August, 2022

• 10 August

  China says Taiwan military drills conclude, plans regular patrols

  

    Bloomberg China’s military said exercises held around Taiwan in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit had concluded, while pledging to continue regular patrols near the island. The People’s Liberation Army “successfully completed all tasks” set out in exercises last week, Eastern Theater Command spokesman Senior Colonel Shi Yi said Wednesday. The statement ended ambiguity on the status ...

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• 10 August

  Police raid home of Russian TV journalist who protested war

  

  Bloomberg A Russian journalist who staged an anti-war protest on the country’s main TV news channel said police raided her home in Moscow as part of a new probe against her. Marina Ovsyannikova said 10 police and officers from the Investigative Committee, Russia’s equivalent of the FBI, searched her apartment early Wednesday and took her away for questioning. A criminal ...

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• 10 August

  US productivity falls for second quarter, labour costs increase

  

    Bloomberg US productivity slumped for a second-straight quarter as the economy shrank, driving another surge in labour costs that risks keeping inflation elevated and further complicates the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame price increases. Productivity, or nonfarm business employee output per hour, decreased at a 4.6% annual rate in the second quarter after falling at a 7.4% pace in ...

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• 10 August

  Norway inflation at 34-year high boosts rate-hike pressure

  

  Bloomberg Norway’s inflation exceeded forecasts for a fourth straight month, hitting a new 34-year high and adding pressure on Norges Bank to deliver a bigger interest rate hike this month than it has flagged earlier. Consumer prices rise 6.8% in July from a year earlier, the fastest pace since July 1988, according to data from Statistics Norway on Wednesday. Underlying ...

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• 10 August

  Brazil prices tumble most since 1980 on Bolsonaro’s tax cuts

  

    Bloomberg Brazil consumer prices tumbled by the most on record in July after President Jair Bolsonaro slashed utility taxes to tame the soaring cost of living and lift his re-election chances. Official data showed consumer prices fall 0.68% compared to June, more than the -0.65% median estimate from analysts in Bloomberg survey. It was biggest monthly drop since the ...

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• 10 August

  Stockholm apartment prices drop most since pre-Covid era

  

    Bloomberg A drop in Swedish apartment prices picked up speed last month, adding to evidence that the property market in the largest Nordic nation is floundering. The average cost was 4% lower in July than the previous month, marking the fastest decline since before the pandemic, according to data by Svensk Maklarstatistik. House prices decline 1 percent from June. ...

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• 10 August

  SoftBank sees $34 billion gain from selling shares of Alibaba

  

    Bloomberg The investment giant’s board approved on Wednesday the early physical settlement of prepaid forward contracts corresponding to about 242 million American Depositary Receipts. After the settlement, which will run from August to September, its stake in China’s e-commerce leader will fall to 14.6% from 23.7% as of the end of June. The move raises the likelihood that SoftBank ...

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• 10 August

  Tech shares led a broad slump in Chinese stocks

  

    Bloomberg Tech shares led a broad slump in Chinese stocks on Wednesday, as investors turned cautious over worries about the nation’s fragile economic recovery and potential market impact from US inflation data. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 2.8%, with electric vehicle makers Nio Inc and XPeng Inc the worst performers. The benchmark Hang Seng Index slid 2%. ...

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• 10 August

  UAE issues rule on bank guarantees, insurance policy for private sector staff

  

    Dubai / WAM Dr Abdulrahman Al Awar, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, has issued the Ministerial Resolution No. 318 of 2022 regarding bank guarantees and employees’ protection insurance scheme in the private sector. This decision is in line with the legislative framework that aims to preserve workers’ rights, support the business community, enhance the competitiveness and stability of ...

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• 10 August

  UAE president, Pakistan PM discuss ways to bolster ties

    Abu Dhabi / WAM President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received on Tuesday a telephone call from Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, during which they discussed ways of strengthening bilateral ties for serving development in the two friendly countries and expanding the base of their mutual interests. During the call, Prime Minister of Pakistan expressed ...

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