January, 2022

• 6 January

  Test shows progress towards hypersonic missile: North Korea

  

    Bloomberg North Korea said it test-fired a “hypersonic” missile for the second time in about four months, as it continues to develop nuclear-capable weapons designed to evade interception by the US and its allies. According to the account provided by North Korea’s official media, the latest test showed marked improvements from its last attempt to fire a hypersonic missile ...

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• 6 January

  Omicron is biggest risk to Korea’s recovery: BOK

  

    Bloomberg Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol said omicron is the biggest threat to the economy’s recovery, sounding a cautious note ahead of a policy meeting later this month. The threat posed by the virus variant comes on top of other external risks including rising global inflationary pressure, policy normalisation by major economies and a possible economic slowdown ...

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• 6 January

  Bitcoin $100,000 a possibility by taking on gold, says Goldman

  

    Bloomberg Bitcoin will continue to take market share from gold as part of broader adoption of digital assets, making the often touted price prediction of a $100,000 by advocates a possibility, according to Goldman Sachs Group. Goldman estimates that Bitcoin’s float-adjusted market capitalisation is just under $700 billion. That accounts for 20% share of the “store of value” market ...

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• 6 January

  Standard Chartered resuming split teams in HK on virus threat

  

    Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc will start working in split teams again in Hong Kong as the spread of the omicron variant threatens a fifth wave of infections in the Asian financial hub. In a memo to staff, the bank said it will resume a “hard-split A/B team arrangement” for “critical functions” to ensure business continuity. It urged employees to ...

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• 6 January

  Bank of Japan tapers by stealth first and explains later

  

    Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) is taking a stealthier approach than its peers to winding back pandemic stimulus without rattling the markets. As the BOJ, Federal Reserve and others convene meetings this week, the Japanese are, on some fronts, already ahead of the pack after sharply cutting back purchases of exchange traded funds and trimming buying of corporate ...

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• 6 January

  Danske cuts 2022 Nordic GDP forecasts

    Bloomberg Danske Bank lowered forecasts for next year’s economic growth across the Nordics, as supply chain constraints and labour shortages could impede the region’s rebound. “The lack of supply of materials and equipment is a limitation for many Nordic businesses,” Danske said in its Nordic Outlook report. “We expect these constraints to ease as global demand swings back towards ...

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• 6 January

  US futures whipsaw amid Fed shock; yields advance

  

    Bloomberg US equity-index futures witnessed volatile trading even as European stocks fall amid a spike in sovereign yields as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s indication of a more aggressive policy tightening. Contracts on the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index were down 0.4%, after a loss of as much as 0.9%. S&P 500 Index futures lost 0.2%, after a 0.5% drop ...

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• 6 January

  Megacap tech stocks still have lots of fans after historic run

  

    Bloomberg Investors have enjoyed world-beating returns for years by owning shares of trillion-dollar technology companies, so it’s tempting to say it’s time to bail out now that bond yields are on the rise. Plenty of fund managers are resisting that temptation. Since the bull market kicked off amid the financial crisis of 2008-2009, combined value of Apple Inc, Microsoft ...

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• 6 January

  US condemns hijacking of UAE cargo ship by Houthis

    New York / WAM The United States has condemned the Houthi militia’s hijacking of the UAE-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Hodeidah, which took place on January 2. “The Houthis’ flagrant transgression is a threat to the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and compromises international trade and regional security,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price said ...

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• 6 January

  UAE, US foreign ministers discuss strategic relations

  

    ABU DHABI / WAM His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, has discussed with Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, the strategic bilateral relations between the UAE and US. In a phone call, the two sides also reviewed a number of regional and international issues of common interest and the efforts ...

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