April, 2016

• 30 April

  Transatlantic trade pact talks progress, deal likely this year

  

    New York / AFP Negotiators on the ambitious TTIP transatlantic trade pact said they had made significant progress in New York this week and hope for a deal in 2016, despite popular opposition on both sides. Both sides said they would not be deterred by increased attacks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and did not plan to ...

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• 30 April

  S&P keeps UK on triple-A rating, says expects no Brexit

  

    Paris / AFP Britain kept its coveted top-grade triple-A credit rating from Standard and Poor’s on Friday, with the agency saying it expected the country to ultimately vote to remain in the European Union. Standard and Poor’s said “our affirmation of the rating reflects our assumption that, by a small majority, the referendum will deliver a vote to remain ...

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• 30 April

  ECB QE boost can’t save Euro bonds from worst month since August

  

    Bloomberg The first month of the European Central Bank’s expanded stimulus program has done little to aid the region’s government bonds. Even as the ECB increased its asset-purchase program to €80 billion ($92 billion) in April, from €60 billion, sovereign securities headed for their biggest monthly decline since August, according to Bloomberg World Bond Indexes. Benchmark German 10-year bunds ...

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• 30 April

  Oil market deja vu triggers predictions of a return to $30

  

    Bloomberg Oil’s climb above $45 a barrel is reassuring influential figures from BP Plc to the International Energy Agency that the industry is finally recovering from the worst slump in a generation. Others say the market is about to fall into the same trap as last year. There’s a sense of deja vu at Commerzbank AG, BNP Paribas SA ...

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• 30 April

  US oil giants’profits slide in Q1

    New York / AFP Plunging crude prices battered oil giants’ profits in the first quarter, another blow following credit downgrades, layoffs and drilling cutbacks in the wake of a long rout. Chevron became the latest big oil company to land in the red due to low commodity prices, reporting a loss of $725 million in the quarter ending March 31. ...

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• 30 April

  Puerto Rico delays bond payments as default looms

    Bloomberg Puerto Rico said its Government Development Bank, which is operating in a state of emergency to preserve its dwindling cash, reached an agreement with some credit unions to delay $33 million of bond payments as the commonwealth rushes toward a potential historic default. The pact only affects a portion of the $422 million that the bank owes on ...

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• 30 April

  Brazil Real rises offsetting central bank move

    Bloomberg Brazil’s real climbed to the highest level since July as commodities prices rallied, overshadowing plans by the central bank to sell reverse-swap contracts that tend to weaken the currency. The real gained 1.5 percent to 3.4358 per dollar on Friday, extending this month’s gain to 4.6 percent, as the U.S. currency weakened globally. A Bloomberg index of raw ...

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• 30 April

  Colombia unexpectedly lifts rate to 7% amid 15-year high CPI

    Bloomberg Colombia’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by more than analysts forecast as inflation surged to its highest level since 2001 following the most severe drought in decades. The seven-member board voted to lift borrowing costs by half a point to 7 percent citing concern that inflation will return to target more slowly than forecast, central bank ...

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• 30 April

  Canada 11-month surplus puts Morneau’s deficit call in doubt

    Bloomberg Canada was on pace to run a significant surplus for the last fiscal year, monthly data released Friday show, calling into question the federal government’s projection of a full-year deficit. The government raised C$3.2 billion ($2.6 billion) more than it spent in February, giving it a surplus of C$7.5 billion for the first eleven months of the fiscal ...

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• 30 April

  Venezuela electricity chaos adds to people’s woes

  Maracaibo / AFP Carmela de la Hoz sent a customer away with his hair half cut when the power went off in her salon. The customer will be back — but so will the blackouts. The rolling electricity cuts the Venezuelan government ordered across the country starting this week have hit the city of Maracaibo hard. Security forces are patrolling the ...

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