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BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s main opposition leader Friedrich Merz criticised Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday as “irresponsible” for delaying early elections, as an opinion poll also showed voters in favour of an early vote to pull the country out of political crisis.Europe’s largest economy was thrown into disarray this week with the collapse of Scholz’s three-way coalition and disagreements over how much money the government should spend to spur growth and support Ukraine. As parties positioned themselves, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Greens party is set to fire the starting pistol on his own bid to become chancellor on Friday, a source familiar with the matter said.The coalition’s collapse comes at a tough time for Germany as its economy faces a second year of contraction, its companies fear a loss of competitiveness, while foreign policy challenges mount, from the re-election of Donald Trump to a tariff war with China. Scholz has suggested holding a confidence vote in his government in January, paving the way for snap elections in March, but Merz wants elections to be held in January. Along with “the vast majority of the German electorate, I believe it is irresponsible to handle this … in such a way that it becomes a mere delay, with party-political motives obviously taking centre stage,” said Merz, the leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU).According to one opinion poll, the ZDF Politbarometer, a majority of Germans also want an election as soon as possible. Some 84% think an earlier election is a good idea, while 13% do not, it said on Friday. In the survey, which is based on data from the research group Wahlen, 30% want a new election in March, while 54% want an earlier date. Only 12% want the election to take place on the original date of September 2025. Scholz’s coalition collapsed on Wednesday as he announced the firing of his Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the Free Democrats (FDP) party, which together with the Greens and Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) have been in power since 2021.Some 31% of people in the ZDF survey saw the FDP as being most to blame for the breakdown. Some 58% of citizens expect Scholz to emerge from the crisis weakened and 32% expect him to be strengthened. At the same time, 74% percent expected the FDP to be weakened, while only 16% saw them emerging stronger.Habeck, 55, a former novelist and philosopher, has been a central figure in Germany’s energy and climate policy as economy and climate protection minister, and been a vocal advocate for loosening Germany’s purse strings to support industry. More

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Consumer price inflation in India climbed to a 14-month high of 5.81% in October primarily due to a spike in vegetable and edible oil prices, a Reuters poll of economists predicted, a shade below the central bank’s tolerance threshold of 6.0%. Food prices, which make up nearly half of the inflation basket, likely increased at a faster pace last month. Tomatoes, a key ingredient in every Indian kitchen, are expected to have surged by double digits in price as uneven rains disrupted production.The government’s decision to raise import taxes on edible oils by 20 percentage points in mid-September also likely helped to drive prices up faster, further straining household budgets.Annual retail inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) likely rose a second straight month to 5.81% in October, the highest since August 2023, according to the median forecast from a Nov. 4-8 Reuters poll of 52 economists. It rose to 5.49% in September, higher than forecast.Estimates for the data, set to be released on Nov. 12 at 1030 GMT, ranged from 5.00% to 6.30%, with nearly a third predicting inflation to hit 6.00% – the upper boundary of the RBI’s 2%-6% target range – or above.”There is broad-based price pressure with a pronounced increase visible in tomatoes and edible oil. For the former, lower arrivals were primarily due to a lagged impact of unseasonal rains observed in September. For edible oils, a sharp increase is visible because of imported inflation,” Dipanwita Mazumdar, economist at Bank of Baroda (NS:BOB), said.”Going forward, rising intensity of climate risks, weaker currency against a stronger dollar and geopolitical risks might pose further upside risks to inflation,” she said.The rupee fell to its weakest ever on Thursday following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election. An overall strong dollar, with downward pressure on the rupee, may be one constraint preventing inflation from softening quickly. Core inflation, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy and is seen as a better gauge of domestic demand, was forecast to be 3.60% in October, according to the median estimate from a smaller sample of 21 surveyed.”Core would also be on the upside due to frontloading of festive demand and higher gold prices,” Mazumdar said. The Indian statistics agency does not publish core inflation data. Economists estimated it at 3.50% in September. Reserve Bank of India (NS:BOI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday highlighted the upside risks to inflation, dampening immediate expectations for a rate cut. A slim majority in a separate Reuters poll expected the RBI to cut its key repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25% in December.However, with inflation not expected to return to the 4% medium-term target until at least 2026, economists in the poll cautioned that rate cut could be delayed until early next year. “I don’t think it’s cast in stone what the rate cut cycle should look like … If you look at RBI’s forecast of growth, there is very little reason why support to growth is needed,” said Suvodeep Rakshit, senior economist at Kotak Institutional Equities. The RBI predicts economic growth of 7.2% economic growth this fiscal year, which some economists consider to be optimistic.Separately, wholesale price index-based inflation is expected to have surged to an annual 2.20% last month from 1.84% in September, the survey showed. More

