December, 2021

• 28 December

  Climate-driven extreme weather cost hundreds of billions in 2021

  

    Bloomberg Ten of this year’s most destructive weather events cost a combined $170 billion in damages, according to a new study. Hurricane Ida, a tropical storm that pummeled much of the eastern US with lashing rain in August, killed at least 95 people and cost the economy $65 billion. A month earlier, floods in Europe caused 240 deaths and …

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• 28 December

  India’s renewables boom set to lift power exchange spot trading

  

    Bloomberg A surge in renewable energy in India is set to massively increase spot power trading, according to the country’s largest electricity bourse. Buyers will increasingly turn away from traditional long-term contracts in favour of cheaper renewable energy, said Rohit Bajaj, head of business development at Indian Energy Exchange Ltd. More than a quarter of the nation’s electricity could …

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• 28 December

  UK households facing $24b rise in energy bills

  

    Bloomberg UK households are set for an 18-billion-pound ($24 billion) increase in energy bills next year, potentially squeezing consumer spending and adding pressure on the Bank of England to increase interest rates, according to Investec Plc. A surge in gas prices has left the energy price cap — the ceiling for what firms can charge most customers — on …

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• 28 December

  European natural gas falls for a fourth day

  Bloomberg European natural gas falls for a fourth day as US supplies are expected to bring relief to the tight market and traders weighed both milder weather and risks to demand from the Omicron virus variant. Gas has whipsawed in recent days, soaring to record levels above 180 euros ($203.59) a megawatt-hour last Tuesday following a sharp drop in Russian …

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• 28 December

  FAA expands safety alert on 5G interference with aircraft

  

    Bloomberg US aviation regulators expanded their warning about 5G service set to launch January 5 on new frequencies, saying potential interference could have a broad impact on aircraft safety systems. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a Safety Alert for Operators warning that “a wide range” of aircraft safety devices could malfunction and laid out the process it will follow …

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• 28 December

  Holiday sales jump 8.5% as US consumers return to retailers

  

    Bloomberg US holiday sales jumped 8.5% from last year as consumers spent more money on clothes, jewelry and electronics, a report from Mastercard SpendingPulse showed. Sales grew across the board, both in stores and online, for the holiday season defined as November 1 to December 24. Consumers started searching for gifts earlier than usual with supply chains roiling retailers …

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• 28 December

  Japan’s retail sales rise for third month as shoppers catch up

  

    Bloomberg Japan’s retail sales increased for a third straight month, as easing virus concerns fueled spending by consumers before the emergence of the Omicron variant. Sales advanced 1.2% in November from the previous month, as shoppers spent more on clothing and motor vehicles, the industry ministry reported Monday. Economists had expected a 1.3% overall gain. While Japan’s consumption hasn’t …

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• 28 December

  Fearing axe in 2022, CEOs sweat supply chain more than Covid

  

    Bloomberg The C-suite is a bundle of nerves this winter. A new survey shows that 72% of chief executive officers are worried about losing their jobs in 2022 because of business disruptions, tracking closely with the 94% of bosses who say their corporate models need to be overhauled within three years. “That’s eye-poppingly high,” says Simon Freakley, the CEO …

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• 28 December

  Chinese manufacturing profits squeezed by commodity prices

  Bloomberg China’s industrial firms are doing much better this year than in 2020, but the improvement in profits is patchy, with miners and raw material providers benefiting from higher commodity prices at the expense of manufacturers. In the first 11 months of the year, industrial profits climbed 38% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. …

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• 27 December

  PBOC to make monetary policy more forward-looking, targeted

  

    Bloomberg China’s central bank pledged greater support for the real economy, and said that it will make monetary policy more forward-looking and targeted. There will be more “proactive” use of monetary policy tools, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement. It added that there will be “good use” of the monetary policy tools’ quantitative and structural …

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