August, 2020

• 24 August

  China’s Shanxi Coal getting into solar production

  

  Bloomberg Mid-tier Chinese coal miner Shanxi Coal International Energy Group is planning a significant investment in the competing business of making high-tech solar power cells. The state-owned firm will lead a joint venture to build a 3-gigawatt solar manufacturing plant for 3.19 billion yuan ($461 million), according to a statement. It’s the first phase of a project that will grow …

  Read More »
• 24 August

  Blackstone gains $5b on LNG stake

  Bloomberg Blackstone Group will see a $5 billion gain from selling a stake in the largest liquefied natural gas export terminal in the US. The firm’s private equity business is unloading its stake of just over 40% of Cheniere Energy Partners LP to Brookfield Asset Management Inc and its own affiliated infrastructure group, according to a filing. Brookfield negotiated the …

  Read More »
• 24 August

  RBI sends signal to traders that bond yields may head higher

  

  Bloomberg Traders of India’s bonds were unnerved after the central bank cued that rising yields are here to stay by offering surprisingly high borrowing costs at a debt sale. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold a 30-year bond at a cutoff yield of 6.75%, versus the 6.65% estimated in a Bloomberg survey. The central bank, which acts on behalf …

  Read More »
• 24 August

  MUFG plans to offer Covid-19 bonds to individual investors

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s biggest lender is planning to raise funds from individual investors to help smaller companies and hospitals tackle the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. intends to issue sustainability bonds totalling as much as 150 billion yen ($1.42 billion) in September, after receiving requests from retail investors, according to Isamu Murofushi, a spokesman. The pandemic is boosting …

  Read More »
• 24 August

  Singapore dollar advances to 6-month high on fiscal stimulus

  

  Bloomberg Singapore’s large pool of fiscal reserves is proving to be a boon for the nation’s currency. The city state’s dollar advanced to its highest level in six months last week — erasing its pandemic-driven losses — after the government unveiled another stimulus package, financed in part by unused expenditure from earlier budgets. With the total for pledged pandemic aid …

  Read More »
• 24 August

  Philippine peso gets boost as central bank stands aside

  

  Bloomberg The Philippine peso advanced closer towards the psychologically significant level of 48 per dollar after central bank Governor Benjamin Diokno said the market was free to determine its level. Asia’s best-performing currency this year advanced to as strong as 48.62 on Monday after Diokno told Bloomberg Television: “If that’s where the market is going, we can’t do anything about …

  Read More »
• 24 August

  Asia’s worst currency diverges from local bond market

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s bond and currency markets, risk benchmarks that tend to move in tandem, are diverging in signs that the nation’s pandemic response is deterring global funds. The rupiah is the worst-performing Asian currency this quarter while the nation’s benchmark sovereign bond is outperforming peers. The two markets are usually aligned due to heavy foreign debt holdings. That dynamic started …

  Read More »
• 24 August

  Credit Suisse faces Belgian money-laundering probe

  Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG faces a criminal probe for helping more than 2,600 Belgian clients to hide untaxed earnings in Swiss accounts, L’Echo reported. The inquiry into Swiss lender concerns money laundering and acting as an illegal financial intermediary, the newspaper said, citing a spokesman for Belgium’s Federal Prosecutor’s office. Prosecutors obtained the bank details of unidentified Belgian clients …

  Read More »
• 24 August

  PBOC urges China banks to support smaller firms

  Bloomberg People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Yi Gang urged banks to support smaller companies through innovations in financial services and products. The current economic situation is “complex and severe,” Yi told a seminar in the eastern city of Hefei, according to a statement posted on the central bank’s website. The governor said banks should adapt financial services and products, …

  Read More »
• 24 August

  European stocks advance to one-week high; dollar falls

  

  Bloomberg European stocks climbed to a one-week high and equity futures rose amid a thaw in US and China relations and hopes of wider access to new coronavirus treatments. The rally in the Europe Stoxx 600 Index was broad based, with all 19 industries posting gains. BT Group advanced after Sky News reported that the board is on alert for …

  Read More »