LONDON (Reuters) -Global stock markets cruised towards their best week since August on Friday, with sentiment underpinned by Donald Trump’s decisive U.S. election victory, while China kicked off a fresh round of fiscal support for its flagging economy.A day after the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered a quarter-point rate cut, as anticipated, focus turned back to the fallout of Tuesday’s U.S. election as well as headlines out of Beijing. The offshore yuan weakened, while U.S.-listed shares of Chinese firms and China exposed-sectors in Europe fell in a sign of investor disappointment with China’s stimulus news.U.S. stock futures ticked lower,, Europe’s STOXX index eased 0.7%, while Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.3% higher. The modest moves masked what has been a generally strong week for stocks, led by Wall Street shares, as Trump’s election win stoked expectations of lighter regulation and tax cuts that could further boost the U.S. economy.The S&P 500 stock index is up over 4% this week and set for its best week in over a year, while MSCI’s world stock index is set for its best week since August with a gain of just over 3% and stands just shy of record highs.”What you are going to get because of the clean sweep – is a mandate to improve the U.S. economy. So, taxes will come down, bureaucracy will ease and regulation will become lighter,” said Guy Miller, chief markets strategist at Zurich Insurance Group (OTC:ZFSVF).”Between now and year-end, there is a tailwind for U.S. stocks. The U.S. market has potential.”Elsewhere, Germany’s DAX stock index fell a day after posting its best daily performance of 2024 so far, helped by expectations that Germany could scrap its debt brake.CHINA DISAPPOINTSChina unveiled a 10 trillion yuan ($1.40 trillion) debt package to ease local government financing strains and stabilise flagging economic growth.Finance Minister Lan Foan said more stimulus was coming, with some analysts saying Beijing may not want to fire all its financial weapons before Trump takes over officially in January. Mainland blue chips, which rose 3% on Thursday, fell 1% on Friday, as did Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, in a sign of some caution ahead of the announcement. The offshore Chinese yuan was 0.3% softer at 7.1730 per dollar. China-exposed European luxury and mining stocks each fell over 3%. “Unless there’s more to come later this evening, today’s fiscal announcement is another disappointment for those expecting substantial stimulus,” said Capital Economics chief Asia economist Mark Williams. FED CUTSU.S. Treasury yields were lower after Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday signalled continued, patient policy easing. Its rate cut followed a quarter-point cut from the Bank of England and a large half-point cut by Sweden also on Thursday.Ten-year Treasury yields fell 3 basis points to 4.31%, having reversed sharp rises seen following the U.S. election result.Powell said Tuesday’s election result would have no “near-term” impact on U.S. monetary policy.”The Fed pointed to a more uncertain economic outlook and inflation remaining elevated,” said Mahmood Pradhan, head of global macroeconomics at the Amundi Investment Institute.”Together with a likely change in policy direction under the new administration, we expect a more uncertain and measured pace of easing next year.”The dollar index, which measures the currency against six major peers, dipped to 104.36, following a 0.7% drop on Thursday, its biggest since Aug. 23. On Wednesday, it soared 1.53%, the most in over two years, a sign of increased volatility as investors assess the impact of the new Trump administration’s policies.The euro and sterling were just a touch softer against the dollar, while the dollar slipped almost 0.5% to 152.31 yen.Bitcoin was a touch firmer just above $76,000, following a nearly 10% surge this week, hitting a record peak of $76,980 on Thursday. Trump has vowed to make the United States “the crypto capital of the planet”.And after a rollercoaster week, gold fell 0.6% to $2,691. It slumped more than 3% on Wednesday, but bounced 1.8% overnight. Last week it surged to an all-time high of $2,790.15.Brent crude oil futures trimmed falls during London trade and were last down 1% at $74.86, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.2% to $71.45. More

