February, 2023

• 27 February

  Goldman Sachs sees 8% risk premium in shekel

  

  BLOOMBERG Analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc are reluctant to call the worst is over for the shekel after a “significant” risk premium built up in the Israeli currency as a result of domestic political turmoil. The currency’s close correlation with global technology stocks began to break in late January, a deviation that’s continued despite the central bank’s larger-than-forecast hike ...

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• 27 February

  Argentina in talks with IMF to ease ‘key targets’ amid drought

  

  BLOOMBERG Argentine officials intend to lower a key target in the country’s $44 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a severe drought weakens the economic outlook, according to an Argentine government official. Both sides are discussing a smaller figure for net reserve accumulation in 2023, a cornerstone of the deal seen as the only major anchor providing ...

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• 27 February

  HSBC looks to halve space for head office in London

  

  BLOOMBERG HSBC Holdings Plc is looking for a new global headquarters less than half the size of its current space in London’s Canary Wharf, according to the Sunday Times. The bank is considering a new head office of between 400,000 and 500,000 square feet, the newspaper reported. HSBC has been reviewing its workplace needs once its current lease ends in ...

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• 27 February

  ECB policy will be as restrictive as needed, says Italy’s Visco

  

  BLOOMBERG The European Central Bank (ECB) will raise interest rates as high as necessary to bring inflation back down to 2%, said Governing Council member Ignazio Visco. It’s impossible for now to say what level borrowing costs will have to reach to achieve that target, Visco, who also heads Italy’s central bank, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. Policy will ...

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• 26 February

  SonicWall reveals top tech trends, predictions for 2023

  

  DUBAI / GULF TIME Cybersecurity teams have long feared a black swan event. It appeared in 2020 in the form of Covid-19 and the severe security risks posed by shutdowns and a dispersed workforce. Its lingering effects will continue to challenge security teams in 2023. First, the remote/hybrid working trend that it triggered has proved resilient and employees demand a ...

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• 26 February

  JetBlue-Spirit ‘last rites’ meeting sets up possible DOJ lawsuit

  

  BLOOMBERG Executives for JetBlue Airways Corp and Spirit Airlines Inc met with Justice Department officials in a final bid to persuade the antitrust agency to approve their $3.8 billion merger, said people familiar with the matter. The agency is expected to decide whether to challenge the deal in the next several weeks, the people said, asking not to be named ...

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• 26 February

  American’s chairman Parker to step down one year after leaving CEO role

  

  BLOOMBERG American Airlines Group Inc Chairman Doug Parker, a longtime advocate for consolidation who oversaw a merger that made the carrier the world’s largest, plans to retire from the board, a little over a year after stepping down as chief executive officer. Greg Smith, a former Boeing Co chief financial officer who joined the airline’s board in January 2022, will ...

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• 26 February

  Alibaba pushes cost cuts as its revenue growth remains sluggish in China

  

  BLOOMBERG Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is pushing aggressive cost-cutting to boost profit as growth in its domestic China market remains anemic, a conservative shift for a tech giant that once spent aggressively to dominate wide swaths of the economy. The online retailer reported net income rose a better-than-anticipated 69% to 46.8 billion yuan ($6.8 billion), but revenue rose just 2.1% ...

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• 26 February

  Hong Kong airline staff crunch shortage push reopening push

  

  BLOOMBERG Hong Kong’s goal to reclaim its spot as Asia’s premier financial hub is being tested by a scarcity of workers in the air industry that’s vital for reestablishing the city’s international links. The damage caused by years of closed borders is proving hard to undo. The number of workers employed at the Norman Foster-designed airport at the end of ...

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• 26 February

  Apple makes progress on no-prick blood glucose tracking for its watch

  

  BLOOMBERG Apple Inc. has a moonshot-style project underway that dates back to the Steve Jobs era: noninvasive and continuous blood glucose monitoring. The goal of this secret endeavour — dubbed E5 — is to measure how much glucose is in someone’s body without needing to prick the skin for blood. After hitting major milestones recently, the company now believes it ...

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