Bloomberg The US and the Philippines have agreed to resume joint patrols in the South China Sea amid lingering tensions with China in the disputed waters. The decision was reached during Thursday’s meeting between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Philippine counterpart, Carlito Galvez, where they also exchanged views “on shared regional security challenges in the Indo-Pacific,” according …

  Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) signalled the fastest pace of interest-rate hikes in three decades may be drawing to a close after it raised its benchmark lending rate a half point. Policy makers led by Governor Andrew Bailey voted 7-2 to raise the benchmark lending rate to 4%, the highest since 2008. The majority said strong pay growth …

  Bloomberg Barclays Plc is weighing an increase in the bonus pool for its fixed income trading division, with the unit expected to produce record revenue after 2022’s wild market swings. The British bank is considering boosting the overall incentive compensation for fixed income traders by as much as 15%, according to people familiar with the matter. The proposals are …

  Bloomberg Bank of Montreal (BMO), which just completed its $16.3 billion takeover of Bank of the West, expects to be able to gain share even in US markets where the firm only has a sparse branch presence. The Bank of the West deal expands Bank of Montreal’s US footprint to 32 states and gives it 1.8 million new customers. …

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG is preparing further job cuts to keep costs in check, with the focus likely to be areas outside the trading unit. Meeting expense targets in an inflationary environment will require a redoubling of savings efforts, including job cuts, Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing said at an earnings press conference. He singled out the lender’s consumer …

  Bloomberg Denmark’s Nationalbanken raised its benchmark interest rate less than the European Central Bank (ECB) as its new governor seeks to weaken the krone and defend the peg to the euro. The central bank in Copenhagen, which doesn’t hold scheduled meetings, raised the current account rate to 2.1% from 1.75%, it said. The 35 basis-point hike comes on the second …

  Bloomberg Banco Santander SA’s earnings beat estimates as a revenue boost stemming from central-bank rate hikes offsets the impact of higher expenses and the cost of covering souring loans. The Spanish retail-banking giant posted net income of €2.29 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, exceeding the consensus analyst forecast of €2.1 billion, according to a statement. The lender …

Bloomberg Chinese stocks saw their worst week in more than a month as investors looked for further catalysts to sustain a world-beating rally since the nation’s reopening. The CSI 300 Index, a benchmark of mainland shares, fell 1% on Friday and also for the week, ending this year’s run of weekly gains. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks …

Bloomberg US equity futures dropped after disappointing earnings from Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. poured cold water on the rally fuelled by investor optimism that rates are getting close to peaking. Positive sentiment from this week’s surge in the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 evaporated as investors parsed late results from the tech trio that showed an economic …

  Abu Dhabi / Gulf Time Leading real estate development company, Bloom Holding, announced on Friday that it has begun the early handover of townhouses to owners at Bloom Garden’s fifth phase Aldhay. Aldhay was completed six months ahead of its scheduled handover date, which was set for the third quarter of 2023, adding 181 spacious two to five-bedroom townhouses …