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations has been planning for the possible return of Donald Trump and the cuts to U.S. funding and engagement with world body that are likely to come with his second term as president.There was a sense of “déjà vu and some trepidation” at the 193-member world body, said one senior Asian diplomat, as Republican Trump won Tuesday’s U.S. election over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. “There is also some hope that a transactional administration will engage the U.N. on some areas even if it were to defund some dossiers. After all, what bigger and better global stage is there than the United Nations?” said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. A U.S. retreat at the U.N. could open the door for China, which has been building its influence in global diplomacy. Trump has offered few specifics about foreign policy in his second term but supporters say the force of his personality and his “peace through strength” approach will help bend foreign leaders to his will. He has vowed to solve the war in Ukraine and is expected to give strong support to Israel in its conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah in Gaza and southern Lebanon. Among the top concerns at the U.N. are whether the United States will decide to contribute less money to the world body and withdraw from key multinational institutions and agreements, including the world Heath Organization and the Paris climate agreement. U.S. funding is the immediate worry. Washington is the U.N.’s largest contributor – with China second – accounting for 22% of the core U.N. budget and 27% of the peacekeeping budget.A country can be up to two years in arrears before facing the possible repercussion of losing its General Assembly vote. ‘EXTREMELY HARD’Trump came to power last time proposing to cut about a third off U.S. diplomacy and aid budgets, which included steep reductions in funding for U.N. peacekeeping and international organizations. But Congress, which sets the federal U.S. government budget, pushed back on Trump’s proposal. A U.N. spokesperson said at the time the proposed cuts would have made it impossible to continue all essential work.”The U.N. secretariat has known that they could face a Trump comeback all year. There has been prudent planning behind the scenes on how to manage potential U.S. budget cuts,” said Richard Gowan, U.N. director at the International Crisis Group.”So (U.N. Secretary-General Antonio) Guterres and his team are not totally unprepared, but they know the next year will be extremely hard,” he said. Trump’s team did not immediately respond to a query about his policy toward the U.N. after he takes office in January.During his first term, Trump complained that the U.S. was shouldering an unfair burden of the cost of the U.N. and pushed for reforms. Washington is traditionally slow to pay and when Trump left office in 2021 the U.S. was in arrears about $600 million for the core budget and $2 billion for peacekeeping. According to U.N. figures, President Joe Biden’s administration currently owes $995 million for the core U.N. budget and $862 million for the peacekeeping budget.”I don’t want to pre-empt or speak about policies that may or may not happen, but we work with member states in the way we’ve always worked with member states,” Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Wednesday. In 2026, the U.N. Security Council will choose Guterres’ successor, a decision in which the Trump administration will hold a veto power.’GREAT NEWS FOR CHINA’During Trump’s first term, he was critical of the United Nations and wary of multilateralism. He announced plans to quit the World Health Organization, and pulled out of the U.N. Human Rights Council, the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, a global climate change accord and the Iran nuclear deal.When Biden succeeded him in 2021, he rescinded the U.S. decision to withdraw from the WHO and returned the U.S. to UNESCO and the climate agreement. Trump’s campaign has said he would quit the climate deal again if he won office. “It will survive. But, of course, it will probably survive severely undermined,” Guterres told Reuters in September of a second withdrawal from the climate pact by Trump. Ahead of the U.S. election, a senior European diplomat said a Trump win would be “great news for China,” recalling that during Trump’s first term “the Chinese influence in the U.N. increased a lot because it was an open bar for the Chinese.”The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that if Trump again cuts U.N. funding and withdraws from international pacts “it will just give China the opportunity to present itself as the supporter number one of multilateralism.” U.S. funding for some other U.N. agencies is also in question. One of the first moves by the Trump administration in 2017 was to cut funding for U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), the international body’s agency focused on family planning as well as maternal and child health in more than 150 countries.Trump’s administration said UNFPA “supports … a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.” The U.N. said that was an inaccurate perception. Biden restored U.S. funding for UNFPA.If Trump again cuts funding, UNFPA warned that “women will lose lifesaving services in some of the world’s most devastating crises” in places like Afghanistan, Sudan and Ukraine.Under Trump’s first presidency, the U.S. also opposed long-agreed international language on women’s sexual and reproductive rights and health in U.N. resolutions over concern that it would advance abortion rights.A senior African diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, summed up the impending return of Trump for multilateralism and the United Nations: “The heavens help us.” More