Us treasury secretary janet yellen called the downgrade arbitrary and said Economic Conditions had improved under the biden administration. The news of the downgrade came after the close of trade on wall street but in asia investors have been pulling out of equities in reaction. Lets look at markets now in asia. Japan is currently down by over 2 . Hong kong not that far behind. This was off the back of yesterday, and most of this week we have seen the sharemarket, certainly wall street and asia having a strong session but this is certainly spooked sentiment. Lets discuss this with tom stevenson, whos an Investment Director at fidelity. Good morning. Janet woody allen saying this is arbitrary. I have her statement janet yellen and she said she strongly disagrees and says it is based on outdated data. That is based on outdated data. That is riuht. Is based on outdated data. That is right it is based on outdated data. That is right. It seems is based on outdated data. That is right. It s
let s continue with our business coverage and focus on brazil where its central bank is expected to cut interest rates for the first time in three years today. economists are expecting a small cut of 25 basis points from its current high of 13.75 percent. president lula himself has called on the central bank to cut interest rates as inflation eased. but to what extent will a small cut stimulate latin america s largest economy? i m joined byjimena blanco, chief analyst and head of america s research at the risk intelligence company verisk maplecroft. so the central bank is likely to reduce rates today, what impact will that have? the expectation impact will that have? the expectation is impact will that have? the expectation is for - impact will that have? the expectation is for a - impact will that have? the expectation is for a cart i impact will that have? ti;a: expectation is for a cart and i think it s important to mention