July, 2020

• 20 July

  Standard Chartered to add 1,600 staff at new bank center in China

  

  Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc plans to add more than 1,600 staff over the next three years at a new center in southern China as the nation aims to transform the coastal region near Hong Kong into a high-tech hub to rival California’s Silicon Valley. The London-based bank is investing $40 million in the Standard Chartered Greater Bay Area Centre in …

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• 20 July

  China’s small lenders are filling up on riskiest kind of bank debt

  

  Bloomberg China’s cash-strapped small lenders are expanding their pile of the riskiest kind of bank debt to shore up their capital levels, bracing against an economic slowdown, rising loan defaults. A total of 19 banks have sold 339.6 billion yuan ($48.5 billion) perpetual bonds, high-yielding subordinated bonds with no maturity dates this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Smaller …

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• 20 July

  SNB defends currency intervention as essential

  

  Bloomberg Currency intervention is an “essential” policy tool for Switzerland, its central bank chief said, in a riposte to the US which has the country on a watchlist for allegedly manipulating its exchange rate. “Even though we still have scope for further interest-rate cuts, the fact remains that one cannot lower interest rates indefinitely,” Swiss National Bank (SNB) President Thomas …

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• 20 July

  African central banks face end to cutting cycle at July meet

  

  Bloomberg After aggressive interest-rate reductions to shore up their economies against the havoc wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, central bankers in most sub-Saharan African countries will ask themselves whether the cutting cycle is over when they meet over the next nine days. South Africa’s monetary policy committee (MPC) may take advantage of the scope to lower its benchmark rate even …

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• 20 July

  Intesa raises offer for UBI by adding $746mn cash

  Bloomberg Intesa Sanpaolo SpA sweetened its takeover offer for UBI Banca SpA by adding 652 million euros ($746 million) in cash as it tries to win approval of Italian investors hit by the pandemic. The Italian bank will pay additional 57 euro cents for each UBI share tendered in the offer in addition to the share swap it announced in …

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• 20 July

  Barclays sees headwinds in second half

  Bloomberg Barclays Plc warned of challenges to its capital strength and souring loans at its consumer and corporate businesses as British lenders gear up to battle deteriorating economic conditions. The UK’s third-largest bank by market value said its earnings later this month will “reflect challenging income and impairment conditions for the consumer and corporate businesses, and continuing strength of markets …

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• 20 July

  Euro climbs amid stimulus talks; stocks erase decline

  

  Bloomberg The euro strengthened to a four-month high, and European bond spreads narrowed after leaders made progress in negotiating a historic stimulus package. European shares erased losses. Italy’s 10-year bond yield spread over Germany, a key gauge of risk in the region, fell to the lowest level since March. US equity futures pointed to a weaker open. AstraZeneca Plc gained …

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• 20 July

  India’s sensex gains on positive start to earnings season

  

  Bloomberg India stocks rose as investors focused on company earnings commentaries while weighing the impact of the continuing spread of coronavirus infections on the business outlook. The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 1% to 37,388.14, as of 10:08 am in India, after closing above a key technical barrier and capping its longest stretch of weekly wins since December. The measure’s 50-day …

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• 20 July

  BlackRock shifts money from China in wake of stocks rally

  Bloomberg The world’s biggest money manager is joining a wave of global investors taking profits in Chinese equities after a historic rally, and plans to shift some of the funds to emerging markets that are in a more nascent stage of recovery. Gordon Fraser, co-head of global emerging markets equities at BlackRock Inc., began betting on stocks in countries such …

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• 19 July

  Boeing’s undelivered jets strain its finances

  

  Bloomberg Boeing Co. is running out of space to stash newly-built 787 Dreamliners, with jetliners seemingly tucked onto every available patch of pavement on airfields near its factories in Washington and South Carolina. Dozens of planes are sitting on the company’s premises, according to people familiar with the situation. Uresh Sheth, a much-followed blogger who meticulously tracks the Dreamliners rolling …

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