The gap decreased to $66.5 billion in October from $70.5 billion the prior month, Census Bureau data showed Tuesday. That compared with forecasts of a widening to $71 billion. Exports of goods eased to $135.3 billion, down $0.9 billion from September. Imports dropped to a two-year low of $201.8 billion.

The latest figures offer a glimpse of how trade may impact gross domestic product in the fourth quarter.

U.S. trade with China has suffered as President Donald Trump ratcheted up tariffs on imports from the Asian nation, which retaliated with its own levies on U.S. goods since 2018.

The report comes as the world’s two biggest economies edge closer to a partial deal to avert steeper tariffs that the U.S. has threatened on Chinese goods.

The report also showed wholesale inventories advanced 0.2% in the month as retail inventories rose 0.3%. Analysts look to these numbers to adjust estimates for economic growth during the quarter.

Exports and imports of goods account for about three-fourths of America’s total trade; the U.S. typically runs a deficit in merchandise and a surplus in services.

Tuesday’s figures cover goods only. The Commerce Department will release full October data for international trade Dec. 5, including services and more details on merchandise shipments.

The Conference Board’s gauge decreased to 125.5 from an upwardly revised 126.1 in October. The reading, issued Tuesday, fell short of the 127 median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The group’s measure of present conditions dropped to a five-month low, while economic expectations rose for the first time since July.

The string of declines is the longest since March-June 2012 and shows cracks may be emerging in what’s been the economy’s mainstay – consumer spending. Job gains have been moderating along with wage growth, suggesting households may pull back some after two very solid quarters of consumer spending that have kept the economy forging ahead.

The share of consumers who said jobs were plentiful fell to 44.8% in November from 47.7% a month earlier, while the share of those who said positions were hard to get climbed to a five-month high.

Expectations of the economy eased as 17.2% said business conditions would be better in the coming six months, down from 18.7% in October.

Other recent data on sentiment have been mixed, with the University of Michigan’s gauge at a four-month high in November and the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort weekly measure near its lowest point since January.

“The decline in the Present Situation Index suggests that economic growth in the final quarter of 2019 will remain weak,” Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, said in a statement. “However, consumers’ short-term expectations improved modestly, and growth in early 2020 is likely to remain at around 2%.”

However, their total registered capital amounted to Bt98.590 billion, up 393 per cent year on year.

In terms of numbers, the top three applicants were construction firms, property developers, and restaurants.

The number of the firms dissolved in October stood at 2,116, up 2 per cent year on year with a total capital of Bt8.050 billion, down 20 per cent from the same period last year. Most of them were in the construction, real estate, and restaurant businesses.

The number of newly registered firms in the past ten months (January-October) totalled 63,359, up 1 per cent over the same period last year. Their combined  capital amounted to Bt284.618 billion, up 9 per cent.

There were 14,070 firms closed in the period, down 2 per cent year on year, with a total capital of Bt82.959 billion, up 15 per cent.

He said the details would be forwarded to the Cabinet next week.

Sontirat said there were many ways to ease the cost of living, including capping the cooking gas price.

“Receiving fair financial services is regarded as a basic right for all Thais. Overall, Thais are receiving fairer financial services compared to three years ago, while financial service providers pay more attention and give greater importance to fair market conduct,” she said.

“The work in the area of market conduct has progressed somewhat, particularly building a robust supervisory system, which requires conducting intensive multi-approach examinations and real punitive measures against violators, promoting proper product information disclosure to enable consumers to make informed decisions, product and service comparison to enhance competition, leading to fairer fees and better services, as well as raising public financial literacy and awareness against potential financial scams. Insurance cross-selling has also been curbed considerably,” Thanyanit said.

“Nonetheless, there are areas in need of further improvements, which will be our focus. Chief among these include making financial service fees fairer, raising the standard for using customer information, and curbing annoying product offerings. Debt restructuring is another area of focus given challenging prospects of the economy and the country’s relatively high household debt. This part of work will be driven through the Debt Clinic Programme for credit cards and unsecured personal loans. SME debt restructuring together with preventing bad debts will also be a priority area for debt restructuring,” she added.

