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Hamilton regains title lead after stunning German win

HOCKENHEIM, GERMANY — Lewis Hamilton regained the lead in the world drivers’ championship on Sunday when he claimed one of the most memorable victories of his career by winning a rain-hit German Grand Prix for Mercedes after starting from 14th on the grid.
The defending four-time champion took full advantage of a heavy downpour during which title rival and fellow-four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari crashed out of contention to produce a master-class of technical and tactical racing in treacherous conditions.
His teammate Valtteri Bottas came home second, 4.5 seconds behind the Englishman, ahead of fellow-Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari to deliver Mercedes’ first one-two finish at a German Grand Prix.
It was Hamilton’s fourth win this year and the 66th of his career, the triumph lifting him to the top of the drivers’ title race and putting Mercedes back on top of the constructors’ championship — no wonder Mercedes chairman Dieter Zetsche embraced him.
Dutchman Max Verstappen finished fourth for Red Bull ahead of German Nico Hulkenberg of Renault, Romain Grosjean of Haas, Sergio Perez and his Force India teammate Esteban Ocon. Marcus Ericsson was ninth for Sauber and New Zealander Brendon Hartley 10th for Toro Rosso.
The race began in sweltering conditions with an air temperature of 27 degrees Celsius, or 80 Fahrenheit, and the track at 43 with humidity at 50% and rainclouds looming all around.
Vettel made a clean start from his 55th pole position and resisted Bottas as Raikkonen fought off Verstappen, but most attention was on Hamilton.
At the front, Vettel was content to stay 3.8 seconds clear of the chasing Bottas before Raikkonen was first to pit, on lap 15, switching to softs and rejoining fourth.
A series of pit stops saw the lead pass from Vettel to Bottas to Verstappen and finally to Raikkonen, at which point Vettel was second.
With dark clouds swirling around, Mercedes told Hamilton they were extending his first stint “as much as we can.”
After 52 laps, Vettel crashed, sliding straight into the barriers. — AFP

Anthony Smith dominates Shogun Rua at UFC Hamburg

ANTHONY “Lionheart” Smith created a ripple in the light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) after demolishing and knocking out legendary fighter Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the first round of their headlining fight at “UFC Fight Night 134” in Hamburg, Germany, early Monday morning (Manila time).
Took the fight in short notice as a replacement, American Smith, who is ranked outside of the top 15 in the division, shocked the crowd at the Barclaycard Arena with a dominating performance over former champion and eighth-ranked Rua, sending the latter to the loss with a barrage of punches in just 89 seconds.
Mr. Smith was on top things right from the opening bell. He sent Mr. Rua staggering after he connected with a solid right hand early and never relented after, following it up with a flurry of punches and elbows from which the Brazilian legend could not recover from, forcing the referee to stop the fight at the 1:29 mark of the opening round.
It was a second straight quick finish for Mr. Smith (30-13), who ended his fight with Rashad Evans last month in just 53 seconds in the opening round.
Following his victory over Mr. Rua, Mr. Smith immediately made known who he wanted to face next, calling out number one contender Alexander Gustafsson.
“I think Alexander Gustafsson needs an opponent. Gustafsson, I’ll see you in LA!” Mr. Smith said in issuing the challenge at the post-match interview.
With the loss, Mr. Rua saw his three-fight winning streak halted while dropping to 25-11.
Other winners at UFC Fight Night 134 were light heavyweight Cory Anderson over Glover Teixeira by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27 and 30-27); middleweight Abu Azaitar over Vitor Miranda by UD (30-27, 30-27 and 29-28); heavyweight Marcin Tybura over Stefan Struve by UD (30-27, 30-27 and 29-28); welterweight Danny Roberts over David Zawada by split decision (27-30, 29-28 and 29-28); and lightweight Nasrat Haqparast over Marc Diakiese by UD (30-27, 30-27 and 30-26).
Next for the UFC is “UFC on Fox 30” on July 29 (Manila time) in Calgary, Canada, which will feature the rematch between former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier as well as the featherweight battle of Jose Aldo and Jeremy Stephens.
In the Philippines, Cignal TV, the country’s foremost direct-to-home (DTH) company, is the home of the UFC after the two groups agreed to an extensive deal that will see the UFC beamed on various platforms. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Out of nothing at all

We try to catch-up with the news by bringing up two tournaments which we did not cover but both with significant developments.

