March, 2021

• 6 March

  UK house prices rise 0.7% in February

  Bloomberg UK house prices rose unexpectedly in February, continuing a surge fueled by a temporary tax relief on purchases and Covid-induced shifts in people’s lifestyles. Values increased 0.7% from January to an average of 231,068 pounds ($321,000), Nationwide Building Society said. They climbed 6.9% from a year ago, accelerating from the 6.4% pace registered a month earlier. Housing boomed last ...

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• 6 March

  Swedish real estate hotter than ever as ‘hysteria’ hits

  

  Bloomberg Swedish house prices soared to the highest level ever recorded, as a growing number of people make use of unprecedented central bank stimulus to upgrade into bigger homes. “From a credit perspective, one can only conclude that the market has been gripped by hysteria, which is connected to central banks pumping money into the system,” said Carl Johan Lagercrantz, ...

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• 6 March

  Google is paying for more information in a break with its past

  

  Bloomberg Google is under growing pressure to pay for information that, for two decades, the search provider snipped from the web — and made a mint from — without paying a penny. Australian and French efforts to force Google to compensate news publishers are only the latest examples of a trend spanning the globe. Canada is considering a similar requirement ...

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• 6 March

  Volvo to go fully electric by 2030

  

  Bloomberg Volvo Cars set an ambitious goal to only sell battery cars by 2030, accelerating its plans after sales of electric vehicles surged. The Chinese-owned Swedish brand is rolling out a new lineup of electric cars and will unveil its second battery-only model later. Going one step further than recent rivals’ decisions on EVs, Volvo’s electric vehicles will be available ...

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• 6 March

  Huawei plans to make EVs after US sanctions

  

  Bloomberg Huawei Technologies Co. is planning to manufacture electric cars under its own brand, Reuters reported, as it shifts away from a consumer electronics business battered by US sanctions. The Chinese tech giant could roll out some models this year, Reuters said. Huawei is in talks with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. and other carmakers to use their plants to manufacture ...

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• 6 March

  Samsung details plans for $17 billion chip facility in US

  

  Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co. revealed additional details about its plans to build a cutting-edge semiconductor facility in the US in a filing with the Texas government, making the disclosure as the Biden administration vows to make the security of the US chip supply a national priority. The South Korean company plans to invest about $17 billion in its Project Silicon ...

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• 6 March

  Internet shutdowns plunge millions into ‘digital darkness’

  

  Bloomberg India led the world last year in internet shutdowns that affected hundreds of millions of people, as governments cracked down on political rivals and tried to suppress protests. At least 155 internet shutdowns in 2020 disrupted access for people in 29 countries, according to a report from digital rights group Access Now. That included 28 full internet blackouts that ...

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• 4 March

  Crude climbs ahead of critical Opec+ meeting on supply curbs

  

  Bloomberg Oil climbed ahead of a crucial Opec+ meeting, as the alliance was expected to agree a coordinated increase in output as the pandemic’s impact on the market recedes. Brent futures rose 1.5% after three consecutive days of losses for the first time since December. The widespread view among the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and its allies is ...

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• 4 March

  Indonesia plans $500m merged geothermal firm IPO

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia is planning an initial public offering that could raise at least $500 million as part of its bid to create the world’s biggest geothermal company, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Southeast Asian nation, which last week announced its plan to combine three separate state-owned geothermal companies, is working with advisers to complete the tie-up ...

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• 4 March

  Thai Airways revamp plan gets support from top shareholder

  

  Bloomberg Thailand’s finance ministry, the largest shareholder of Thai Airways International Pcl, signalled its support for a restructuring plan that includes raising fresh capital, a temporary freeze on repayment of borrowings and slashing its workforce by half to return the debt-ridden airline to profit. The key elements of the debt rehabilitation plan are “quite acceptable,” Pantip Sripimol, director general of ...

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