May, 2019

• 29 May

  Wow Air collapse triggers recession in Iceland

  Bloomberg It’s not often that an entire economy is thrown off course by a single corporate event. But that’s what appears to have happened in Iceland. The recent bankruptcy of budget airline Wow Air has delivered such a blow to the Icelandic tourist industry, and the wider economy, that the central bank cut its main interest rate by half a …

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• 29 May

  Amazon poised to unleash purge of small suppliers

  

  Bloomberg Two months ago, Amazon.com Inc halted orders from thousands of suppliers with no explanation. Panic ensued — until the orders quietly resumed weeks later, with Amazon suggesting the pause was part of a campaign to weed out counterfeit products. Suppliers breathed a sigh of relief. Now a larger, more permanent purge is coming that will upend the relationship between …

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• 28 May

  UAE’s non-oil foreign trade hit AED1.628trn in 2018

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE’s non-oil foreign trade, including direct and free zone trade, and customs warehouses, reached a total of AED1.628 trillion in 2018, announced the Federal Customs Authority (FCA) on Tuesday. In a statement, the authority noted that direct non-oil foreign trade accounted for 63 percent (AED1.025 trillion) of the total value, while free zone trade and …

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• 28 May

  Mubadala revamps MRO unit as ‘Sanad Aerotech’

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM Mubadala Aerospace’s Turbine Services and Solutions, a maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) provider for aircraft engines, gas turbines and driven equipment, has unveiled a new identity for its MRO business, which will now be known as Sanad Aerotech. The new brand positioning reflects the focus of Mubadala Aerospace on engineering excellence, underpinned by industry-leading reliability, innovation …

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• 28 May

  Brent oil steadies after rally as Trump not ready for trade deal

  

  Bloomberg Brent crude traded around $70 a barrel as a two-day rebound eased on signs the US and China are still far from reaching a trade deal, but prices remained supported by supply risks in the Middle East. Futures in London held steady after rallying 3.5 percent. President Donald Trump said on a state visit to Japan that the US …

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• 28 May

  Hong Kong’s property shows signs of bubble

  Bloomberg Noted economist and Harvard professor Carmen Reinhart has become the latest person to sound the alarm about Hong Kong, saying the city’s property market is showing signs of a bubble. “There are elements in the Hong Kong picture that are very reminiscent of Ireland, Spain, Iceland” before their crises, she told the Nomura Investment Forum Asia 2019 in Singapore. …

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• 28 May

  US stocks steady, Treasury yields touch 19-month low

  

  Bloomberg US equity futures steadied with European stocks as traders returned from American and UK holidays with a cautious outlook. The dollar advanced with Treasuries. Contracts on the S&P 500 fluctuated alongside those on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq 100. The Stoxx Europe 600 index was steady, erasing earlier losses after better-than-forecast economic confidence data and as …

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• 28 May

  Calm returns to China’s stock market after $1.3 trillion rout

  

  Bloomberg Investors are taking a breather from the recent market rout that has wiped out almost $1.3 trillion from China’s stock market. The CSI 300 Index hasn’t moved more than 2 percent in either direction in the past seven sessions, the longest streak of calm since February. The index closed 1 percent higher on Tuesday. Volatility has dropped too, with …

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• 28 May

  India’s shadow lenders face margin squeeze from tough liquidity rules

  

  Bloomberg India’s shadow banks are likely to see a further squeeze on their profit margins after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signalled it will tighten liquidity requirements to bring them in line with the country’s more closely regulated commercial banks. Instead of providing a much-expected liquidity window to non-bank finance companies via the regular lenders, the central bank took …

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• 28 May

  PBOC seeks to raise supply of short-term funding to banks

  

  Bloomberg The People’s Bank of China is acting to increase the supply of short-term funding to banks after the seizure of a regional lender rattled domestic markets. China’s central bank injected a net amount of 150 billion yuan ($21.7 billion) through open-market operations, the most since the week ended March 8. Regulators announced that they will take control of Baoshang …

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