2nd Sharjah Masters International
Sharjah Culture & Chess Club, UAE,
April 12-19, 2018

Final Top Standings
1. GM Parham Maghsoodloo IRI 2615, 8.0/9
2-3. GM Eltaj Safarli AZE 2653, GM Wang Hao CHN 2707, 7.0/9
4-14. GM S.P. Sethuraman IND 2631, GM Vladislav Artemiev RUS 2701, GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko UKR 2703, GM Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonell VEN 2624, GM Ernesto Inarkiev RUS 2680, GM Pavel Eljanov UKR 2700, GM Arkadij Naiditsch AZE 2701, GM Baskaran Adhiban IND 2661, GM Ahmed Adly EGY 2626, GM Rinat Jumabayev KAZ 2612, GM Sandro Mareco ARG 2645, 6.5/9
Total Participants: 118 players
Time Control: 90 minutes for the entire game with 30 seconds addedGM Parham Maghsoodloo from Iran put up an overpowering display and won the very strong Sharjah Masters Open 1 full point ahead of the field with 8.0/9 — he started the tournament with 7 straight games and then coasted home with 2 draws. Among his GM victims were Vladislav Artemiev, Wang Hao, Sethuraman and Gawain Jones. This was equivalent to a performance rating of 2837!
And the chess he played was very impressive.

Maghsoodloo, Parham (2615) — Artemiev, Vladislav (2701) [D78]
2nd Sharjah Masters 2018 Sharjah UAE (4.2), 14.04.2018

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.c4 c6 5.d4 d5 6.Nbd2
Artemiev is known as a very strong endgame player so Maghsoodloo decides to retain as many pieces as possible and keep the position closed.
6…0–0 7.0–0 Bf5 8.b3 Nbd7 9.Bb2 b5 10.Nh4 Be6 11.c5 Qc7 12.Qc2 a5 13.a4 b4
During my active days in the Internet Chess Club I made the acquaintance of Gary Sanders, a successful chess coach from I-don-remember-where. Anyway, while sitting-in on some of his coaching sessions I remember that he used to emphasize pawn levers. In this position for example, White has possible pawn breaks on e4 and f2–f4–f5, while Black has none. Based on that the assessment is that White has the better game here.
14.Rfe1 Rae8 15.Rad1 Qc8 16.f4 Ng4 17.e4
If Black just sits and does nothing White will continue with f4–f5, winning the bishop.
17…dxe4 18.Bxe4 Ndf6 19.Bd3 Nh6 20.Nc4 Bxc4 21.bxc4
White’s pawn levers are now on d5 and f5. Black still has none.
21…e6 22.Nf3 Rd8 23.Qg2
Intending to play Ne5 and win the Black pawn on c6.
23…Qc7 24.Ne5 Rc8 25.g4 Nd7 26.h3 f5 27.Bc1 Nf7 28.Nf3 Rfe8 29.Bc2 Rcd8 30.Be3 Rb8 31.Nd2 Nf6 32.Nb3 Kh8 33.Re2 h6 34.Rde1
Maghsoodloo has been methodically building up his position while there is nothing that Black can do but wait.
34…Re7 35.Bc1 Rbe8 36.Kh1 Nh7 37.Rg1
Already winning is 37.gxf5! gxf5 (37…exf5 38.Rxe7 Rxe7 39.Rg1 Nf8 40.Bxf5!) 38.Rg1 Nd8 (38…Rg8 39.d5! exd5 40.Rxe7 Qxe7 41.cxd5 cxd5 42.Bxf5 White is also winning here) 39.d5 cxd5 40.cxd5 exd5 41.Qxg7+ Rxg7 42.Rxe8+ Nf8 43.Rxf8+ Kh7 44.Bxf5+ Rg6 45.Rxg6 there is forced mate. However, if there is anything you will notice about GM Parham’s play is that he is never in a hurry. The text does not give away anything and he continues the build-up in order to win with less risk.
37…Rg8 38.Qf3 Nf8 39.Reg2 Rd7 40.Bb2 Qd8 <D>
POSITION AFTER 40…QD8
All of his pieces are already at their optimal positions, so White now strikes.
41.gxf5! exf5 42.Bxf5 gxf5 43.Rxg7 Rxg7 44.d5 Ng5 45.fxg5 hxg5 46.Qxf5 Kg8 47.Bxg7 Rxg7 48.Nd4 Qe7 49.d6 Qe8 50.Qf3 Ng6 51.Nf5 Nh4 52.Nxg7 Kxg7 53.Rxg5+ Ng6 54.Qf5 b3 55.d7 1–0
Not much to comment on. Everything is crystal-clear and straightforward. That is GM Parham Maghsoodloo.
By the way, for those of us who recall the Philippines’ glory days in the ’60s and ’70s when we were the no. 1 chess power in Asia, with the rise of Iran as a chess power we have gone down another rung in the chess hierarchy in Asia. Was it just 1974 when our country sent IM Rudy Tan Cardoso plus a group of college students (correct me if I am wrong, but the names of Rico Mascariñas, Lito Maninang, Glenn Bordonada, Cesar Caturla, Roger Abella and Roger dela Vega come to mind) to the Asian Team Championships and we still won it without breaking a sweat?
Those days now seem a century ago. Take a look at the FIDE list of top chess countries from Asia:
World Chess Federation (FIDE)
Top 10 Asian Chess Countries, July 2018
(by average rating of Top 10 Players)

