Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc will establish an office to spearhead its strategy in China’s fast-growing Greater Bay Area, stepping up its bet on the world’s second-largest economy. Daniel Chan, currently head of business banking at HSBC in Hong Kong, was named head of the unit, which will oversee the strategy to “capture opportunities” in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, the …

Bloomberg Tanzania’s central bank ordered the nation’s lenders to deal with souring loans and slash costs, threatening jobs in the latest industry reforms announced by President John Magufuli’s government. Bank of Tanzania gave lenders until the end of 2022 to reduce their cost-to-income ratios to below 55% and to cut non-performing loans to below 5% of their books, according to …

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 …

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 …

Bloomberg Oil rose, following back-to-back weekly declines, as broader markets rallied. With headline prices largely range-bound over the past couple of weeks, the more significant market moves have been in the structure of the oil futures curve. Brent’s second-month contract is the most expensive versus a month later in more than a year. That formation — known as backwardation — …

Bloomberg BP Plc will sell a stake in an Omani gas block to Thailand’s national energy firm for $2.6 billion, part of a push to divest billions of dollars of assets and focus more on renewable energy. PTT Exploration and Production Public Co Ltd has agreed to pay the sum for 20% of Block 61, according to statements from both …

Bloomberg NextEnergy Renewables Ltd plans to raise 300 million pounds ($412 million) in an initial public offering in London, capitalising on growing demand for sustainable investments. The company will invest in renewable power assets and other infrastructure that enables the transition away from fossil fuels, the latest example of asset managers trying to match investors increasing concerns about environmental, social …

Bloomberg A unit of GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd defaulted on a $500 million bond after ending an exchange offer with existing bondholders. GCL New Energy Holdings Ltd announced the default in a Monday exchange filing. The firm, which operates solar power plants, is majority owned by GCL-Poly, one of the world’s leading makers of solar-grade polysilicon, and whose shares have …

Bloomberg Indian firms are returning to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot market as prices for the fuel recede from record-high levels. Importers including Indian Oil Corp and Petronet LNG Ltd have issued at least eight tenders seeking supplies for February to March delivery in the last two weeks. So far, four of them have been awarded. Most end-users stopped …

Bloomberg UK lenders approved more mortgages in 2020 than in any year since before the financial crisis, as house hunters sought to take advantage of a temporary tax cut. The stamp duty holiday, which allows buyers to save as much as 15,000 pounds propelled the housing market into high gear even as the coronavirus crisis sent the wider economy into …