March, 2016

• 12 March

  Less contracts, labour costs hit construction firms in Singapore

  Singapore / DPA With fewer contracts to go around and labour costs continuing to rise, construction firms are being squeezed from both sides. The broader effect on the economy may not be dire, with the sector accounting for only about 5 per cent of GDP. But economists expect – and firms fear – that there will be casualties within the ...

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• 12 March

  Seeing risks, Osborne offers no austerity relief for UK

  

  Bloomberg U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is sticking to his guns. Tripped up by an economy proving weaker than forecast and with lower tax revenues as a result, Osborne is set to use his budget on March 16 to deliver even more austerity to meet a legally binding pledge of a fiscal surplus by the end of the ...

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• 12 March

  Pound traders rest hopes on March 16 budget after best rally

  Bloomberg The pound’s best rally in eight months against the dollar may be in danger of unraveling as investors brace for the stewards of both monetary and fiscal policy to give sobering messages on the outlook for Britain’s economy. Sterling, still the worst-performing Group-of-10 currency of 2016, got a reprieve in the past two weeks. The gains reflected easing investor ...

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• 12 March

  Finland loses AAA rating from Fitch as growth prospects weaken

  Bloomberg Finland had its credit grade cut to AA+ by Fitch Ratings, which cited a limited potential for a pickup in economic growth. “Economic performance remains weak,” Fitch said in a statement Friday announcing the reduction to the second-highest credit grade. Finland had a triple-A rating from Fitch since 1998. The company changed its outlook to negative in March 2015, ...

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• 12 March

  Bond market’s inflation outlook brightens

  Bloomberg The bond market’s outlook for inflation is picking up after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s latest expansion of stimulus. A gauge of German inflation expectations climbed to the highest level since January this week. With Brent crude oil rising for a third week, that’s helping boost optimism among investors before data due on March 17 that, according to ...

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• 12 March

  UK nod for companies to test driverless cars on motorways

  

  Bloomberg Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will give the green light for driverless cars to be tested on U.K. motorways, helping to make the technology available to consumers by the end of the decade. The government also aims to remove regulatory barriers so that driverless cars can be used on British roads within the current parliamentary term, the Treasury ...

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• 12 March

  Govt can’t let smartphones be ‘black boxes’, Obama says

  

  TEXAS / Bloomberg President Barack Obama said that smartphones — like the iPhone the FBI is trying to force Apple Inc. to help it hack — can’t be allowed to be “black boxes,” inaccessible to the government. The technology industry, he said, should work with the government instead of leaving the issue to Congress. “You cannot take an absolutist view ...

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• 12 March

  Peru’s Sol surges the most as investors cover shorts

  Bloomberg Peru’s sol surged the most in almost seven years as a rally in emerging-market currencies erased its losses for this year and prompted traders who had wagered on declines to reverse their bets. The sol rose 2.1 percent to 3.354 per dollar at the close of trading in Lima, its biggest one-day advance since May 2009, according to Datatec ...

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• 12 March

  Canada unemployment up 7.3%, 2,300 jobs lost

  

  Ottawa / AFP The Canadian economy lost 2,300 jobs in February, with fresh losses in the oil-producing provinces raising unemployment to 7.3 percent, the highest level seen in three years, official data showed Friday. The results fell short of analysts’ expectations of 10,000 new jobs and unemployment holding steady at 7.2 percent. Although there was a slight increase in the ...

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• 12 March

  Brazilian Real advances for 3rd week, ‘longest’ amid impeachment talks

  

  RIO DE JANEIRO / Bloomberg Brazil’s real advanced for the third week, the longest rally since November, amid growing speculation that a change in government would boost local assets. The currency gained 1.1 percent to 3.5856 per dollar, the strongest level on a closing basis since Aug. 28, bringing its weekly advance to 4.7 percent. It’s up 12 percent this ...

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