1. China (average 2706)

2. India (average 2675)

3. Iran (average 2543)

4. Uzbekistan (average 2526)

5. Kazakhstan (average 2510)

6. Vietnam (average 2507)

7. Philippines (average 2478)

8. Mongolia (average 2425)

9. Indonesia (average 2422)

10. Turkmenistan (average 2406)

We have been relegated to no. 7! And since when has Iran overtaken us? Well, how about now? Take a look at the top 5 players from that country:
Top 5 Iranian players

1. GM Parham Maghsoodloo 2636 18 years old

2. GM M.Amin Tabatabaei 2590 17 years old

3. GM Pouya Idani 2583 23 yrs old

4. GM Alireza Firouzia 2561 15 years old

5. GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami 2537 36 years old

Three of their top 5 are still juniors! We here in the Philippines have our work cut out for us if we hope to regain some of our lost pride in this game which we all love.

The 4th Starodubtsev Memorial Rapid Regional Art Museum,
Tula, Russia
Jan. 8-9, 2018

Final Standings
(Rapid Ratings are used)
1-2. GM Vladimir Potkin RUS 2650, GM Vadim Zvjaginsev RUS 2568, 7.5/9
3. GM Sergey Zagrebelny UZB 2466, 6.0/9
4. GM Alexander Morozevich RUS 2635, 5.5/9
5-6. GM Evgeni Vasiukov 2371, GM Yuri Balashov 2454, 4.0/9
7. GM Sergey Domogaev RUS 2311, 3.5/9
8. GM Igor Yagupov RUS 2412, 3.0/9
9. GM Alexander Zaitsev RUS 2348, 2.5/9
10. GM Petr Tishin RUS 2361, 1.5/9
Time Control: 15 minutes for whole game with 10 seconds added to your clock after every move starting move 1
Who is Vasily Starodubtsev? Well, he was in the group of 8 which made a coup attempt in the afternoon of Aug. 19, 1991 when President Mikhail Gorbachev was on holiday by the Black Sea. It did not last long though and in 4 days Gorbachev was back in the capital, in power, and all conspirators arrested. This was one of the series of events which triggered a domino effect and resulted in the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991.
Starodubtsev was extremely lucky though — he was not considered a threat and was released from prison on condition that he not engage in politics. In 1993 though he was elected to the Russian Parliament and later served two four year terms as governor of the Tula Region south of Moscow.
For the Starodubtsev Memorial international tournament the organizers invited players with a connection to Tula — those who were either born there or stayed there for a period of time.
For me this tournament is notable for two things — it was the last tournament ever played by Vasiukov who passed away in May 2018, and it was the first sighting of the brilliant Alexander Morozevich in 2018. He was a bit rusty but still showed glimpses of his brilliant self.

Morozevich, Alexander (2635) — Zagrebelny, Sergey (2466) [C45]
Starodubtsev Memorial Rapid chess24.com (6.1), 08.01.2018

