October, 2020

• 20 October

  US futures extend gains amid final stimulus push

  

  Bloomberg US equity futures extended gains as investors clung to hopes for a deal in stimulus talks. Europe equities fluctuated after a string of positive earnings. Logitech surged as much as 22% to a record high after the tech hardware maker raised its sales forecast. UBS gained after the Swiss bank’s profit beat estimates and Reckitt Benckiser hiked its revenue …

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• 20 October

  SoftBank amasses over $20 billion in public stock unit

  

  Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp. charged ahead with its new public stock trading arm, increasing equity positions to more than $20 billion despite an initially skeptical response from shareholders, according to a person familiar with the investments. Bloomberg reported in August that SoftBank had been targeting more than $10 billion and that the sum could reach into the tens of billions. …

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• 20 October

  Saudi Arabia says no doubt about Opec+ commitment

  

  Bloomberg Oil steadied as Saudi Arabia vowed that Opec and its partners will do what’s necessary to balance the market. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will “nip negative trends in the bud” as uncertainty in the energy market persists, Saudi Oil Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman said at group’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee meeting. At the same time, …

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• 19 October

  Australia seeks clarity on coal import

  

  Bloomberg The Australian government is seeking clarification from Beijing on reports that China has suspended purchases of Australian coal amid heightened diplomatic tensions between the two countries. Chinese power stations and steel mills have been verbally told to immediately stop using Australian coal, people familiar with the order said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. Ports …

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• 19 October

  ConocoPhillips to buy Concho for $9.7 billion

  

  Bloomberg ConocoPhillips agreed to buy Concho Resources Inc for about $9.7 billion in stock, the largest shale industry deal since the collapse in energy demand earlier this year and one that will create a heavyweight driller in America’s most prolific oil field. Investors will get 1.46 Conoco shares for each Concho share, the companies said in a statement. The transaction …

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• 19 October

  Poland’s PGE to invest $19b for zero-emissions goal

  

  Bloomberg Poland’s largest utility plans to spend 75 billion zloty ($19.4 billion) by 2030 as it aims to become climate-neutral by mid-century. PGE SA seeks to invest half of that amount in renewable energy sources, including offshore and onshore wind as well as solar power plants, it said in a statement. Its 2050 strategy is conditional on a planned spinoff …

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• 19 October

  Shadow bank recovery stalls in India as loan fears resurface

  

  Bloomberg Signs of a recovery for India’s troubled shadow banks have taken a step backward as concerns reemerged about the true impact of the pandemic on the lenders. Average spreads on the lenders’ AAA rated five-year bonds rose for the first time in four months in September. Of three other gauges tracking shadow bank sector health compiled by Bloomberg, two …

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• 19 October

  BOJ to extend Covid response measures

  

  Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will keep policy steady at its meeting next week and extend the duration of its Covid response measures by January at the latest, according to surveyed economists. All but one of 43 analysts polled by Bloomberg expect the central bank to stand pat at the two-day gathering ending on October 29. The economists see …

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• 19 October

  ECB needs to question market neutrality on climate: Lagarde

  

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) must question whether mirroring the composition of the bond market in its asset purchases is appropriate in light of climate risks, according to President Christine Lagarde. Her argument centers on whether investors are correctly pricing bonds issued by polluting companies. With the European Union pushing an aggressive agenda to make the continent climate-neutral by …

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• 19 October

  HSBC could cut ties with 40 French firms

  

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc is exploring whether to cut ties with dozens of French companies as part of its sweeping global restructuring. The lender’s French unit may drop 40 businesses, according to an internal document prepared by external consultants and seen by Bloomberg News. The plan would shrink its French corporate client base by a fifth. The proposed reductions aim …

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