April, 2016

• 16 April

  China flays outlook cut by credit-rating agencies

  

    Beijing / AFP China’s finance minister accused international credit-rating companies of ‘bias’ against the country after Standard & Poor’s Rating Services and Moody’s Investors Service lowered their sovereign outlooks on the world’s second-largest economy. “Historically, the market performance of most of China’s sovereign debt was higher than the assessment of the credit-rating agencies,” Lou Jiwei said at a press ...

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• 16 April

  ‘Australia debt to rise without revenue steps’

    Sydney / Bloomberg The Australian federal government’s debt pile is set to increase further without measures to boost revenues, Moody’s Investors Service said. Spending cuts set to be outlined in the May 3 budget “may be modest” and with Treasurer Scott Morrison having excluded steps to bolster income, these “limited” reductions are unlikely to meaningfully advance the government’s aim ...

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• 16 April

  Beauty obsession drives China selfie app’s $3bn valuation

  

    Beijing / Bloomberg China’s love affair with physical beauty is helping to fuel a selfie-editing app’s valuation of $3 billion. Meitu Inc. is shooting for at least that much in its latest funding round, according to people familiar with the company, a target that would make it one of China’s 10 largest private startups and eclipse household-names like Yelp ...

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• 16 April

  Current Greece finance plans not realistic: IMF

  

  AFP The International Monetary Fund said that the fiscal projections underpinning Greece’s proposals for moving ahead in its bailout programme are not realistic. Poul Thomsen, director of the IMF’s European Department, raised questions about the forecast that Greece could maintain a 3.5 percent budget surplus for years as part of its plan for debt relief from European Union creditors. “We ...

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• 16 April

  Pound strategists focused on Brexit shrug off economic optimism

  

    Bloomberg There’s a slew of data out of the U.K. next week, some of it likely to show the economy is in good shape. Yet still currency strategists remain preoccupied with the European Union referendum in June and the potential for further losses in the pound. Data due April 20 will show U.K. unemployment remained at a decade-low of ...

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• 16 April

  A year after bonds’ peak, traders await ECB guidance

  

    Bloomberg One year on from the peak in the region’s government bond market, investors will be watching the European Central Bank for signs that this week’s selloff isn’t about to turn into a rout. Benchmark German 10-year bunds slid for the first time in five weeks as France led a wave of supply by selling debt via banks, including ...

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• 16 April

  Volkswagen Europe quarterly market share hits five-year low

  

    Bloomberg Volkswagen AG’s European first-quarter market share reached a five-year low as auto buyers snubbed the German carmaker’s efforts to resolve its emissions-cheating scandal and turned to models from BMW AG, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Daimler AG. Volkswagen’s brands, including mass-market Skoda and up-market Audi, accounted for 23.4 percent of new registrations in the three months ended March ...

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• 16 April

  Chinese group seeks to seal takeover of AC Milan by June

  

    Thetford / AFP The Chinese investor group pursuing a takeover of the AC Milan soccer club, which is controlled by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is targeting a deal by June, people with knowledge of the matter said. The consortium, whose investors have a background in renewable energy and media, has agreed on most key terms and is seeking ...

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• 16 April

  Treasuries best place to be as investors binge at US auctions

  

    Bloomberg Buyers snapped up $56 billion in Treasury debt at auctions this week, lured by higher yields than found in most other developed nations, as slow global growth and mixed U.S. economic data complicate the Federal Reserve’s efforts to raise interest rates. With investors buoyed by an April 14 report showing benign consumer-price inflation, demand was so strong at ...

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• 16 April

  UnitedHealth to exit Michigan Obamacare exchange, state says

  

    Bloomberg UnitedHealth Group Inc. plans to exit a third state Obamacare market as the insurer works to stem losses from its struggling Affordable Care Act business. The insurer won’t sell policies through Michigan’s ACA exchange for next year, according to Andrea Miller, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Insurance and Financial Services. Georgia and Arkansas said last week ...

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