The ZEW survey from Germany today came in lower than expected, indicating that the economic situation in Germany is grim, with a lot of pessimism caused by global trade disputes. The eurozone ZEW also came in a bit lower, though not quite as much as the one for Germany specifically.
Meanwhile, the same trade conflict between the United States and China, which has been rattling the markets for a year now, continues to be far from over. Recently President Donald Trump said that China must be in dire need of a trade agreement with the United States due to the economic slowdown in the country. Today the Chinese denied this, countering that the deal will be beneficial for both countries and is not being negotiated for the sake of the Chinese slowdown.
Yesterday Trump took to Twitter to claim credit for the economic slowdown in China, where growth fell for the second quarter of 2019. Nevertheless, the trend was towards an economic slowdown even before Trump became President.
China still appears willing to work on a deal with the US, though the negotiations have yet to restart.
