December, 2022

• 28 December

  Oil rises as China loosens virus curbs, US freeze hits refining

  

    Bloomberg Oil climbed as China took more steps to unwind its Covid Zero policy and freezing weather across the US prompted refinery closures in the vital Texas Gulf Coast area. West Texas Intermediate traded near $80 a barrel after Beijing announced it will no longer subject inbound travellers to quarantine from early January, the latest step in the dismantling …

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• 28 December

  Southwest Air’s storm chaos to continue as flight schedules cut

  

    Bloomberg Southwest Airlines expects the flight chaos caused by the massive winter storm that battered the US to continue for at least another few days as the government questioned whether the airline is complying with its customer service plan. “In all likelihood we’ll have another tough day tomorrow as we work our way out of this,” Chief Executive Officer …

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• 28 December

  DXB set to handle 2mn air passengers over holiday season

  

  Dubai / WAM Dubai International (DXB) will remain exceptionally busy over the remainder of the holiday season and well into the New Year, with nearly 2 million passengers expected to pass through DXB. The operator urged passengers to plan their trips to and through the airport and follow simple travel tips to ensure a smooth airport experience. DXB’s average daily …

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• 28 December

  Japan’s retail sales fall as pent-up demand cools amid inflation

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s retail sales unexpectedly fell in November from the previous month for the first drop in five months as pent-up demand started to cool amid rising prices, outweighing a boost from the return of tourists. Spending slipped 1.1% from October with outlays on clothing falling in a milder-than-usual month, according to the economy and trade ministry. Economists had expected …

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• 28 December

  Hong Kong searches for flights to China soar as last curbs fall

  

    Bloomberg Residents of Hong Kong reacted swiftly to news China will no longer subject inbound travellers to quarantine as of early next year, flooding the internet to search for flights to key mainland cities. Outbound searches for flights from Hong Kong to the mainland on Trip.com and Ctrip, the two sub-brands of Trip.com Group Ltd, jumped around 521% on …

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• 28 December

  US goods-trade deficit narrows in Nov

    Bloomberg The US merchandise-trade deficit narrowed in November to the smallest since December 2020 due to a plunge in imports. The shortfall decreased 15.6% — the most since 2009 — to $83.3 billion last month, Commerce Department data showed on Tuesday. The figures, which aren’t adjusted for inflation, compared with a median estimate for a gap of $96.3 billion …

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• 28 December

  Europeans are looking for ways to counter soaring energy costs

  

  Bloomberg Soaring heating and electricity bills are pushing Europeans to find hacks that will cut their energy use and reduce costs. Mats Johansson installed 30 solar panels with a production capacity of 13.5 kilowatts on his house in Halmstad, southwest Sweden earlier this year. The nation has some of the highest rates of energy consumption per capita in Europe — …

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• 28 December

  S Africa passes 200 days of power cuts

    Bloomberg South Africa passed 200 days of power cuts in 2022 on Tuesday, with more to come. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. said it will ramp up power cuts from so-called stage-1 load shedding, where it removes around 1,000 megawatts from the grid, to stage 3 from 4 pm local time until 5 am for the rest of the week. …

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• 27 December

  Top Japan bankers see negative rates to stay as BOJ roils market

  

    Bloomberg Top executives at Japan’s biggest banks are expecting negative interest rates to linger and see little immediate earnings boost after a surprise move by the nation’s central bank pushed lenders’ shares up by 13% last week. Earnings won’t enjoy a meaningful lift unless the Bank of Japan (BOJ) scraps negative interest, according to three senior executives, who asked …

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• 27 December

  OCBC to hire ex-Goldman’s Moo as private bank CEO

  

    Bloomberg Jason Moo, who spent more than two decades at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, will become the new chief at the private banking unit of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC), according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Moo, a Singaporean, will start at Bank of Singapore next year, said the person, who declined to be identified discussing confidential …

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