News about World markets
Moldovan wine producer Purcari acquires the winery SERVE Ceptura, a Romanian wine producer located in the commune of Ceptura, Dealu Mare. The transaction is at the stage of finalization.
Deliveries of Nvidia H200 gas pedals to China remain blocked despite the US authorities’ authorization to export the chips to a number of Chinese companies. The situation shows that the technological confrontation between the U.S. and China is beginning to slow down even officially approved deals in the field of artificial intelligence.
The European Union reached a preliminary agreement Wednesday on a bill to eliminate import duties on goods from the United States, a key part of a trade deal struck with the United States last July. The move is likely to avoid higher U.S. tariffs on EU products.
The global luxury industry is facing a noticeable cooling of demand after several years of record growth. After the pandemic, major fashion houses actively raised prices, taking advantage of high demand and the desire of buyers for status consumption. However, this strategy is now starting to backfire.
The G7 countries are unanimous in their support for Ukraine. Following the G7 finance ministers’ meeting in Paris, French Economy and Finance Minister Roland Lescure reiterated the G7 countries’ intention to “keep pressure on Russia”.
The German government began the process of selling Uniper on May 19, inviting potential bidders in a deal that could be one of the biggest in Europe this year. The move is designed to put an end to the government’s €13.5 billion rescue plan for the energy group.
“Gas will be supplied to Georgia at a social tariff for the next 20 years, and for this, of course, special thanks should be expressed to the Azerbaijani side,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said at a briefing at the government administration.
The drop in Arabica prices continues for the second month in a row. Since the beginning of May, coffee has fallen in price by 7.7%, and in April the decline amounted to 4.3%. Earlier this month, the cost has already broken through the psychological mark of 6 thousand dollars per ton – it happened for the first time since November 14, 2024. However, after that the market corrected upward a bit.
The Republic of Moldova strengthened its position on the international market of non-bottled wine, rising from 13th to 11th place in the world ranking of exporters, according to the analysis “Top 25 World Exporters of Bottled Wine: 2000 vs. 2024”, based on UN Comtrade data.
On May 18, the evening auction at Christie’s in New York turned into a historic event for the global art market. Jackson Pollock’s monumental work Number 7A (1948), from the collection of media magnate Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr., sold for $181.2 million including commissions, setting an all-time record for the artist.
Yandex Taxi’s international brand Yango will invest $150 million to expand in Africa, with plans to enter markets in more than a dozen more African countries.
FIFA made serious concessions for the sake of the Chinese market: the state media group CMG received the rights to broadcast four World Cups at once, paying, according to Chinese media, about $60 million – much less than the amount that the international federation originally expected.
Moldova ranks 95th out of 197 in the Global Reputation Index 2026, positioned between Jamaica and the Marshall Islands.
The Russian ruble has become the leader in strengthening against the dollar among world currencies in the current quarter.
As of mid-May, there were no significant changes on the Black Sea freight market. Deficit of new cargo transportation requests remains, especially in coaster segment. As a result, freight rates are decreasing.
The National Energy Regulatory Agency (NERA) has set new maximum fuel prices that will be in effect tomorrow, May 20.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has admitted during talks with US President Donald Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin may eventually regret invading Ukraine.
Grain futures on the largest commodity exchange in Chicago rose sharply at the beginning of the current week. This happened after the White House administration announced new commitments by China to purchase American agricultural products. This gave the market hope for growth in exports of not only U.S. soybeans, but also other agricultural products.
Crypto exchanges allow speculating on shares of companies that have not yet gone public. Trading interest in such instruments already amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars
U.S. President Donald Trump said he was postponing a planned new strike on Iran on Tuesday at the request of Gulf states because “serious negotiations are now underway.”
