February, 2021

• 15 February

  Amazon hires founders of Covid-testing firm to curb spread

  

  Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc has hired several employees of a Covid-19 testing startup as part of efforts to curb outbreaks among its workers. Caspr Biotech’s cofounders, Chief Executive Officer Franco Goytia and Chief Strategy Officer Carla Gimenez, joined Amazon in December, according to a person familiar with the situation. The pair, along with several other startup employees, are working on a …

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• 15 February

  Germany planning $1.1b bailout of major airports

  Bloomberg Germany is planning a 900 million-euro ($1.1 billion) bailout of the country’s airports, adding to a multibillion-euro outlay already aimed at helping the aviation sector survive the coronavirus. The government will offer Berlin-Brandenburg, Cologne-Bonn and Munich a package of loans, grants and stake purchases worth more than 400 million euros, according to a transport ministry document seen by Bloomberg …

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• 15 February

  Jollibee Foods eyes 450 new stores

  Bloomberg Jollibee Foods Corp will boost capital spending by a fifth to open 450 new stores mostly overseas, as the Philippines’ largest restaurant operator foresees a return to profit this year following its first annual loss in nearly three decades. The company will spend 12.2 billion pesos ($255 million) this year, up 22% from the 10 billion pesos in 2020. …

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• 15 February

  Stocks advance to another record; oil up on cold snap

  

  Bloomberg Stocks rise as the vaccine rollout and slowing virus outbreaks spurred bets on a global recovery. West Texas Intermediate crude topped $60 a barrel amid an arctic freeze in parts of the US. Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index climbed, led by banks and commodity shares. South Korean and Japanese shares led Asia higher. US markets are shut for Presidents’ Day, …

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• 15 February

  Japan’s Nikkei 225 tops 30,000 for first time since 1990

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average topped 30,000 yen for the first time since August 1990, as it continued its charge back up through levels not seen since the collapse of the bubble economy. The gauge rises 1.9% to close at 30,084.15 on Monday, amid signs an economic recovery is intact at home and hopes of progress in US stimulus …

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• 14 February

  Shell files arbitration against Nigeria

  

  Bloomberg Royal Dutch Shell Plc launched arbitration proceedings against the Nigerian government over a long-running community dispute. The oil major’s Netherlands-registered holding company and a Nigerian unit filed a case at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, according to the Washington-based organisation’s website. Shell brought its claim against Africa’s biggest crude producer under the bilateral investment …

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• 14 February

  Vestas ups stakes for world’s biggest wind turbine

  

  Bloomberg Vestas Wind Systems A/S will start selling the world’s biggest offshore wind turbine, standing taller than the highest point of the Golden Gate Bridge. The giant machine, that’ll come into use by 2024, will compete with the skyscraper-sized turbines already on sale by its competitors. The industry is racing to produce increasingly larger machines that generate wind power more …

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• 14 February

  US home builders urge Biden to help slow housing inflation

  

  Bloomberg The biggest US homebuilders group urged the Biden administration to help increase lumber supply, saying record-high costs threaten to price potential home buyers out of the market and curb construction. The administration needs to remove import tariffs on Canadian lumber and urge producers to boost output, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said on its website. In November, the …

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• 14 February

  Speculative traders add billions to ‘meme’ stocks at new records

  

  Bloomberg In a quiet week by 2021 standards, the speculative excesses that have defined this bull market hit new records with little fanfare. Wild trades from penny stocks and “meme” cryptocurrencies companies surged to all-time highs. US equity indexes rises anew. And skeptics on the everything rally found more reasons to fret over market froth. Stocks have added more than …

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• 14 February

  Banks, property stocks could be losers from Singapore’s budget

  

  Bloomberg Equity investors expecting a big boost for Singapore’s benchmark index from its upcoming annual budget could be disappointed: heavyweight blue chips are unlikely to benefit from government largesse. Aimed at reversing the nation’s worst economic contraction since it became independent in 1965, Tuesday’s budget is set to focus on the pandemic-hit travel sector or firms with mandates in line …

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