The central bank has requested all financial service providers to raise work standards. It requires their boards of directors and senior management to place greater importance and attention on fair market conduct, product development and client segmentation, remuneration schemes, sales process, communication and training, data privacy, complaint handling, and having a business continuity plan in place.

There has been progress in various areas. For example, the practice of cross-selling insurance products bundled with housing loans decreased drastically from 67 per cent in 2017 to 7 per cent in 2018, along with the number of complaints filed with BoT. Preventing annoying sales of financial products is another area in which BoT has worked closely with its partners. As an example, a “Gun Guan” mobile application has been developed by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, which features the functionality to block unwanted incoming calls, including those from annoying sales and illegal debt collection.

The central bank requires SPs to provide product information in a transparent and easy-to-understand manner. For example, SPs must provide a product catalogue through which clients are informed of alternatives serving their needs without selling pressure, a sales sheet displaying key terms and warnings, and product contracts containing fair terms and conditions. At the same time, invoices and receipts must clearly display details for all items.

The bank aims to use comparative information disclosure to drive fairer market conduct in the future.

As for solving card-debts, the central bank has launched a debt restructuring programme with the multiple-creditor NPL scheme and has recently extended this to include single-creditor cases. By early 2020 the programme will become broader to include cases in court.

Solving SME debts is another crucial task for the bank, given the importance of the SME sector in the economy. Besides, debt resolution in the past focused mainly on bad debts or NPLs. This time, efforts are geared towards assisting borrowers who are still servicing their loans, to prevent these from deteriorating into bad debts.

Uttama expects the new measures to generate Bt80 billion to the economic system, which would in turn lift GDP growth to 2.6 per cent this year.

The first package targets grassroot economy under the 2020 fiscal budget.

1.1 The government will allocate Bt14.348 billion to village funds for upgrading the infrastructure of villages, town communities as well as employment promotion. The eligible village funds are graded from A to C, totalling 71,742. Each village fund will get a maximum of Bt200,000.

1.2 The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) will provide Bt50 billion to village funds, general public, community financial institutes, agricultural co-operatives, community enterprises, and farmers for operation expenses and to be used as revolving fund.

The loan will carry 0.01 per cent interest rate per annum for the first three years. After that it will be subject to BAAC rate. The campaign will run from on December 1, 2019 to November 30, 2022.

1.3 The village funds will grant debt moratorium to members under criteria to be set by the funds respectively.

2. The second package will help farmers reduce harvesting cost and improve rice quality.

Farmers, registered with the Department of Agriculture Extension this year, will be provided with financial aid for harvesting and rice quality improvement at Bt500 per rai or not exceeding Bt10,000 per household. Lands eligible for this programme is limited to not exceeding 20 rai per household.

3. The third package “Good House with down payment” aims to reducehome-purchase costs. The government will offer a cash-back of Bt50,000 per buyer on the down payment.

To be eligible, the buyer must have a monthly salary not exceeding Bt100,000 and included in the Revenue Department’s tax database of around 100,000 individuals under this category.

The campaign will start tomorrow (November 27) and end on March 31, 2020.

The amendment was approved by an overwhelming 83.6 per cent for the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners.

The law will come into effect on July 1 next year, allowing visitors to apply to change their visas under a number of circumstances.

Visitors who can prove they are investors or representatives of foreign organisations that make legal investments in Vietnam will be allowed to have their purpose of visit switched during their stay in the country.

Family members of invitees will also enjoy the same advantage.

Foreign workers who receive job offers in Vietnam or enter the country on e-visas will be able to change their visa status as long as they have a work permit or confirmation they are eligible for a work permit.

These amendments mark a huge change in policy, as foreign guests currently have to fly out of the country if they want to renew their visas.