Filipino players all remember Sergey Zagrebelny, part of the upstart Uzbekistan team which won the silver medals in the 1992 Manila Olympiad. Their top board GM Valery Loginov take a beating on 1st board (4/13) but his teammates IMs Grigory Serper (8.5/13), Alexander Nenashev (9.5/12), Sergei Zagrebelny (8.5/11), Mikhail Saltaev (2/3) and untitled player Saidali Iuldashev (2.5/4) mopped up on the lower boards. Imagine that — a team of 1 GM, 4 IMs and 1 untitled player got 2nd place in the Manila Olympiad. Those were the days.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bb4+ 5.c3 Bc5 6.Be3 Bb6 7.Nf5 g6 8.Bxb6 axb6 9.Ne3 Nf6 10.f3 Qe7 11.c4 Qb4+ 12.Qd2 Qxd2+ 13.Kxd2 d6 14.Nc3 h5
This is actually a new move. Black usually tries to activate his rook quickly to the e-file with …Kd8 and …Re8 followed by tucking his king away on c7. Anyway, in this game this just amounts to a transposition of moves and soon we get back to the regular track.
15.h4 Kd8 16.g3 Ne5 17.Bg2 Be6 18.b3 c6 19.Kc2 Kc7 20.Rad1 Rad8 21.Kb2 Bc8 22.Rd2 Rhe8 23.Rhd1 Ng8 24.Ned5+!? cxd5 25.Nxd5+ Kb8
[25…Kc6 26.f4 Ng4 27.e5 opens up the long diagonal against the black king]
26.Nxb6 Kc7 27.c5 Be6
[27…dxc5 28.Rxd8 Rxd8 29.Na8+! wins back the piece with an overwhelming advantage]
28.Rxd6 Rxd6 29.Rxd6 Rd8 30.Rxd8 Kxd8 31.Kc3 Ne7 32.a4 f6 33.b4 g5 34.f4 gxf4 35.gxf4 N5g6 36.f5 Nxh4 37.Bh1 Bxf5 38.exf5 Kc7 39.Nc4 Nhxf5 40.b5 h4 41.b6+ Kb8 42.Bg2 Ng3 43.Nd6 Nc6?
White was already winning but allowing the piece exchange finishes off the game earlier.
44.Bxc6 bxc6 45.a5 h3 46.a6 h2 47.a7+ Ka8 48.Ne8! Ne4+
[48…h1Q 49.Nc7+ Kb7 50.a8Q#]
49.Kb4 Kb7 50.Nc7 1–0
 
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant, he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.
bobby@cpamd.net

He’s back

Tiger Woods had just taken the outright lead at the British Open when he found himself having to negotiate a tough bunker shot in the 10th hole the other day. The lie was bad, exactly the type that has made many a Grand Slam hopeful consider their preceding tee shot to be a prelude to failure. In the case of the 14-time major champion, it appeared as if he had two sensible options: first, head back to the fairway with a lateral shot; and second, take a safe swing forward and hope the next one will stick the ball close to the hole for a gimme par putt.
Considering that Woods was on top of the leaderboard for the first time in one of golf’s premiere events since the 2011 Masters, he would have done well to stay conservative and move on. Instead, he did exactly what he largely eschewed in building his resume of 79 tour titles. He threw caution to the wind. And guess what? He was rewarded. The teeming fans on hand at Carnoustie and glued to the live broadcast were, too; they got a glimpse of how far along he is in recovering from a fourth back surgery, witnessing a spectacular shot that no one else could have pulled off. Naturally, his ensuing putt stayed true and preserved his effort.
Still, Woods wouldn’t be in the driver’s seat for long. He began the final round five strokes off the lead, and while those ahead of him were backing up, enough of those behind him were making more solid runs. In fact, he didn’t need to look beyond his own flight to identify his biggest threat to wrapping his arms around the Claret Jug for the fourth time in his career. From his unique vantage point, he could see playing partner Francesco Molinari unfazed by his advances and ultimately outplaying him for a podium finish.
In the aftermath, Woods was understandably disappointed with his roller-coaster finish. “[I’m] a little ticked off at myself, for sure. I had a chance starting the back nine to do something, and I didn’t do it.” That said, his fifth-place standing in just his ninth major over the last four injury-filled years should be deemed nothing short of remarkable. In the immediate term, it earned for him enough points to get a slot at Firestone in two weeks, if nothing else a grand opportunity to subject his game to stiff competition before the PGA Championship.
Moving forward, Woods cannot but be pleased with the strides he has made. Among other things, he’d like a bit more consistency; his double bogey-bogey scores on the 11th and 12th holes, for instance, came off relatively easier tee shots with irons in his hands. Nonetheless, there can be no denying this: He’s back — perhaps not all the way back, but, at this point, winning looks to be a matter of when, not if.
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

Which department gets the lion’s share of the 2019 national budget?

