Bloomberg Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol said omicron is the biggest threat to the economy’s recovery, sounding a cautious note ahead of a policy meeting later this month. The threat posed by the virus variant comes on top of other external risks including rising global inflationary pressure, policy normalisation by major economies and a possible economic slowdown ...

  Bloomberg Bitcoin will continue to take market share from gold as part of broader adoption of digital assets, making the often touted price prediction of a $100,000 by advocates a possibility, according to Goldman Sachs Group. Goldman estimates that Bitcoin’s float-adjusted market capitalisation is just under $700 billion. That accounts for 20% share of the “store of value” market ...

  Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc will start working in split teams again in Hong Kong as the spread of the omicron variant threatens a fifth wave of infections in the Asian financial hub. In a memo to staff, the bank said it will resume a “hard-split A/B team arrangement” for “critical functions” to ensure business continuity. It urged employees to ...

  Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) is taking a stealthier approach than its peers to winding back pandemic stimulus without rattling the markets. As the BOJ, Federal Reserve and others convene meetings this week, the Japanese are, on some fronts, already ahead of the pack after sharply cutting back purchases of exchange traded funds and trimming buying of corporate ...

  Bloomberg Danske Bank lowered forecasts for next year’s economic growth across the Nordics, as supply chain constraints and labour shortages could impede the region’s rebound. “The lack of supply of materials and equipment is a limitation for many Nordic businesses,” Danske said in its Nordic Outlook report. “We expect these constraints to ease as global demand swings back towards ...

  Bloomberg US equity-index futures witnessed volatile trading even as European stocks fall amid a spike in sovereign yields as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s indication of a more aggressive policy tightening. Contracts on the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index were down 0.4%, after a loss of as much as 0.9%. S&P 500 Index futures lost 0.2%, after a 0.5% drop ...

  Bloomberg Investors have enjoyed world-beating returns for years by owning shares of trillion-dollar technology companies, so it’s tempting to say it’s time to bail out now that bond yields are on the rise. Plenty of fund managers are resisting that temptation. Since the bull market kicked off amid the financial crisis of 2008-2009, combined value of Apple Inc, Microsoft ...

  Bloomberg German energy giant Uniper SE was forced to borrow billions to pay down margin calls — the collateral that exchanges require to back up trades — as European gas and electricity prices rallied. Uniper got additional loans totaling 10 billion euros ($11.3 billion) from its Finnish parent Fortum Oyj and KfW IPEX-Bank, the company said in a statement ...

  Bloomberg President Joe Biden hailed an accord with AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc to delay by two weeks a new 5G service so airlines and safety officials can take steps to prevent interference with aircraft electronics. The companies issued separate statements agreeing to the delay two days before their planned Jan. 5 launch. The action came after a ...

  Bloomberg Hong Kong is banning flights from eight countries including the US and UK for two weeks from January 8, in a drastic tightening of rules as it rushes to plug holes that have seen the highly infectious Omicron Covid-19 variant break through the city’s defenses. The bans last until Jan. 20 and also apply to flights from Australia, ...