Vo Trong Viet, chairman of the NA Committee on National Defence and Security, said the amendments would make it easier for foreigners to stay in Vietnam to learn about the market, and look for jobs and investment opportunities without wasting time and money on immigration procedures.

“The regulation is open but also strict about monitoring foreigners living in Vietnam. Not all tourists that visit Vietnam can apply for a change of purpose given the particular conditions (for a visa switch),” he told the NA.

The NA on Monday also passed the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Cadres and Civil Servants and the Law on Public Employees, along with the Law on Amendments and Supplements to Article 3 of the Law on Management and Use of Weapons, Explosives and Combat Gear. — VNS

The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite indexes reached all-time highs after China said over the weekend that it will tighten intellectual property rules, a move aimed at boosting the chances of a trade deal between the two largest economies. Tech shares led the gains. Charles Schwab Corp. agreed to buy TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., while LVMH purchased U.S. jeweler Tiffany & Co.

“I don’t think we would be seeing these types of deals if the outlook for markets and the economy weren’t favorable,” said Adam Phillips, director of portfolio strategy for EP Wealth Advisors. “This is one additional piece we can look at to see the outlook for markets is a positive one.”

The Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced, with all 19 industry sectors closing in the green. Equities climbed across Asia, led by those in Hong Kong, where local elections brought a landslide victory to pro-democracy candidates. The dollar gained versus the euro and yen.

While doubts about the rally remain and haven investments such as bonds seem well-supported, stocks globally are approaching a third month of gains. The S&P 500 index is building on an advance from Friday, when President Donald Trump said he was “very close” to a trade pact with Chinese President Xi Jinping, even as Treasuries hold on to most of their two-week surge.

“Markets are relatively optimistic about a phase one trade deal happening, but obviously there’s more uncertainty until President Trump and President Xi sit down and sign something more formal,” said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment strategist at BMO Wealth Management.

Elsewhere, China was planning a record sale of sovereign bonds in dollars, with a potential $6 billion offering, according to people familiar with the discussions. West Texas-grade oil futures drifted higher. Bitcoin dropped as much as 11% before paring the decline.

Here are some key events coming up this week:

–Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks on Monday at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce annual dinner in Providence, Rhode Island.

–Alibaba starts trading in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

–Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe will give a speech on unconventional monetary policy on Tuesday evening in Sydney.

–U.S. consumer spending data is due Wednesday, along with GDP, jobless claims and durable goods.

–The U.S. celebrates Thanksgiving on Thursday, when equity and bond markets will be shut.

–The Bank of Korea sets policy on Friday.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

–The S&P 500 index advanced 0.75% to close at 3,133.64, the highest on record with the largest gain in more than a week.

–The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.7% to 28,065.39, the highest on record with the biggest gain in more than a week.

–The Nasdaq Composite index surged 1.3% to 8,632.49, the highest on record with the largest jump in more than six weeks.

–The MSCI All-Country World index advanced 0.7% to 547.17, the highest in 22 months on the biggest gain in more than a week.

Currencies

–The Bloomberg Dollar Spot index was little changed at 1,207.43, hitting the highest in six weeks with its fifth straight advance.

–The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1011, the weakest in more than a week.

–The Japanese yen depreciated 0.3% to 108.94 per dollar, the weakest in almost two weeks on the largest fall in more than a week.

–The British pound jumped 0.5% to $1.2902, the first advance in a week and the biggest increase in two weeks.

Bonds

–The yield on two-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 1.62%.

–The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped one basis point to 1.76%.

–Germany’s 10-year yield climbed one basis point to -0.35%.

–Britain’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.696%, the lowest in more than three weeks.

Commodities

–Gold depreciated 0.5% to $1,454.95 an ounce, the weakest in more than 16 weeks.

–West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 0.4% to $57.98 a barrel.

–Copper gained 0.1% to $2.66 a pound.