News

Bloomberg Record lows, trading halts, capitulation and spending cuts made for a wild week in the energy sector after Saudi Arabia and Russia embarked on a war for market share, sending crude and equity prices in a downward spiral. The S&P 500 energy index never recouped the stunning losses it saw at the beginning of the week, despite the late-day …

Bloomberg Nizana Brautmann found out her 6-year-old son had been exposed to coronavirus via a note on the locked door of his Berlin daycare center. It told parents to take their kids home and wait. As the focus of the new pandemic shifts to Europe, authorities there have been slower to embrace the aggressive testing credited with helping to curb …

Bloomberg The economic fallout from the coronavirus could be more serious than the damage done by the 2008 global financial crisis for Singapore, according to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. “We can’t tell when the pandemic will end, but it will likely last at least this year, and quite possibly longer,” Lee said in a Facebook post. “The economic hit …

Bloomberg The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, saying cases outside China have risen 13-fold. The US’s top infectious-disease specialist told lawmakers the pathogen is 10 times more deadly than the seasonal flu. Britain announced a $39 billion stimulus package, hours after the Bank of England cut interest rates. German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to do “whatever …

VIENNA / WAM The Opec Fund for International Development (Ofid), and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Badea), signed a new agreement to strengthen cooperation in common partner countries. During past four decades, the Opec Fund and Badea have collaborated on 240 development operations in sub-Saharan Africa. The two institutions have between them contributed equally to development financing …

Bloomberg European banks will see about 30 billion euros ($34 billion) erased from their net income over the next three years as a result of the fallout from the coronavirus, analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimated. The profit erosion, equivalent to 7% of their total, will be driven by increased credit risk, weaker revenue and broadly flat costs, analysts …

Emirates Business Etihad Cargo, the cargo and logistics arm of Etihad Aviation Group, expanded its digital portfolio by launching the first version of its mobile application, offering customers the ability to gain real time access to information on-the-go. Building on the success of Etihad Cargo’s iCargo platform and etihadcargo.com, the optimised mobile app boasts an array of in-built features to …

Bloomberg Oil crashed more than 30% after the breakup of the Opec+ alliance triggered an all-out price war, with both Russia and Saudi Arabia poised to flood the market with cheap oil. The former allies pledged swift retribution for the collapse of the cartel’s meeting last week, with the Gulf kingdom slashing its official crude prices and threatening record production, …

TASHKENT / WAM ACWA Power announced the signing of three new strategic agreements, potentially worth up to $2.5 billion, with the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan to amplify power generation and develop technical expertise. The agreements include a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), and Investment Agreement – with a total investment value of $1.2 billion – for the development, construction …

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia plans to boost oil output next month to well above 10 million barrels a day, as the kingdom responds to the collapse of its Opec+ alliance with Russia. The world’s largest oil exporter engaged in an all-out price war by slashing pricing for its crude by the most in more than 30 years. State energy giant Saudi …