Stay up-to-date with Investing.com’s top 5 market news from Friday

By Geoffrey Smith and Ana Beatriz Bartolo

Investing.com – FedEx’s drastic cost-cutting measures and weak revenue data put U.S. stocks on track for their lowest weekly close in two months as fears about the global economy grow. Yuan falls as China’s housing crisis and consumer slump continue. Sterling is falling to its lowest level since 1985 on weak retail sales data and the German government is taking over Rosneft’s German refineries as Berlin tries to avert an imminent fuel emergency. In Brazil, ICMS collection falls after tax rate cuts.

Here’s what you need to know about the financial markets on Friday, September 16.

1. As FedEx prospers, so does the world economy

Global growth fears have a name, and that name is FedEx (NYSE: ). Shares of the delivery and logistics company fell nearly 20% in after-hours trading Thursday after the new CEO announced he would close 90 locations worldwide, park some cargo planes and freeze hiring. While the company did not specifically mention job cuts, it will also close five corporate offices.

FedEx, with its global reach and exposure to businesses and households, is often considered a poor indicator of global economic activity.

Its profit margins have been under pressure for months due to rising fuel bills and rising labor costs due to a tight labor market. But its revenues are also in decline, with economic weakness in Europe and Asia causing its biggest division, Express, to come in $500 million short of forecasts in the latest quarter, while a pandemic-induced drop in e-commerce shipments left your floor . A short division of $300 million.

2. Weak Chinese data pressured stocks and local currencies

All of China’s stock market benchmarks fell more than 2%, with the market down 7 percent, with the economy posting a flurry of numbers that analysts said were weaker than initially thought.

The growth in ui has accelerated, but mainly due to tax incentives aimed at the domestic auto industry.

Other stimulus measures aimed at bolstering the moribund housing sector led to gains in , but markets focused on another larger annual decline in home prices, which fell 2.1% year-on-year in August. They have now been flat or down for 12 consecutive months.

Private sector data were also worrying, showing a 23% drop in tourist spending over the last holiday weekend and a 26% drop in movie viewing compared to last year in the same period.

Meanwhile, in Europe, the dollar fell to a new 37-year low against the greenback after data showed it fell in August, reflecting an acute cost-of-living crisis.

The data showed the extent to which rising energy and fuel prices have eroded consumer purchasing power, although spending is still supported in the short term by a strong labor market, a pandemic economy and – increasingly – an increase in consumer credit. .

Analysts say the figures raise the likelihood that the interest rate gap with the US will widen next week, as the US raises rates by more than .

3. US stocks with the lowest weekly close in two months

US stocks are on track for their lowest weekly close in two months as news from FedEx, China and Europe cloud the broader outlook for corporate earnings.

At 8:29 AM, 100 futures were down 1.03%, while A and A were down 0.85% and 0.77%, respectively. The three major currency indexes fell between 0.6% and 1.4% on Thursday after US data showed the economy was slowing despite a still-tight labor market.

The big economic figure to be released later is the 11am index, where the focus will be on any signs of a ‘detachment’ from the Federal Reserve’s medium-term target of 2%. A major U.S. reversal suggests that is not yet the case.

4. Autumn in the ICMS collection

ICMS collection from 26 states and the federal district had a real drop of 8.4% in August, compared to the same period last year, to a total of R$57.57 billion. Compared to July, the real drop was a total of 0.8 percent.

In addition to the slowdown in the economy, the result also shows the effects of the rate reduction on fuel, electricity, telecommunications and transport that occurred after June.

This research, which will be presented to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to address the issue of compensation for losses due to ICMS cuts, also shows that there has been a fall in the transfer of the Federal Participation Fund (FPE). In August, this revenue totaled BRL 75.13 billion, a real decrease of 6.4% in the month compared to August 2021.

At 8:30 AM, the EWZ ETF was down 0.76% in the US premarket.

5. Germany steps up emergency energy measures

Germany has taken control of three refineries owned by Russia’s state-owned Rosneft, with the aim of avoiding an imminent fuel crisis for the capital Berlin.

The Schwedt refinery in northeastern Germany, along with two others in the south of the country, will be placed under state administration, similar to what happened to the German subsidiaries of gas monopoly Gazprom (MCX:) at the beginning of the year when they cut off supplies to Europe.

The European Union approved another 5 billion euro aid package for Ukraine earlier this week to help it continue its fight against the Russian invasion. Meanwhile, Russia’s problems in Ukraine appear to be worsening: the chief prosecutor of the Luhansk People’s Republic was killed by a bomb that had earlier exploded in his building, a day after he distributed a video telling locals there was “no need to panic” after the defeat of Russian forces around Kharkiv last week.