February, 2016

• 24 February

  Forget plastic money, let’s pay through wrist watch

  

  Alkesh Sharma / Emirates Business Imagine making a secure payment at a suburban fuel station through your wrist watch by just moving your arm before a machine. It could be certainly far more convenient and a great case of how useful Internet of Things (IoT) technology could be in daily life. With the number of Internet of Things (IoT) enabled ...

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• 24 February

  What a Saudi oil freeze would really mean for markets

  

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia shot down rumours it might cut oil production, but reaffirmed its commitment to an output freeze that could restrict crude flows to market this summer. With the world’s biggest exporter already pumping near-record volumes, that may not matter. Last week’s pledge to cap production at January levels along with Russia, Venezuela and Qatar — repeated on Tuesday ...

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• 24 February

  Sterling slides further as traders brace for volatility

  

  BLoomberg The pound sank below $1.39 for the first time since March 2009, while a gauge of anxiety in currency markets showed traders are preparing for even more extreme moves. Options traders are paying the most to protect against price swings in six months’ time compared with historical volatility since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed during the 2008 credit crisis. ...

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• 24 February

  Ex-military chiefs say Britain is ‘stronger’ in EU

  London / Bloomberg Thirteen former senior military officers insisted Britain should stay in the European Union on Wednesday, saying the country was “stronger” as a member of the 28-nation bloc in a “dangerous world”. Writing ahead of a membership referendum on June 23, the retired military chiefs said the EU helped protect the country against threats from IS extremists and ...

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• 24 February

  Pound could hit 1985 levels in a ‘Brexit’, economists foresee

  Bloomberg A British exit from the European Union would be so devastating for the pound that 29 out of 34 economists in a Bloomberg survey see it sinking to $1.35 or below within a week of a vote to leave — levels last seen in 1985. Twenty-three of the economists say sterling wouldn’t recover from that rate within three months ...

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• 24 February

  Putin vs Poroshenko: European court claims near $100 billion

  

  Bloomberg Ukraine’s war with pro-Russian rebels may be frozen but the legal battle between Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko is just heating up. The $3 billion lawsuit Russia filed against Ukraine in London last week over a bond default is just a fraction of the $63 billion Ukraine is seeking in lawsuits and other legal claims from Stockholm to The ...

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• 24 February

  Peugeot vows new profit plan with restructuring complete

  Bloomberg PSA Peugeot Citroen will set new growth goals after cost-cutting and recovering demand in Europe helped the French automaker beat targets set two years ago following a bailout. Automotive operating profit last year was 5 percent of revenue, far exceeding a 2 percent margin goal for 2018, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Free cash flow was almost ...

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• 24 February

  Germany’s yield curve flattens

  Bloomberg Germany’s 30-year government bonds advanced for a fifth day, reducing the extra yield they offer over shorter maturities, known as flattening the yield curve, as the nation prepared to auction debt due in July 2044 on Wednesday. German bonds rose as European stocks declined with sliding oil prices prompting investors’ demand for safer assets. With the average yield on ...

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• 24 February

  Foreign holdings of India bonds drop as rupee flirts with record

  

  Bloomberg Foreign holdings of rupee-denominated debt are falling at the fastest pace since December as losses in Indian bonds deepen and the currency hovers near a record low. The nation’s sovereign notes have turned into Asia’s worst performers in 2016, from the best in the previous two years, amid concern Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Feb. 29 budget will show fiscal ...

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• 24 February

  Russian bank collapse shines light on risks in Irish shadows

  

  Bloomberg Based in a drab office building in Dublin down the road from a pub frequented by Prime Minister Enda Kenny, VPB Funding Ltd. had no employees but one function: selling bonds. In 2013, it issued $225 million of unsecured notes. The proceeds of that sale were funneled to Vneshprombank Ltd., a Moscow lender whose license was revoked last month ...

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