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Zimbabwe’s biggest bank to cut staff

Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s CBZ Bank Ltd., the country’s biggest lender, begun voluntary job cuts as it deals with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic on the corporate landscape. The bank needs to review its structures and operations to adapt to new ways of working, according to a memo from group CEO Blessing Mudavanhu and its chief human resources officer. “The manner ...

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Bond investors take riskier bets in hunt for returns

Bloomberg Bond investors, emboldened by a recovering economy and a global vaccine rollout, are taking on more risk, sometimes a lot more risk. Insurers, pension systems and high-grade credit managers in the US and Europe are buying bigger amounts of junk-rated debt to offset shrinking yields, forcing high-yield investors to jostle for allocations of BB rated bonds — the safest ...

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Thai stocks face hurdles over worst virus outbreak

Bloomberg Thai equities face new hurdles as the country’s worst Covid-19 outbreak will further squeeze corporate earnings and delay an economic recovery, according to Thailand’s second-biggest private money manager. Investor optimism over prospects for a return of foreign tourists has been eroding amid a new wave of the virus that took hold this month, said Vasin Vanichvoranun, executive chairman at ...

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Bahrain-GCC trade hits $1.76 billion in Q1 2021

Manama / Emirates Business The total value of trade between the GCC and Bahrain in Q1 2021 reached $1.76 billion, a rise of 6 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the latest figures released by Bahrain’s eGovernment and Information Authority. Accounting for more than a third of this figure, non-oil bilateral trade between the UAE and ...

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Oil buckles under pressure from India’s Covid-19 resurgence

Bloomberg Oil falls as India’s worsening Covid-19 crisis weighed on the near-term outlook for demand ahead of a key Opec+ meeting later this week. Futures in New York slid 1.7% towards $61 a barrel. Signs of strain on India’s refiners are starting to emerge. Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. has cut processing rates, while Indian Oil Corp has so far ...

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SK’s EV battery material unit’s Seoul IPO fetches $2 billion

Bloomberg South Korean energy supplier SK Innovation Co and SK IE Technology Co have raised 2.25 trillion won ($2 billion) in the battery material unit’s initial public offering, the country’s biggest in four years. SK IE Technology has priced the offering at 105,000 won per share, the top of a marketed range, according to an exchange statement. The portion for ...

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Copper hits highest since 2011 on global recovery

Bloomberg Copper climbed to the highest in almost a decade as the global recovery from the pandemic extended a rally in metals markets. Aluminum is surging and iron ore jumped to a fresh high as commodities advance toward the highs of the last supercycle. Metals are benefiting as the world’s largest economies announce programs to build back greener from the ...

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Total suspends its Mozambique LNG on temporary basis

Bloomberg French energy giant Total SE suspended its $20 billion liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique indefinitely due to an escalation of violence in the area, including a March attack by IS-linked extremists. The decision is a blow to Total, which bought an operating stake in the project for $3.9 billion in 2019, hoping to start exporting the super-chilled fuel ...

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Treasury yields climb on growth bets, dollar drops

Bloomberg US Treasury yields climb amid confidence the Federal Reserve will remain accommodative even as robust growth takes the world’s largest economy back to pre-pandemic levels. Stock-index futures were little changed. Havens including the dollar and government bonds were under pressure while copper, seen as a barometer of growth, surged to the highest in a decade. The US 10-year rate ...

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