August, 2020

• 3 August

  European stocks gain after July drop on manufacturing growth

  

  Bloomberg European equities climbed after falling the most since March in July as euro-area manufacturing returned to growth. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was up 0.2%, led higher by the media and tech sectors. Banks were the worst performers, with HSBC Holdings Plc down 3.8% after first-half pretax profit missed estimates and more than halved to $5.6 billion, while Societe …

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• 3 August

  Coronavirus threatens property’s dominance of Philippine stock market

  

  Bloomberg Having suffered the worst first-half performance in any year since 2008, a gauge of Philippine’s property stocks is faring worse than the nation’s benchmark index in 2020 after six years of outperformance. The losses have also erased the valuation premium real estate shares typically command over the broader market — an occurrence that’s seen them stage a sharp rebound …

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• 3 August

  South African stocks retreat as banks fall

  Bloomberg South Africa’s main stock index erases gains of as much as 0.4% to fall 0.5% by 9:40 am in Johannesburg, as weakness in banks and MTN Group counter a rise in heavyweight BHP and a soaring Shoprite. The losses come amid a resurgence in Covid-19 cases in parts of the US and Europe, raising concern that the economic rebound …

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• 2 August

  Trump to act against Chinese software firms, says Pompeo

  

  Bloomberg The Trump administration will announce measures shortly against “a broad array” of Chinese-owned software deemed to pose national-security risks, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said. The comments suggest a possible widening of US measures beyond TikTok, the popular music-video app owned by ByteDance Ltd., one of China’s biggest tech companies. President Donald Trump told reporters that he plans …

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• 2 August

  UAE secures 35% of Japan’s crude oil needs in June

  

  TOKYO / WAM Japan’s imports of crude oil from the UAE reached to 20.13 million barrels in June, according to data from Agency for Natural Resources and Energy in Tokyo. The agency, part of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, reported that the percentage of oil imports from the UAE amounted to 35.1 percent of the total Japanese …

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• 2 August

  Russia slightly increased July oil output ahead of Opec+ tapering

  

  Bloomberg Russia slightly increased its oil production in July, ahead of the Opec+ plans to start easing their record supply cuts starting this month. The nation’s producers pumped 39.63 million tons of crude and condensate last month, according to preliminary data from the Energy Ministry’s CDU-TEK unit. That’s an average daily of 9.371 million barrels, applying a 7.33 barrel-per-ton conversion …

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• 2 August

  Kuwait bans flights from 31 countries

  Bloomberg Kuwait has suspended commercial flights from 31 countries on the advice of health authorities, just as the Gulf state re-opened its airport to such operations. While other flights will resume, countries on the barred list include India, Iran, China, Brazil, Lebanon, Spain, Singapore, Egypt and Sri Lanka, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement. The airport …

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• 2 August

  Vitol pays $2.2b payout to its traders

  

  Bloomberg Vitol Group paid a record $2.2 billion to its executives and staff through share buybacks last year, an unusually large payout that comes as the oil trader undergoes a generational transition in leadership. The buyback — Vitol’s main way of rewarding about 350 top employees who own the privately-held company — means the trading house has distributed a total …

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• 2 August

  Marathon Petroleum not to restart two idled oil refineries

  

  Bloomberg Marathon Petroleum Corp, the largest US independent oil refiner, said it won’t restart two refineries in California and New Mexico amid concerns that demand for fuels is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels this year. Marathon said in a statement it will convert its 166,000 barrel-a-day Martinez, California, refinery near San Francisco into a terminal facility and may add …

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• 2 August

  Air Canada rips Trudeau over rules, may cancel plane orders

  

  Bloomberg Air Canada escalated a fight with the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the country’s stringent travel rules, threatening to suspend more routes and cancel orders of locally made planes. Chief Executive Officer Calin Rovinescu lambasted the government during the airline’s second-quarter earnings call, saying that current restrictions — especially a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all travellers coming …

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