Classic Layout

Toronto home sales, prices soar in July

Bloomberg Toronto home sales and prices continued to move higher in July amid tight supply. Sales in Canada’s biggest city jumped 24% to 8,595 from the same period last year, the Toronto Real Estate Board said in a report Tuesday. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, sales rose 5.1% from June, the most since the end of 2017, before harsher mortgage-lending rules ...

Read More »

US futures rise with Europe stocks as China’s yuan gains

Bloomberg US equity futures rose alongside European stocks while Asian shares fell after China moved to stabilise its currency, helping ease some of the market turmoil that kicked off the week. The global sell-off in equities abated after China fixed its yuan exchange rate at stronger than 7 per dollar, a key level that when breached in markets fuelled the ...

Read More »

India stocks advance on Credit Suisse’s upgrade, Kashmir ‘special status’

Bloomberg Indian stocks rose after Credit Suisse AG upgraded the nation to overweight amid an escalating US-China trade war, while the government sought to cement its position by revoking seven decades of autonomy in the disputed Muslim-majority state of Kashmir. The S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.8 percent, its biggest increase in a month, to 36,976.85 at the close in Mumbai. ...

Read More »

Banks seeking softer capital rules rebuffed by EU regulator

Bloomberg European banks lobbying for special treatment on new capital rules are in for a disappointment. The European Banking Authority (EBA) said the bloc should stick closely to what was agreed at a global level when it implements new regulations in the region, according to a report. It specifically rebuffed suggestions from banks on how to tailor the rules to ...

Read More »

SNB’s pile of US shares hit record $93bn in Q2

Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) holdings of US stocks touched a record $92.7 billion in the second quarter, benefiting from a rise in equity markets. The SNB’s US regulatory filing is one of the few glimpses into its vast investment portfolio, amassed as a consequence of its interventions to weaken the franc. It revealed stakes in 2,554 US companies, ...

Read More »

Wells Fargo joins investing round in esports company

Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. is getting into the burgeoning esports market, joining a funding round for Matcherino Inc., a provider of software and services for running competitive video-gaming tournaments. Wells Fargo Strategic Capital and technology investment firm Galaxy Digital are putting in $1.5mn for an undisclosed percentage of Matcherino, bringing the startup’s current funding round to more than $4.1mn, ...

Read More »

India central bank faces calls to do more than just one rate cut

Bloomberg India’s central bank is poised to deliver its fourth successive quarter-point interest rate cut on Wednesday, amid calls from investors and the government for further easing as a slowdown gripping the economy becomes more pervasive. The Reserve Bank of India will lower the benchmark repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 5.5%, according to almost all of the 36 ...

Read More »

Banking union in S Africa plans largest strike since 1920

Bloomberg South Africa’s biggest financial union is threatening to disrupt the country’s banking industry by leading its 73,000 members on a strike next month, in what would be its largest industrial action in almost a century. The planned two-day walkout will target lenders that have consulted staff over job cuts in recent months and other institutions that employ members of ...

Read More »

Italy state lender backs $1.7b construction plan

Bloomberg Italy’s state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA has given its backing to a 1.5 billion-euro ($1.7 billion) plan to consolidate the country’s construction sector after clearing a last-minute hurdle over the role of Natixis SA. After two board meetings and overnight talks, Italy’s biggest construction company Salini Impregilo SpA and Cassa Depositi have signed an investment deal that ...

Read More »

BOE’s climate tests weigh disorder in stock market

Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) for the first time is asking British insurers to gauge how global warming might impact the value of the stocks and bonds they hold — and its potential to upend financial markets. The central bank, which regulates the UK financial services industry, included three scenarios related to climate change in a broader stress test ...

Read More »