Bloomberg Africa is on the cusp of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) boom. That’s in part due to accelerating global demand. It’s also down to a fast-track method of getting the fuel to market. Kosmos Energy Ltd’s project in Mauritania and Senegal, set to get the go-ahead next month, will use a floating vessel to convert gas from the offshore …

Bloomberg Some liquefied natural gas (LNG) sellers aren’t in a rush to deliver their multimillion-dollar cargoes. With uncertain demand and no signs yet of bitter cold, some traders are preferring to keep their fuel inside vessels in the hope prices will rise. While the sight of stationary cargoes might not be unusual in the more-established oil market, technology has only …

Bloomberg Developing countries have added more clean power capacity than fossil fuel generation for the first time ever, charging ahead of wealthier nations in the global green energy push, according to Bloomberg NEF. Wind and solar generation accounted for just over half of the 186 gigawatts of new power capacity in developing nations last year, according to BNEF’s annual Climatescope …

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s housing market is suffering its worst declines since 2016 — by multiple measures. New-home sales this month are on track to be the lowest by volume since January or February of that year, according to Midland Realty data. Meanwhile, used-home prices have fallen for eight weeks, the longest losing streak since 2016, according to the Centa-City Leading …

Bloomberg US stock futures fell as trade tensions with China flared and investors assessed comments from a Federal Reserve official. Treasuries declined. S&P 500 futures dropped after President Donald Trump threatened China with more tariffs days before a sit-down with his counterpart Xi Jinping. Apple looked set to fall deeper into a bear market as Trump suggested levies on mobile …

Bloomberg Nasdaq Inc. is moving ahead with a plan to list Bitcoin futures, according to two people familiar with the matter, betting on sustained interest despite the cryptocurrency’s dramatic plunge over the past year. Nasdaq has been working to satisfy the concerns of the US’s main swaps regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, before launching the contracts, the people said. …

Bloomberg The Indian government will push its central bank to ease lending restrictions for some weak banks and review rules governing its functioning at a board meeting next month, people with knowledge of the matter said. The members, including government nominees, will press for some of the weak banks to be removed from the so-called prompt corrective action list, particularly …

Bloomberg JPMorgan Asset Management is preparing for a rough year ahead in financial markets, and is taking to the higher-quality ground of short-dated Treasuries. Escalating trade tensions will likely be “the single most important issue moving global markets” in 2019, as they were in 2018, analysts wrote in a report on the outlook for the coming year. A deeper trade …

Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc is weighing a plan to simplify its structure as the emerging markets lender looks to control costs across its sprawling network from Zambia to Macau, said people familiar with the matter. The London-based bank, which operates in about 60 markets, is exploring how to free up liquidity and reduce funding expenses within its different legal entities, …

Bloomberg Austria’s designated next central bank governor Robert Holzmann should argue for a tighter monetary policy in the European Central Bank’s policy-making body, according to the country’s new central bank vice president. Barbara Kolm, an economist appointed to the institution’s non-policy oversight body by the nationalist Freedom Party, told Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse in an interview that she’s “hoping …