Bloomberg South Korea bowed to pressure from its increasingly dominant retail investors and extended its pandemic-imposed ban on short-selling until May 2. The ban, which had been scheduled to expire on March 15 — a year after it was put on place — will be lifted on May 3 for stocks on the benchmark Kospi 200 Index and the small-cap …
Read More »Stocks
Apple sells $14b of bonds as share buybacks seen rising
Bloomberg Apple Inc. has sold $14 billion of bonds to take advantage of cheap borrowing costs, tapping the market for a third time since May as the company looks to return more cash to shareholders. The company issued debt in six parts. The longest portion of the offering, a 40-year security, will yield 95 basis points above Treasuries, after initially …
Read More »Stocks climb on tech, stimulus bets; silver fall
Bloomberg Global stocks climbed on renewed hopes for stimulus, progress on vaccinations and receding concerns about volatile retail trading. Silver pulled back from an eight-year high. Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index gained around 1%, with technology shares outperforming ahead of earnings from Amazon.com Inc. and Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. BP Plc dropped after posting results that fell short of expectations on …
Read More »Global stocks, US futures rise; silver jumps to eight-year high
Bloomberg Global stocks and US futures climbed as concern over volatile retail trading receded and China took steps to ease a cash crunch. Silver crossed $30 an ounce for the first time since 2013 in a Reddit-fuelled frenzy. Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index rallied 1%, led by silver mining companies. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 1.7%, the biggest gain in …
Read More »JPMorgan to BofA see scope for longer S Africa stock rally
Bloomberg South African stocks have made their best start to the year since 2012, even after last-week’s pullback, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America are among those predicting further gains. A global appetite for riskier assets has propelled emerging market inflows and the Johannesburg exchange is set to benefit from its heavy weighting in mining stocks as …
Read More »Hong Kong’s $600 billion stock rally hinges on China support
Bloomberg Hong Kong’s stock rally is so dependent on mainland capital that the mere suggestion the record inflows will slow has the potential to stir panic in the city’s $7.1 trillion market. Such was the case, when the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) withdrew incremental liquidity and an adviser warned obliquely of asset bubbles. The result was the biggest drop …
Read More »Indian stocks face budget hurdle with history as guide
Bloomberg If history is a guide, the recent rough ride for Indian stocks will continue after Monday’s budget. The S&P BSE Sensex index has climbed in the month after budget day on only two of the past seven years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, while falling or staying rangebound on other occasions. Risks are compounded in 2021 …
Read More »BofA’s Merrill raises margin to 100% to trade certain stocks
Bloomberg Bank of America Corp. (BofA) increased margin requirements to 100% for wealth-management and self-directed brokerage clients to trade certain stocks, as firms impose limits amid wild price swings sparked by investors on social media. The margin requirements apply to Merrill Lynch wealth-management clients and individual traders using the Merrill Edge platform, according to Bank of America. Margins for stock …
Read More »Japan stock rally defies foreign sales thanks to BOJ and banks
Bloomberg Japan’s equity rally last year in the face of foreign selling is challenging conventional wisdom that purchases by overseas investors are necessary for the market to keep rising. And that breakdown in correlation bodes well for the country’s shares. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 16% in 2020 despite more than 6 trillion yen ($58 billion) of foreign net …
Read More »Stocks dip before Fed; earnings spur US tech
Bloomberg Stocks drifted lower with US equity futures on Wednesday as investors weighed earnings reports and awaited the conclusion of the first Federal Reserve policy meeting of the year. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index opened modestly down amid a wave of corporate results. Luxury conglomerate LVMH edged higher after sales of fashion and leather goods soared in the fourth quarter. …
Read More »
The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.