Bloomberg India’s forecast of plentiful rain during this year’s monsoon may come as a relief to its farmers as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who’s seeking a second term in office in national elections currently underway. Annual rainfall during the June-September rainy season, which waters more than half of the country’s farmland and is crucial for economic growth, is ...
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US tech firms’ buybacks hit record $387bn
Bloomberg Some of the largest US technology companies pushed for a corporate tax overhaul in 2017 by suggesting they would go on hiring sprees and boost the economy. Just over a year after getting what they wanted, data show these firms gave most of their huge tax savings to investors. The top 10 US tech companies spent more than $169 ...
Read More »Nexi falls after Europe’s biggest IPO this year
Bloomberg Nexi SpA shares fell in Milan trading after the initial public offering of the payments-service company raised 2.01 billion euros ($2.27 billion), making it the biggest listing in Europe so far this year. Nexi declined 5.5 percent to 8.50 euros. A mix of existing and new shares in the Milan-based company were sold to more than 340 investors from ...
Read More »Poland to move $43b to private pension accounts
Bloomberg Poland plans to overhaul its pension system in a way that ends uncertainty over the future of assets managed by privately-held pension funds and helps the government avoid widening the budget deficit. Polish stocks fell and government bonds rose. The government proposed transferring all of the 162 billion zloty ($43 billion) of assets in the privately-managed part of the ...
Read More »German investor confidence up on growth hopes
Bloomberg Investor confidence in Germany’s growth outlook improved for the sixth consecutive month, underpinning hope for an economic rebound later this year. A gauge measuring prospects for the next half year rose to 3.1 in April, beating an estimate for a gain to 0.5. The positive reading means optimists are outnumbering pessimists among survey participants for the first time since ...
Read More »Hulu buys out AT&T’s 9.5% stake for $1.4bn
Bloomberg And then there were two. Hulu LLC, an online-streaming venture backed by the biggest companies in entertainment, bought out AT&T Inc.’s 9.5 percent stake in a deal worth about $1.43 billion. The accord, which values the whole entity at $15 billion, leaves the business with just a pair of owners: Walt Disney Co., which has majority control, and Comcast ...
Read More »The best way to trade Brexit delay is just across UK border
Bloomberg Investors scouting for the best way to trade the Brexit delay should just look across the UK border — at Ireland’s bonds. The securities are seen as offering the right mix of safety and returns as the deferral of Britain’s exit from the European Union dispels anxiety over the most contentious Brexit issue — that of the Irish border. ...
Read More »Mass production of iPhones to start in India
Bloomberg Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry Gou said the iPhone will go into mass production in India this year, a shift for the largest assembler of Apple Inc’s handsets that has long concentrated production in China. Gou said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited him to India as his Taiwanese company plans its expansion in the country. Apple has ...
Read More »India seen getting near-normal monsoon as El Nino risk looms
Bloomberg India’s southwest monsoon, which waters more than half of the country’s farmland and is crucial for economic growth, is expected to be ’near-normal’ this year as the risk of an El Nino weather pattern looms. Annual rainfall during the June-September rainy season is likely to be 96 percent of a long-term average, the India Meteorological Department said. The forecast ...
Read More »Huawei escaping European ban, but not 5G regulations
Bloomberg Huawei Technologies Co’s ability to make inroads into Europe’s future telecom infrastructure may be more about regulatory hurdles than outright bans. The US has been engaged in a vocal campaign to keep Chinese tech companies out of advanced 5G networks that promise faster connections, enabling uses such as autonomous vehicles and remote surgery. US President Donald Trump’s administration has ...
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