RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s King Salman ordered a deposit of $2 billion to be paid into Yemen’s central bank on Wednesday to shore up the weak Yemeni currency, the Saudi government said. The move was made a day after the Yemeni prime minister issued a public plea for funds to prop up the rial and help stave off hunger …
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These emerging economies are not afraid of QE’s end
Bloomberg While the prospect of the European Central Bank’s withdrawal of monetary stimulus is bringing closer the end of an era of record-low borrowing costs in emerging Europe, it isn’t worrying countries both inside the euro area and those just on its eastern fringe. Governments from Slovakia to Croatia say their economies are in much better shape than when investors …
Read More »SNB seen sticking with rock bottom rate through 2019
Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) somewhat more upbeat inflation view may not necessarily translate into early rate increases, according to a Bloomberg survey. In their first take since the SNB’s December policy meeting, when the central bank adjusted its forecasts, economists still see Switzerland’s deposit rate staying at a rock-bottom minus 0.75 percent until late 2019. A 25-basis point …
Read More »Heathrow’s sloping runway plan to cut costs by $3.4bn
Bloomberg London’s Heathrow Airport put forward proposals for a sloping runway and said the landing strip could be shortened as it seeks to cut 2.5 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) from the cost of expansion plans. Europe’s busiest hub also proposed the phased opening of new terminals and a number of alternative road links as part of a 10-week consultation aimed …
Read More »UK growth outlook dims as household spending to weaken
BLoomberg The UK economy isn’t going to pick up for at least the next two years as consumers struggle to lift spending. Respondents to Bloomberg’s first UK survey of 2018 showed few signs of new year optimism. The median forecast for growth this year was kept at 1.4 percent, and no acceleration is seen in 2019. While gross domestic product …
Read More »Boeing barges into aircraft-seat business in threat to suppliers
Bloomberg Fed up with delays that have plagued production of luxurious jetliner cabins, Boeing Co. is forming its own company with a major seat supplier to the auto industry. The joint venture with Adient Plc will be based near Frankfurt, Germany, along with a technology center and an initial production plant, the companies said in a statement. It will market …
Read More »Qantas named as least fuel-efficient airline
Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd. is the least fuel efficient and burns the most carbon of major airlines that fly across the Pacific Ocean, according to a report by the International Council on Clean Transportation. Qantas burns an average of one liter of aviation fuel to fly a passenger 22 kilometres, 64 percent more than the 36 kilometres achieved by the …
Read More »Stocks race to records as earnings remain strong
Bloomberg US stocks jumped to records with the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossing 26,000 and S&P 500 Index surpassing 2,800, both for the first time, as Citigroup Inc. posted healthy earnings and discussed possible significant investor payouts from the bank’s windfall stemming from a major tax cut. All major US equity gauges were higher. The dollar gained after its lowest …
Read More »Crypto-linked stocks return to earth as Bitcoin, Ripple fall
Bloomberg Companies that have seen their fortunes—and share prices—soar with the crypto-craze are now facing a little bit of a reality check. As Bitcoin slumped as much as 20 percent and Ripple tumbled as much as 33 percent, firms that touted their links to the burgeoning blockchain industry, including Riot Blockchain Inc., Overstock.com Inc. and DPW Holdings Inc., saw their …
Read More »Saudi Fund in talks to buy stake in Miss Universe owner Endeavor
Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in talks to buy a stake in Endeavor, the holding company for Hollywood talent agency WME, people familiar with the matter said. The Public Investment Fund, known as PIF, is in preliminary discussions to invest more than $500 million, which will help the talent agency for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon expand its …
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