February, 2022

• 11 February

  US households ramp up spending on credit cards

  

    Bloomberg US credit-card bills jumped sharply last quarter as Americans returned to pre-pandemic spending habits. Credit-card balances increased every quarter in 2021 to end the year at $856 billion, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said. The fourth-quarter gain was the largest in figures dating back 22 years, and while the total amount is still below pre-Covid levels, …

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• 11 February

  Zambia central bank explores digital currency

    Bloomberg Zambia’s central bank expects to complete research on forming a digital currency that could cut transaction costs and boost participation in the formal financial system by the fourth quarter. “The results of research will form part of the input in the policy considerations on whether to introduce a central bank digital currency in Zambia,” Nkatya Kabwe, acting assistant …

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• 11 February

  Credit Suisse warns on pay, costs after $2.2 billion loss

  

    Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG warned that higher costs for pay and its restructuring will weigh on results in 2022, adding to the bank’s woes after it posted the biggest quarterly loss in about four years. The Zurich-based bank had a net loss of about 2 billion francs ($2.16 billion) in the three months through December, primarily driven by …

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• 11 February

  Bonds rally in India as RBI surprises with dovish policy

  

    Bloomberg Bonds in India gained and the rupee falls after the central bank held back on a widely expected hike in a key rate, continuing with its benign policy stance amid a hawkish turn by most global central banks. The yield on five-year bonds fall 17 basis points to 6.20%, while that on 10-year note declined by ten points …

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• 11 February

  European stocks waver, futures slip

  

    Bloomberg Stocks in Europe trimmed an advance on Thursday amid mixed corporate earnings, while US futures slipped as traders await key US inflation data that may shape views on how aggressively the Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy. The Stoxx Europe 600 index was little changed after paring a gain of as much as 0.5%. Siemens AG jumped as …

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• 10 February

  US solar company seeks tariff action against key Asian nations

  

    Bloomberg Auxin Solar Inc is asking the US Commerce Department to investigate possible efforts to circumvent tariffs with the imports of equipment from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. The company alleges the solar imports use parts or components from China, and that producers are assembling equipment in the Southeast Asian nations as a way of skirting duties, according to …

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• 10 February

  Europe needs 65 million EV chargers by 2035

  

    Bloomberg Europe will have 130 million electric vehicles (EVs) on the road by 2035, according to a joint report from Ernst & Young and the electricity industry trade association Eurelectric. The report’s projections show Europe’s EV fleet growing from its current base of less than 5 million to 65 million by 2030 and then doubling over the following five years. …

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• 9 February

  Pilots made to wear trackers as Hong Kong boosts Covid rules

  

    Bloomberg Hong Kong is further tightening quarantine rules for airline staff, with cargo pilots isolating at home to be tracked with electronic monitoring bracelets and crew on passenger planes who have been in countries with high levels of the virus made to quarantine for 14 days. The updated rules, set out in a document seen by Bloomberg News, was …

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• 9 February

  China state funds’ support gives hope for wounded stock market

  

    Bloomberg Chinese state-backed funds’ intervention in domestic stock markets is rekindling hope that a bottom is near for the nation’s battered equities. The CSI 300 Index ended down just 0.6% at the close, paring an earlier slump of 2.4%, which was its biggest intraday drop since August. State-related funds entered the market to buy local shares in the afternoon …

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• 9 February

  Stocks, US futures rise as bond selloff abates

  

    Bloomberg Stocks and the US index futures rise on Wednesday and a selloff in sovereign bonds paused, bringing some relief for markets whipsawed in recent weeks by concerns about tightening monetary policy. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rises more than 1% as technology shares bounced back and a raft of generally positive earnings reports lifted sentiment. Adyen NV jumped …

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