These government agencies will receive the biggest budget allocations in 2019 based on the proposed national budget, which the Budget department targets to submit to Congress today, July 23.
Government agencies with biggest budget allocations in 2019

What to watch in commodities: Iran, big oil, miners, gold, crops

It’s getting ugly out there. Commodities are getting shaken up as investors fret about the fall-out from the global trade war, and as the White House turns up the heat against Iran. President Donald Trump just fired off a blunt, tweeted threat to counterpart Hassan Rouhani, and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo upped the ante with his own remarks in California.
Against that backdrop, this week is one of the busiest of the quarter as earnings pour in. Big Oil heads the list, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp. among those reporting. With base metals under pressure and gold offering little haven, watch for outlooks from Freeport-McMoRan Inc., Anglo American Plc, Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. Rounding out the picture, we’ll see how crops are doing on both sides of the Atlantic.
Before getting stuck in, it’s worth flagging where signals may come from about the next steps in the trade showdown, apart of course from the Twittersphere. This week the World Trade Organization General Council meets on the US-China standoff; Nafta negotiators try try to make headway in Washington; and leaders from the BRICS nations get together in Johannesburg.
Gulfs Apart
Commodity investors will have their attention fixed on Iran this week and into August after Donald Trump’s all-caps threat to the leadership of the major oil producer, and his counterpart’s earlier warning that any conflict would be the “mother of all wars.” Oil and gold markets took the escalation in their stride on Monday, with Brent up less than 0.5 percent and bullion just a touch higher.
There are likely to be plenty more verbal barbs in the coming days. Secretary of State Pompeo has an opportunity for comment on Iran later Monday after a consultation with his Australian counterparts; on Tuesday he’ll host a Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom event in Washington; and then midweek he’s speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Early August sees the initial 90-day deadline for tightened sanctions against Tehran.
It’s a Gusher
After driving costs down to survive a plunge in the crude price that started in 2014, the oil industry is now riding a rebound toward some of the fattest profit margins they’ve ever seen. The only question is: what are they going to do with the extra money? Some of the answers will start to come in on Thursday and Friday, when in addition to the quarterly figures from Shell, Exxon and Chevron, Total SA and ConocoPhillips are set to report their numbers.
Investors are pushing for share buybacks after enduring belt-tightening measures used to survive the downturn that diluted their holdings. But even after buying back shares and paying dividends, a group of nine integrated oil companies will probably have an extra $8 billion in cash, according to Royal Bank of Canada. That may mean majors are now scouring the globe for more barrels, marking the end of austerity and a return to bigger spending.
Lightning Rods
After six straight weeks of declines, copper and other metals will be in focus again, as assets that have become a lightning rod for concerns about the growing fallout from a global trade war. China’s policy response will be key here, as investors wait to see whether it will offer some support to the yuan, which has slumped in lockstep with copper over the past few weeks.
Anglo American is among the first to report earnings and investors, who have been raking in big returns from the mining industry will be keenly watching out for news on Thursday about the company’s interim dividend plans, as well as the status of approval for a new $6 billion copper mine in Peru. Freeport, the largest publicly traded copper producer, will also release its second-quarter results. Analysts are on the lookout for any update on the Phoenix-based miner’s Grasberg copper-and-gold project and when it expects to finally reach a deal with Indonesia allowing it to continue operating its flagship mine.
Navigating the Downturn
Top gold producers Barrick and Newmont are among the companies turning in their report cards for the second quarter at a time when the price of the precious metal is languishing at a one-year low. Investors will be looking for clues on how miners are managing costs and their progress in paring debt.
In the case of Barrick, analysts are hoping for an update on talks with Tanzania to lift a ban on the export of concentrates produced by Acacia Mining Plc. Barrick owns 64 percent of Acacia. Investors may also be eager to hear directly from Barrick about its intention toward Detour Gold Corp. Barrick was said to be the undisclosed miner that was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement alongside Paulson & Co. to discuss potentially buying Detour.
Data Dump
Earnings this week from two of the top producers of diggers and dump trucks will offer valuable clues on how commodity demand is looking as trade tensions rise. Figures from Japan’s Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., which reports on Wednesday, and Komatsu Ltd. two days later are especially useful as they come before U.S. giant Caterpillar Inc. announces results on July 30.
As sellers of equipment to the mining and construction industries, the two manufacturers are keyed in to the pace of growth in China, the world’s biggest consumer of metals and energy. This year, the U.S.-China showdown has taken a toll, with their shares dropping from highs in January amid concerns that the trade war will slow China’s economy and curb its appetite for commodities.
Weather Woes
As if global trade tensions weren’t enough to worry the world’s farmers, dodgy weather is making their life difficult too. Heatwaves and drought in northern Europe have hurt wheat, barley and other crops, while production in France, the European Union’s top grower, is expected to shrink due to excessive rains. Put together, the bloc’s wheat output is poised to be the smallest in six years, according to Strategie Grains. A Monday report by the bloc’s Monitoring Agricultural Resources unit will shed further light on the extent of the damage.
Over in North America, analysts and traders will tour wheat areas in North Dakota. Another group will travel to Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta to gauge the condition of the grain, canola and other crops. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture trimmed its estimate for global production as dryness in parts of the European Union, Russia, Ukraine and Australia hurt their harvest outlook.
Bulls Versus Bears
Prospects for declining global output are fueling optimism on the outlook for wheat prices. Eleven of 20 traders and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were bullish on the grain. Sentiment was also positive for corn and soybeans.
In the metals market, traders were most bearish on gold since December as bullion hovered around a one-year low. Sentiment was also negative on copper. Terminal subscribers can see the other commodity surveys here. — Bloomberg

