February, 2020

• 18 February

  HSBC staffer in quarantine tests negative for virus

  

  Bloomberg An HSBC Holdings Plc employee in Hong Kong being held in quarantine tested negative for the deadly virus spreading out of mainland China. The staffer and their nuclear family members all tested negative for the coronavirus, according to an internal memo, confirmed by a company spokeswoman in Hong Kong. The virus has killed more than 1,700 people and infected …

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• 18 February

  In two weeks, India debt turns favourite from loser for funds

  

  Bloomberg Just a month ago, global funds couldn’t wait to dump India’s sovereign bonds. Now, they’re rushing back at the fastest pace in more than two years. Foreigners bought 136.7 billion rupees ($1.9 billion) of the debt in the first two weeks of February, set for the highest monthly inflow since June 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They …

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• 18 February

  Cathay warns of ‘significant’ drop in H1 profit

  

  Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, among the most high-profile corporate casualties of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, is turning into one of the most impacted airlines from the novel coronavirus outbreak. First-half financial results will be “significantly down” from a year earlier, Cathay Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said in a statement. The airline and Cathay Dragon …

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• 18 February

  Macy’s Herald Square realty project faces tough road ahead

  

  Bloomberg Macy’s Inc faces a difficult road as it dives into New York City real estate development. The struggling retailer, trying to generate cash off prime real estate in midtown Manhattan, recently unveiled plans for a 1.5 million-square-foot building atop its iconic store in Manhattan’s Herald Square. But the proposed office tower requires zoning changes that have to be approved …

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• 18 February

  Lebanon carrier scraps ‘US dollar only’ plan

  Bloomberg Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines scrapped a decision to reject payments in the local currency, hours after the nation’s president warned against the move and questioned its legality. As backlash mounted, the airline 99% owned by the central bank, reversed the announcement to accept payments only in foreign currency, according to its spokeswoman. The company will hold meetings to discuss …

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• 18 February

  Modell’s struggles to keep sporting-goods empire alive

  

  Bloomberg Mitchell Modell, chairman and chief executive officer of Modell’s Sporting Goods, has a framed letter from his grandfather, Henry Modell, hanging on the wall of his New York City office. He said he likes to look it over, to remind him what’s at stake as he struggles to keep the 131-year-old family business afloat. “Keep and cherish the good …

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• 16 February

  Women’s empowerment is part of Emirati culture

  DUBAI / WAM The UAE has strengthened its regional and international leadership in women’s empowerment, and is harnessing their potential to serve this purpose, as well as drafting frameworks and mechanisms to ensure gender balance, said Mohammed Jalal Al Raisi, Executive Director of the Emirates News Agency (WAM). “The UAE’s related efforts has made women’s empowerment a reality and has …

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• 16 February

  Bond market braces for fresh trillion-dollar fund flow wave

  

  Bloomberg Investors who poured money into bond funds last year are showing little sign of stopping in 2020, adding more downward pressure to yields. Inflow to fixed-income assets nearly doubled last year to $1 trillion, according to data from Morningstar Inc. With fears about the coronavirus outbreak dimming growth prospects for the global economy and prompting a search for haven …

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• 16 February

  Warning signs crop up in crypto sphere amid ‘resurgence’

  

  Bloomberg Ether has more than doubled this year, but technical indicators are starting to flash worrying signals for the second-biggest cryptocurrency. Based on the GTI Global Strength Indicator, which measures upward and downward movements of successive closing prices, the coin is at its most overbought level since May 2019. An asset is considered overbought if the indicator exceeds 70 and …

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• 16 February

  Global economic policy now hinges on China’s next move

  

  Bloomberg The broad policy direction for many of the world’s central banks and governments now hinges on one question: how will the Chinese government respond to the economic shock caused by the coronavirus? The Communist Party’s elite Politburo has urged the nation to meet its economic targets this year, an imperative that could shake the government’s recent reluctance to fire …

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