Hong Kong has fewer coronavirus cases than the US, Singapore or Italy. That might seem surprising for a city that sits on the doorstep of mainland China and has intertwining business, tourism and personal connections with the source of the epidemic. The reason can be summed up in one word: Sars. The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in ...

Britain’s largest grocer is heading for the checkout in Southeast Asia with an impressively full trolley. Tesco Plc said it had sold its Thai and Malaysian business to entities linked to Dhanin Chearavanont’s Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group for more than $10 billion, a heftier than expected price. It’s a bold bet on billionaire clout. Picking a buyer that already touches ...

Bloomberg Wednesday brought another day of reversals in many major markets, with US stock futures dropping, the dollar weakening and Treasury yields falling after surging a day earlier. Contracts on the S&P 500 Index fell about 2% after the US administration failed to offer details on what President Donald Trump said would be “major” measures to combat the economic impact ...

Bloomberg Indian stocks advanced in a volatile session after the nation’s benchmark capped its steepest two-day slide in more than 11 years. Investors weighing an oil slump against economic risks fuelled by the coronavirus outbreak sent the S&P BSE Sensex Index up 0.2% to 35,697.4 at the close in Mumbai, reversing an earlier loss of as much as 1.1%. The ...

Bloomberg It doesn’t seem to matter anymore whether global stocks are rising or falling — investors just keep snapping up more gold. Holdings in gold-backed exchange-traded funds surged by 55 tons in the previous three days, accounting for almost a third of year-to-date inflows, according to a preliminary tally by Bloomberg. As a haven asset, demand for gold tends to ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Russia said it would begin selling foreign currency ahead of schedule after the rout in oil prices made the ruble the worst-performing currency in the world. The move is aimed at “increasing the predictability of the actions of the monetary authorities and reducing volatility on financial markets amid significant changes in the world oil market,” according ...

Bloomberg Taiwan’s central bank disclosed its outstanding position in foreign-exchange swap trading, a rare move aimed at answering calls for improved transparency. The bank’s outstanding position in foreign-exchange swap trading was $99.1 billion at the end of February, the central bank’s Governor Yang Chin-long wrote in a report prepared for legislators. The central bank purchased a net $5.5 billion in ...

Bloomberg The Italian government is negotiating with banks to provide breaks from debt payments including mortgages, as individuals and businesses are hit by a nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus. The country is also studying relief for temporary layoffs and additional fiscal measures to support the economy, Deputy Finance Minister Laura Castelli said in a radio interview. A new decree ...

Bloomberg Kazakhstan, the biggest oil producer in central Asia, raised its benchmark interest rate by 2.75 percentage points to 12% at an emergency meeting and started selling foreign currency to help support the tenge. The National Bank of Kazakhstan raised the base rate from 9.25% to protect the tenge from increased external risks, support price stability and hold down the ...

Bloomberg Iceland’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to its lowest level ever at an emergency meeting called to counter the impact of the coronavirus. The 7-day term deposit rate was cut by 0.5 percentage points to 2.25%, Sedlabanki said in a statement. “Furthermore, the Committee has decided to lower deposit institutions’ average reserve requirement from 1% to 0%. ...