GNPK seeks ERC approval to connect Mindanao power plant to national grid

GNPower Kauswagan Ltd. Co. (GNPK) has stepped up the development of one of Mindanao’s biggest power plants and has sought regulatory approval to build a point-to-point transmission line from the facility to the national grid.
In its application with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), GNPC said it was building a clean pulverized coal-fired power generation facility with four units, each with a capacity of 138 megawatts (MW) or a total of 552 MW.
GNPK, which is led by Ayala Corp. subsidiary AC Energy Holdings, Inc., is seeking ERC approval to develop, own and operate connection facilities with a capacity of 230 kilovolts (kV) and a 69 kV. — Victor V. Saulon

Peso gains slightly on lingering trade war concerns

The peso strengthened slightly on Monday, July 23, as the dollar weakened amid sustained concerns over the the trade spat between the United States and China.
The local unit ended Monday’s session at P53.48 versus the greenback, stronger by three centavos from the P53.51-per-dollar finish on Friday.
Dollars traded declined to $399.6 million from the $474.05 million that exchanged hands the previous session.
In a Reuters report, the dollar index was down 0.1% at 94.327, slipping further from a one-year high of 95.656 touched on July 19, on the back of the remarks made by President Donald J. Trump.
In an interview with CNBC aired on Friday, Mr. Trump said he was ready to slap tariffs on all Chinese imports worth $500 billion, escalating trade policy tensions.
Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc., said that the weakness of the dollar may have come from lingering concerns over the impact of the trade war.
“This weakness may have come from the perception on the impact of the trade war on the world economy with major players calling out the US for restraint and urging talks to resolve issues,” Mr. Asuncion said in a text message. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Emerging markets at mercy of falling yuan as currency war looms

China’s yuan is back at the top of emerging-market investor worries as the deepening standoff between the U.S. and China over trade threatens to evolve into a currency battle.
As the dollar strengthens amid the trade tensions, the slide in the yuan is spurring concern that China might be embracing purposeful devaluation as a policy tool. That stoked the ire of US President Donald Trump, who accused the country and the European Union of manipulating their currencies. The offshore yuan’s one-week implied volatility jumped to a five-month high.
“The yuan’s definitely weighing on risk, although much more so on Asia,” said Edwin Gutierrez, the London-based head of emerging-market sovereign debt at Aberdeen Standard Investments. “But we are confident that the Chinese will not let things get disorderly. Having recently won the battle against capital outflows, they’re not about to stoke those again by letting the currency depreciate significantly.”
The People’s Bank of China last week fixed the currency past 6.7 per dollar for the first time in almost a year and on Friday weakened the reference rate the most in two years. A further drop in the yuan to 7 against the dollar may trigger another round of panic selling in emerging markets, Gutierrez said. The currency regained some ground on Friday after a big Chinese bank sold dollars, traders said.
Asian currencies, including the South Korean won and Indonesian rupiah, have born the brunt of the sell-off in emerging markets this month, with the yuan the worst performer after Turkey’s lira.
The Argentine and Mexican peso as well as Brazil’s real have been the top-performing developing-nation currencies this month. Aberdeen Standard has been overweight Latin American currencies “for quite a while,” Gutierrez said. — Bloomberg

Trump warns Iran’s Rouhani to ‘never, ever threaten’ the US

US President Donald Trump launched a new broadside against Iran, warning of unspecified “consequences” if counterpart Hassan Rouhani again threatened America.
In a Twitter post late Sunday, Trump said, “To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!”
The comment — similar in tone and wording he used last year in warning North Korea about its rapidly improving nuclear weapons program — came hours after Rouhani said the U.S. risked the “mother of all wars” in a conflict with Iran. In a speech, Rouhani warned his US counterpart against threatening the nation’s oil exports and called for improved relations with its neighbors, including arch-rival Saudi Arabia.


