August, 2020

• 19 August

  Marks & Spencer to cut 7,000 jobs in hit to UK workers

  

  Bloomberg Marks & Spencer Group Plc plans to cut about 7,000 jobs after its clothing business was hit hard by the coronavirus lockdown, adding to the toll of lost employment in the UK retail industry. The move to eliminate about one-tenth of the store chain’s workforce follows a 39% plunge in the clothing and home arm’s sales in the latest …

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• 19 August

  UK’s consumer spending jumps most since 2016

  Bloomberg UK consumer spending jumped the most since 2016 last month, led by a surge in Internet purchases as bars and restaurants continued to suffer. On-line demand surged 16.2% in July compared with a year earlier, according to a monthly index by Visa and IHS Markit. Total spending rose 2.4%, while hotels, bars and restaurants say an 18% drop. Household …

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• 19 August

  Home Depot sales ‘record-breaking’: CEO

  Bloomberg Home Depot Inc reported sales growth that was more than double the already brisk rate analysts had been expecting, sending shares higher in early trading. Same-store sales rose 23.4%, sharply beating the estimate for an 11.4% gain from Consensus Metrix. Revenue of $38.1 billion also surpassed expectations. Home Depot Chief Executive Officer Craig Menear called the sales performance “record-breaking.” …

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• 19 August

  Indonesia holds rates steady to safeguard weak currency

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank left its key interest rate unchanged on Wednesday to shore up support for the sagging currency, and called for close coordination with government to revive Southeast Asia’s largest economy. After 100 basis points of easing so far this year, Bank Indonesia kept the seven-day reverse repurchase rate at 4% Wednesday, as expected by 20 of 25 …

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• 19 August

  BofA clients with $489 billion finally trust this bull market

  

  Bloomberg It took unprecedented stimulus and a rally that’s pushed equities near record highs, but fund managers overseeing $489 billion finally believe that this stock market recovery has legs. Among investors surveyed by Bank of America Corp. (BofA) in the week through August 13, 46% described equities as being in a bull market, up from 40% in July. The share …

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• 19 August

  Singapore’s MAS is engaging more with banks on local hiring

  

  Bloomberg Singapore’s financial regulator will step up efforts to urge banks to hire more citizens and develop a strong local leadership pipeline, according to its chief. “Protecting and growing Singaporean jobs, especially in current economic conditions, is a top priority,” the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Managing Director Ravi Menon wrote in a letter in the Straits Times. The MAS …

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• 19 August

  Santander sends workers into office in virus hotbed

  

  Bloomberg One of the world’s biggest banks has staged a mass return to the office in a country where the number of Covid-19 infections surged by 1 million just in the past month. About 60% of administrative staff at Banco Santander SA’s Brazilian unit — including some investment bankers and those in asset management — are now back at their …

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• 19 August

  Big banks sit on $250bn of murkiest trades after Covid

  

  Bloomberg The pile of the murkiest trades at global banks, long the bane of regulators, got much bigger during Covid-19. Lenders including Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc., BNP Paribas SA and Societe Generale SA reported a surge of more than 20% in their most opaque assets during the chaotic first half of 2020, Bloomberg calculations show. The banks are now sitting …

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• 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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