 points

EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.5 percent at 3,708.10

London – FTSE 100: UP 1.1 percent at 7,423.43 (close)

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.5 percent at 13,484.05 (close)

Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.7 percent at 6,448.50 (close)

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 27,801.64 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.3 percent at 20,156.51 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 3,253.24 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0201 from $1.0197 Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2171 from $1.2177 

Euro/pound: UP at 83.81 pence from 83.70 pence

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 133.41 yen from 134.25 yen

Brent North Sea crude: UP 3.0 percent at $110.33 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 4.8 percent at $101.08 per barrel

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Twitter’s lawsuit to force Elon Musk to complete his $44 billion buyout bid is set to go to trial on October 17, a US judge has ordered, in a case with major stakes for both sides.

The trial is due to open in a court in the eastern state of Delaware and is set to last five days to decide whether Musk can walk away from the deal.

The Tesla boss wooed Twitter’s board with a $54.20 per-share offer, but then in July announced he was “terminating” their agreement on accusations the firm misled him regarding its tally of fake and spam accounts.

Twitter has countered by saying Musk already agreed to the deal and can’t back out now.

An order from the judge handling the case, Kathaleen McCormick, lays out an expedited schedule to resolve a fight that has left Twitter in limbo.

She reminds both sides that they “shall cooperate in good faith” on matters like handing over information to each other, a key topic that can result in delays. 

Billions of dollars are at stake, but so is the future of Twitter, which Musk has said should allow any legal speech — an absolutist position that has sparked fears the network could be used to incite violence.

Twitter blamed disappointing results last week on “headwinds,” including the uncertainty imposed on the company by Musk’s chaotic buyout bid.

European stock markets rose robustly on Friday as official data showed eurozone growth holding up in the face of soaring inflation.

Stock markets in Asia ended the session lower after data showed that the US economy contracted again, reinforcing recession fears.

Wall Street opened higher, adding to Wednesday’s rally on expectations that the US Federal Reserve will slow its pace of interest rate hikes.

After an extended period of pessimism on trading floors, investors were beginning to speculate that the market may be bottoming out. 

The EU’s official data agency said the 19-country eurozone’s economy grew by 0.7 percent in the second quarter, even though inflation rose to a new record of 8.9 percent in July. 

A day earlier, US data showed the world’s biggest economy shrank by 0.9 percent in the period from April to June after already contracting by 1.6 percent in the preceding three months. 

But the reading was taken as a sign of good news, since it could give the Fed room to take its foot off the pedal and treasury yields — considered a barometer of future interest rates — eased.

Officials were expected to continue raising US interest rates, but analysts estimate they would announce a half-point rise in September, compared with three-quarters of percentage point at the past two meetings.

“Stocks continued their rally in Europe on Friday … as market sentiment improved following reassuring macro data in addition to positive corporate results,” said ActivTrades analyst Pierre Veyret.

The prospect of US interest rates not rising as fast as previously expected has knocked the dollar slightly after soaring against other major currencies in recent months.

A second successive contraction in growth is widely considered a technical recession, although it is not officially considered so in the United States until identified as such by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

But while debate rages over that issue, the consensus is that the economy is struggling.

“The more important point is that the economy has quickly lost steam in the face of four-decade high inflation, rapidly rising borrowing costs, and a general tightening in financial conditions,” said Sal Guatieri, of BMO Capital Markets.

China is also struggling, hit by Covid-induced lockdowns in major cities including Shanghai and Beijing that have hammered all sectors and supply chains.

The euro failed to get much mileage from the surprisingly good eurozone growth figures as investors focused on the inflation data, which was worse than expected.

“This means that consumers are facing even more pressure on their disposable incomes, which should translate into lower spending and thus weaker economic activity,” said Fawad Razaqzada at City Index and FOREX.com.

After initially rising after the data release, it later fell back against the dollar.

Crude prices jumped by three percent as traders focused on supply concerns, with the main US contract, WTI, rising back above $100 per barrel.

“Oil prices are rising again amid reports that OPEC+ will leave output targets unchanged next month when it meets on Wednesday,” said Craig Erlam at OANDA trading platform.

– Key figures at around 1330 GMT –

London – FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 7,446.27 points

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.3 percent at 13,449.94

Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.8 percent at 6,453.45

EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.4 percent at 3,704.06

New York – Dow: UP less than 0.1 percent at 32,534.12

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 27,801.64 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.3 percent at 20,156.51 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 3,253.24 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0158 from $1.0197 Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2081 from $1.2177 

Euro/pound: UP at 84.10 pence from 83.70 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 134.35 yen from 134.25 yen

Brent North Sea crude: UP 3.0 percent at $110.39 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 3.8 percent at $100.12 per barrel

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