Bloomberg German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pushed through tighter social-distancing restrictions to stave off the threat of a “massive” surge of the omicron Covid-19 variant just as families gather for the Christmas holidays. The latest measures, which add to existing curbs that mainly affect the unvaccinated, include limiting gatherings to 10 people starting from December 28. The restrictions, which Scholz ...

  Bloomberg It led the world with inflation targeting, but New Zealand’s central bank (RBNZ) is no pioneer for women. The Reserve Bank has released its gender pay gap for the first time, revealing a gulf that’s more than twice the size of the shortfall in the nation’s public service as a whole. As at June 30, the average gender pay ...

  Bloomberg The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) could bolster liquidity in the banking system by selling yuan, which will help lower borrowing costs while stemming the currency’s gains, Nomura Inc. said. The central bank needs more aggressive steps to tackle China’s slowing economy, and swapping the yuan for foreign exchange is its best option, according to Nomura’s chief China ...

  Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said tapering its bond buying program at the first meeting of 2022 and ending it in May is consistent with existing forecasts, as policy makers presented an upbeat view of the economy. The RBA’s board discussed two other options for quantitative easing: it could cease purchases in February if better-than-expected progress was ...

  Bloomberg The UK’s top banking supervisor has handed out a record fine to Standard Chartered Plc for failures in its regulatory reporting and controls. The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulatory Authority imposed a 46.6 million pound ($61 million) penalty on the lender for five reporting errors between March 2018 and May 2019, according to a statement. That was compounded ...

  Bloomberg The Bank of Canada (BOC) will maintain its 2% inflation target for the next five years, but has formally been given license to moderately overshoot it to “support maximum sustainable employment.” In a mandate renewal released jointly with the Canadian government, the government directed the central bank to use monetary policy to boost employment levels as long as ...

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc, which typically advises the world’s biggest companies, is hunting for smaller clients in Australia, targeting businesses with revenue of as little as $53 million to get a competitive advantage in major deals down the track. The US lender, which set up a commercial-banking business in Australia in 2019, is planning to expand its team to 35 ...

  Bloomberg A rebound in stocks moderated on Wednesday, while US futures drifted lower amid uncertainty over the omicron virus strain’s economic impact and a foggy outlook for US fiscal stimulus. Gains in tech shares offset declines in cyclical sectors in Europe, while a gauge of Asia-Pacific shares was in the green. Trading volume was lower than the 30-day average ...

  Bloomberg Finatext Holdings Ltd, a Japanese fintech startup that provides stock trading apps and brokerage infrastructure, slumped on its first day of trading in Tokyo, with shares falling 35% below the issue price. Having raised nearly 20 billion yen ($175 million) in an offering that was priced at the top of its advertised range, got off to a bad ...

  Abu Dhabi / Gulf Time The UAE-Bahrain joint nanosatellite Light-1 has successfully arrived at the International Space Station (ISS). It was carried aboard a Falcon 9 rocket which launched the SpaceX CRS-24 commercial resupply mission from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US, at 14:06 UAE time. Its successful arrival at the ISS is the culmination of a trailblazing ...