August, 2020

• 19 August

  Citi gets freeze on Brigade money in $900m error

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. scored a temporary court order freezing $175 million that Brigade Capital Management LP declined to return after the bank accidentally transferred more than $900 million to Revlon Inc. lenders. The order followed a hearing in which the bank and the hedge fund faced off over Citigroup’s expensive blunder. The two will be back in court as the …

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• 19 August

  European stocks edge up after Wall Street record; gold drops

  

  Bloomberg European stocks turned higher with US futures as investors signalled continued optimism in the post-pandemic rally after shares hit all-time highs on Wall Street. Gold slipped back below $2,000 an ounce. Gains in food shares including Nestle SA countered declines in insurers on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Contracts on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 swings to …

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• 19 August

  Dollar sinks to lowest level since May 2018

  

  Bloomberg The dollar sinks to its lowest level since May 2018 on concern that the world’s biggest economy will struggle to regain momentum amid a standoff over further virus relief and as infections continue to mount. The greenback has now erased most of the gains it built on the back of US-China trade tensions that started heating up around two …

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• 19 August

  Oil rises on signals of economic recovery

  

  Bloomberg Oil jumped to a five-month high alongside a surge in US equities as optimism that an economic recovery may be on the horizon lifted hopes for improving fuel demand to follow. Equities in the US, Europe and Asia strengthened, with the S&P 500 Index approaching the highest in months, bolstered by fresh stimulus out of China’s central bank. A …

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• 18 August

  Tongwei halts output at polysilicon factory in China

  

  Bloomberg Tongwei Co halted output at a polysilicon factory in southwest China because of flooding, the latest blow to the solar supply chain that has seen rare cost increases this summer due to disruptions. Tongwei, the world’s No. 3 polysilicon producer last year, said it isn’t clear when the Sichuan province plant will restart, and didn’t say whether it sustained …

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• 18 August

  PBOC injects $101bn to ease liquidity, holds interest rate

  

  Bloomberg China’s central bank supplied liquidity to commercial lenders to help them manage upcoming government bond sales, while leaving the price of the money unchanged as the economy recovers. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) added 700 billion yuan ($101 billion) of one-year funding via the medium-term lending facility. The central bank said that the operation is meant to offset …

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• 18 August

  Bank of Japan refuses request of traders to work from home

  

  Bloomberg The new normal of remote work has yet to reach the traders who deal with the Bank of Japan (BOJ). Japan’s central bank doesn’t allow home computers to connect to its network for conducting asset purchases and other market transactions, raising concerns at financial firms as coronavirus cases in Tokyo surge. At least three have asked the BOJ whether …

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• 18 August

  Westpac first Australian bank to scrap dividend as Covid bites

  

  Bloomberg Westpac Banking Corp. has scrapped its first-half dividend, citing the desire to maintain a strong balance sheet in an uncertain operating environment. The lender had previously deferred any decision on a payout during the height of the first coronavirus outbreak. It will next consider dividends as part of finalising its full-year results. Westpac is the first of the nation’s …

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• 18 August

  Intesa is poised for role in Italy bid for Borsa Italiana

  

  Bloomberg Intesa Sanpaolo SpA is likely to play a part in the possible purchase of Borsa Italiana SpA being considered by Italian state-owned lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA and Euronext, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The government and Euronext have been weighing a joint bid for the stock exchange operator, owned by London Stock Exchange Group …

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• 18 August

  Citi sues Brigade Capital over mistaken Revlon transfer

  

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. asked a federal court to order Brigade Capital Management LP to return its share of more than $900 million that the bank mistakenly wired to Revlon Inc. lenders, some of which are locked in a bitter fight with the struggling cosmetics giant. The bank has recouped less than half of the money, which it blamed on a …

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