March, 2016

• 10 March

  N Korea fires missiles, liquidates South assets

  

  Seoul/ AFP North Korea looked to ratchet up already elevated tensions on the Korean peninsula still further on Thursday, firing a pair of short-range missiles and announcing the liquidation of all remaining South Korean assets on its territory. The moves were a direct response to unilateral sanctions announced by South Korea on Tuesday to punish the North for its January ...

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• 10 March

  What happened to the $3 trillion?

  

  Is the American economy stronger than we think? Perhaps. A persisting puzzle about its recent performance is the stark contrast between growth of jobs (which has been unexpectedly robust) and the growth of the economy’s output (which has been unexpectedly weak). How could a struggling economy produce so many jobs? The puzzle would disappear if the economy’s output is consistently ...

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• 10 March

  EU-Turkey migrant deal is give-and-take

  The EU-Turkey’s draft deal seems practical as it could stop smugglers from exploiting desperate refugees, and stem the flow of migrants to Greece, which has no capacity to accommodate them. Yet, the pact has come under fire from the UN and rights groups. The EU consensus shows European leaders are resolved to give a window of opportunity for refugees through ...

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• 10 March

  China’s Silk Road Belt outpaces Russia’s Economic Union

  Announced in 2013 on a stage at Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the land-based portion of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative (the Silk Road Economic Belt) traces a line through Central Asia. The Chinese are far from the first to brand cross-regional trade visions under the Silk Road banner — although, as several speakers ...

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• 10 March

  Clinton failed a test in Florida debate

  Hillary Clinton’s performance in the debate in Florida on Wednesday was, as usual, a professional effort. She’s good at this, and she hit her marks repeatedly. But she also reminded me of one worry I have about her as president. Clinton had a good day in Michigan and Mississippi on Tuesday. That’s right: A good day. She received more votes ...

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• 10 March

  Equities surge, Euro tumbles as ECB cuts rates, expands stimulus

  

  BLOOMBERG The markets asked, and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi delivered. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index surged and government bonds rose, while the euro slid as the ECB announced cuts to key interest rates and increased the scope of its bond-buying program. U.S. stock-index futures jumped. South Korea’s won rallied after policy makers refrained from lowering borrowing costs, New ...

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• 10 March

  Emirates Securities Market down by -1.30 percent

  

  ABU DHABI / EMIRATES BUSINESS The Emirates Securities Market Index has decreased by -1.30% to close at 4509.80 points. Accordingly the Market Capitalization has lost AED 9.6 billion attaining AED 731.55 billion. A total of 0.92 Billion Shares were traded with a total value of AED 1.29 billion during the trading session of 10-03-2016 through 11283 transactions. The number of companies which ...

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• 10 March

  Next stop on ECB QE stint: $980bn corporate debt

  

  FRANKFURT / Bloomberg The next target for the European Central Bank’s (ECB) expanding asset-purchase programme will be the region’s 900 billion-euro ($980 billion) corporate-bond market. The ECB will buy investment-grade euro-denominated bonds issued by non-bank corporations established in the euro area. Corporate bonds are the latest assets to be added to a growing list of securities, from government debt to ...

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• 10 March

  ECB chief says eurozone loan growth ‘still too low’

  

  Frankfurt / AFP European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi said that while chronically weak loan growth in the euro area “has been recovering for quite some time, it is still too low.” In the wake of the eurozone’s financial and debt crisis, banks became wary of lending money to households and businesses for fear of a possible default, preferring ...

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• 10 March

  Deutsche, HSBC fight Fed’s ‘unfair’ too-big-to-fail plans

  

  Bloomberg Foreign banks including HSBC Holdings Plc and Deutsche Bank AG are pushing back against the Federal Reserve’s proposals on implementing rules designed to end too-big-to-fail, saying they are burdensome and unfair to the US units of the world’s biggest lenders. Under the Fed’s proposals, US units of foreign banks affected would need an extra layer of debt available to ...

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