Trump is reimposing sanctions on Iran, which ships most of its oil through the Strait of Hormuz, in an effort to squelch the country’s oil sales. Hormuz, a shipping chokepoint at the mouth of the Gulf, is a conduit for tankers carrying about 30 percent of all seaborne-traded crude oil and other liquids.
Also Sunday, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo delivered a speech on Iran policy in southern California accusing the country’s leaders of corruption and urging European allies to join the U.S. in a pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic. Pompeo said Iran’s leadership is made up of “hypocritical holy men” responsible for “crooked schemes” that have hurt the country’s economy and citizens.
Pompeo said America stands in solidarity with Iranians and reiterated that the US expects countries to “significantly” reduce their dependence on Iranian oil or face tough new sanctions after Nov. 4.
“While it is ultimately up to the Iranian people to determine the direction of their country, the United States, in the spirit of our own freedoms, will support the long-ignored voice of the Iranian people,” Pompeo said in the speech in Simi Valley, California. The audience included Iranian-Americans, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton — a leading Iran critic in Congress — and former California Governor Pete Wilson.
The speech was the latest in a wave of U.S. criticism as the Trump administration seeks to marshal support for its plan to reimpose sanctions against Iran — and punish anyone who does business with it — in the weeks since the US pulled out of the 2015 accord to limit Iran’s nuclear program in May. — Bloomberg

Stocks flat ahead of Duterte’s SONA

Shares closed flat on Monday as investors positioned their bets ahead of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was relatively flat during the day’s session before dropping 0.31% or 22.81 points to 7,376.80 by closing bell. The broader all shares index meanwhile added 0.15% or 6.62 points to 4,473.32.
“Investors placed bets ahead of the SONA on varied expectations of what President Duterte is expected to tackle later this afternoon. Value turnover was still weak, however it picked up when compared against the last few trading days,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile message on Monday.
Value turnover accelerated to P5.08 billion after some 657 million issues switched hands, recovering from the previous session’s P3.687-billion turnover.
Sectoral indices were split between gainers and losers. The industrial counter led the day’s gains, with an uptick of 1% or 104.82 points to 10,638.66, followed by mining and oil which jumped 0.47% or 45.99 points to 9,742.74. Financials went up 0.22% or 4.08 points to 1,836.31.
Meanwhile, property lost 0.69% or 25.14 points to 3,631.88; services slumped 0.46% or 6.62 points to 1,441.57; and holding firms dipped 0.27% or 19.49 points to 7,151.92.
Foreigners turned buyers, with net inflows of P196 million versus a net sales of P445.2 million last Friday.
Half of the 20 most actively traded stocks for the day finished with losses, led by the 2.48% decline in Puregold Price Club, Inc. to P45.25 each. Also in the negative were stocks of PLDT, Inc. (down 2.04% to P1,344); SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (down 1.35% to P36.50); and Ayala Corp. (down 0.94% to P951).
The same list showed eight gainers, led by San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc. (up 12.9% to P70), and Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company (up 4.14% to P72.90). — Arra B. Francia

Oil firms to cut fuel prices tomorrow

Oil companies are rolling back the prices of petroleum products this week, with kerosene having the biggest price cut at P1.25 per liter.
Diesel prices will be down by P1.00 per liter, while gasoline will decrease by P0.70 per liter. Most of the companies that have sent their price adjustment advisories as of Monday afternoon will be implementing the price changes at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 24.
Unioil Petroleum Philippines, Inc. said it was cutting prices as early 2:00 p.m. on Monday. Seaoil Philippines, Inc. will adjust prices at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday.
Last week, oil companies raised the price of gasoline by P0.30 per liter, while cutting the price of diesel by P0.15 per liter. Kerosene was unchanged last week. — Victor V. Saulon

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