• The Japanese yen and Swiss franc pulled back from recent highs on Tuesday as investors judged that the chances of an all-out conflict between the United States and Iran had fallen. 
• The safe-haven yen fell from a three-month high versus the dollar, although sentiment remains fragile due to continued worries about a further deterioration in relations between the U.S. and Iran.
• The U.S. currency, the world’s most liquid, is often bought in times of market flux, but its performance has been mixed in recent sessions - slightly better-than-expected euro zone business survey data on Monday supported the euro.
• The euro was little moved by data showing inflation in the euro zone had accelerated in December and retail sales were stronger than expected.
• Recent survey data has pointed to improving investor and business confidence in the euro zone.

 (Source: Reuters)

• President Donald Trump signed a bill into law that expresses S. support for Hong Kong protesters, a move that will strain relations with China and further complicate the president’s effort to wind down his trade war with Beijing. 
• The legislation requires annual reviews of Hong Kong’s special trade status under American law, and sanctions against any officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses or undermining the city’s autonomy. 
• China’s foreign ministry had urged Trump to prevent the legislation from becoming law, warning the Americans it “will take strong countermeasures” against it. 
• The new U.S. law comes just as Washington and Beijing have shown signs of working toward what the White House calls a “phase-one” deal to ease the trade war. 

(Source: Bloomberg)

• Low approval ratings and Costa Rica’s poor economic outlook will constrain President Carlos Alvarado’s fiscal reform efforts.
• Furthermore, the polarising debate over same-sex marriage and other social issues will also contribute to political gridlock over the coming quarters.
• Fitch Solutions maintains it's Short Term Political Risk Index (STPRI) score of 64.9 out of 100, underlining a moderate risk of increased political protests limiting the Alvarado government's capacity to implement reforms.

(Source: Fitch)

• U.S President Donald Trump declared Tuesday that talks with China on the first phase of a trade deal were near completion after negotiators from both sides spoke by phone, signaling progress on the accord in the works for nearly two years. 
• “We’re in the final throes of a very important deal,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “It’s going very well.”  
• Negotiations have been complicated by strong support in the U.S. for pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong and China’s suspicions that the U.S. is feeding unrest in the territory. 
• Trump gave no indication about whether he would sign legislation Congress passed last week backing the protest movement in Hong Kong.

(Source: Bloomberg)

• Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Governor, Richard Byles, says the sale of US$140Mn to the foreign exchange market has served to satisfy extraordinary currency demand, which surfaced in recent weeks. 
• The spike was related to the demand for portfolio transactions and seasonal restocking by retailers ahead of the Christmas period.
• Speaking at the BOJ’s quarterly briefing last Thursday, Mr. Byles said this spurred a 5.2% (J$7.07) depreciation in the value of the dollar between October 1 and November 12, “despite normal daily inflows”.
• Additionally, he said it reversed the 1.8% appreciation that occurred in September, “and erased the sense of normal two-way movement in the exchange rate that had been evident for an extended period prior to October 2019”.
• However, Mr. Byles said consequent on the BOJ’s sale of the US$140 million, via five BOJ Foreign Exchange Intervention and Trading Tool (B-FXITT) flash sale operations to authorized dealers and cambios, “we have observed that the exchange rate has adopted an appreciating trend since November 13”.

(Source: JIS)

• Dominican Republic’s consumer price index (CPI) registered a variation of 0.67% in October 2019 compared to September and the accumulated inflation in the January-October period stood at 3.06%.
• With this result, year-on-year inflation, measured from October 2018 to October 2019, stood at 2.48%, staying below the lower limit of the target range of 4.0% ± 1.0% established in the Monetary Program, indicates the Central Bank (BCRD).
• The group with the greatest contribution to the variation in the general CPI was Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, with an increase of 1.2%, accounting for approximately half of the month’s inflation. They are followed by Transportation, with an inflation of 0.8%, Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (2.4%) and Housing (0.6%).

(Source: Dominican Today)

• For the year ended September 2019, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund reported an unaudited net profit of BBD$4.05Mn (EPS: $0.06), a full recovery from the BBD$739.33K loss (EPS: $-0.01) reported one year prior.
• The performance was attributable to total investment income which increased from BBD$612.54K in 2018 to BBD$7.16Mn in 2019. This was supported by a fair value gain of BBD$2.15Mn which is a reversal from the BBD$2.38Mn loss reported in the previous year. Furthermore, rental income increased 18.4% (or BBD$279.42Mn) to BBD$1.84Mn, year-on-year, while the share of profit from investments in joint ventures increased by 88.6% (or BBD$1.38Mn) to BBD$2.95Mn, year-on-year.
• The stock has declined by 20.7% since listing on the JSE, closing yesterday’s trading session at $36.62 per share. At this price, the stock currently trades at a discount of 33% to its September 30, 2019 book value per share. 

 (Source: Eppley Financials)

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• For the nine-month period ended July 31, 2019, The Limners and Bards (The LAB) Limited reported an increase in net profit of 17.3% to finish the period at $69.81Mn up from $59.51Mn for the corresponding period in 2018.
• Operating revenues increased by 24.3% (or $94.99Mn) which was the main contributor to the increased net profit. The growth in operating revenues can be attributed to increases in the company’s core business, production (up to $69.60Mn or 113.0%) and media (up to $30.20Mn or 15%).
• The stock has risen 202.0% since listing and closed yesterday’s trading session at $3.02. At this price the stock currently trades at a P/E of 33.33x which is above the Junior Market average of 29.30x.

(Source: LAB Financials)