Bloomberg After years of disappointment, a quiet revolution may be underway in the Japanese stock market. Japan’s companies have for years sat on record piles of cash — the equivalent of $2.4 trillion in September, the most in the world. The issue has been deploying those funds for shareholder benefit. A key part of Abenomics has been sharpening the ...
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Australia’s growth comeback may not be as good as it seems
Bloomberg Australia’s smashing growth may not be quite as good as it seems. It’s clear that China’s renewed resource binge has brought back the good times for its commodity-driven economic satellite, emboldening Aussie households to ease up saving and ramp up spending. And the outlook for the world’s No. 2 economy looks like it will remain good for some ...
Read More »China’s richest win with Trump effect
Bloomberg Not even Donald Trump can put the brakes on China’s wealth-creation machine. The 36 Chinese billionaires on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index have increased their wealth by 13.2 percent since the real estate mogul was elected US president on Nov. 8, a $39.2 billion increase that’s pushed their combined net worth to $336 billion. The gains top those seen ...
Read More »China to order steel, aluminum curbs to fight pollution
Bloomberg China has ordered curbs on steel and aluminum output in as many as 28 northern cities during the winter heating season as it steps up its fight against pollution, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The cuts include halving steel capacity in four major cities, including top producer Tangshan in Hebei province, according to the people, ...
Read More »London attracts super-rich even as Brexit concerns bite
Bloomberg The super-rich will continue to flock to London, despite the political and economic concerns around the UK’s intention to leave the European Union, according to a report published on Wednesday by property broker Knight Frank LLP. The number of ultra-wealthy people living in the UK capital is expected to climb by 30 percent to 6,058 over the next ...
Read More »Scrutiny escalates in Fiat Chrysler diesel-car probe
Bloomberg Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said the US Securities and Exchange Commission and states’ attorneys general are investigating its diesel models, as scrutiny escalates of vehicles that environmental regulators have said violate pollution laws. Following US Environmental Protection Agency allegations in January that Fiat Chrysler put software in Jeep and Ram diesel models allowing them to exceed pollution limits, ...
Read More »Investors clamor for US corporate bonds as issuers back away
Bloomberg Blue-chip US companies are pulling back from borrowing just when investors most want to lend. Investment-grade corporate bond sales were below $100 billion in February, the worst February since 2014 and 14 percent below the monthly average for issuance for the last three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Companies likely moved at least a portion of ...
Read More »Emerging Asia infrastructure needs US$26 trillion by 2030
Bloomberg Asia’s infrastructure race is just getting started. Emerging economies across the region will need to invest as much as $26 trillion on building everything from transport networks to clean water through 2030 to maintain growth, eradicate poverty and offset climate change. That’s according to an Asian Development Bank report released on Tuesday that highlights the need for massive ...
Read More »Worker shortage drives Japanese firms into ‘child care’
Bloomberg Faced with a shortage of workers, Japanese companies are taking matters into their own hands, helping the government fix a chronic lack of day care that is blunting efforts to get more women into the workforce. Nichiigakkan Co., which provides hospital administration and care services, is among more than 500 companies approved for new subsidies to start their ...
Read More »China’s public-private partnerships are ‘public-public’
Bloomberg China’s effort to promote public-private partnerships to fund roads, bridges and railways and keep a lid on rampant debt growth is succeeding in luring companies to the projects. Problem is, they’re mainly state-owned. Two years into the PPP push, the majority of partners in the projects have turned out to be state-owned enterprises, according to analysts at Fitch ...
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