February, 2019

• 4 February

  Pemex bonds sink as Fitch puts it near junk

  

  Bloomberg Petroleos Mexicanos bonds cratered after Fitch Ratings downgraded the state-owned company to just a notch above junk, spurring a slide in sovereign debt and the peso. The yield on Pemex bonds due in 2027 rose 28 basis points to 7.251 percent at 1:02 pm in New York, after jumping as much as 40 basis points earlier in the day. …

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• 4 February

  Morocco to start capping fuel prices by mid-March

  Bloomberg Morocco will start intervening to limit fuel prices from March as the margins of fuel distributors such as Vivo Energy and Total Maroc come under scrutiny following nationwide protests last year. “The capping mechanism is coming,” General Affairs and Public Governance Minister Lahcen Daoudi said in a video published on his party’s website, indicating it would be put in …

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• 4 February

  US refiners cut off from Venezuelan crude after sanctions

  

  Bloomberg US oil refiners won’t be allowed to complete shipments of Venezuelan crude they booked before the Trump administration slapped new sanctions on the Latin American nation. US Treasury Department officials have informed some companies that previously contracted cargoes won’t be exempt from a new rule blocking payments to Venezuela’s PDVSA, according to two people familiar with the matter. The …

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• 4 February

  New Fortress Energy falls in trading debut

  Bloomberg New Fortress Energy LLC fell 6.6 percent in its trading debut, as the markets gave a cold shoulder to the first operating company to go public after the US government reopened. The energy infrastructure company raised $280 million on Wednesday, selling 20 million shares for $14 each — below the $15 price it had set for them. The shares …

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• 4 February

  Australian building approvals suffer as housing woes deepen

  

  Bloomberg Australian building approvals suffered the biggest annual back-to-back drop in almost a decade as a housing slump deepens. Building permits fell 22.5 percent in December from a year earlier after plunging 33.5 percent in November, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed in Sydney on Monday. That’s the worst two-month result since January-February 2009, during the depths of the global …

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• 4 February

  NordLB gets $4 billion state rescue as Cerberus loses out

  

  Bloomberg Germany’s NordLB will be bailed out by public-sector savings banks and the state of Lower Saxony at a cost of as much as 3.7 billion euros ($4.2 billion), thwarting a bid by Cerberus Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners for a stake in the struggling lender. The restructuring package, which Lower Saxony Premier Stephan Weil called “the best of all …

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• 4 February

  2020 might not be a year to think about recession: JPMorgan

  

  Bloomberg The Federal Reserve’s change in tone may mean investors should reconsider the timing of the investment cycle, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. That means investors shouldn’t be driven by fears of recession for now, JP Morgan analysts said. The Fed signalled last week that it’s done raising rates for at least a little while, and that it’ll be …

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• 4 February

  Danske staff told not to fear bonus cuts amid Estonian scandal

  

  Bloomberg Danske Bank A/S may be facing billions of dollars in fines for its Estonian laundering scandal, but its employees don’t need to worry about having their bonuses cut. Jesper Nielsen, who’s been running the bank on an interim basis since Thomas Borgen was relieved of his duties as chief executive in October, says there might be some bonus adjustments …

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• 4 February

  No rush to reverse last year’s rate hikes, says Philippine central banker

  

  Bloomberg Philippine central bank Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said a quick reversal of last year’s monetary tightening — either through a reduction in the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves or a cut in key interest rates — would be “bad economic or monetary policy.” While inflation in the last two months of 2018 cooled from a …

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• 4 February

  Australia bank execs get lashed for misconduct

  

  Bloomberg The final report of an inquiry into misconduct in Australia’s financial system will land with a thud at National Australia Bank Ltd.’s headquarters. It’s just not the size of the three-volume report, but the blast aimed at Chief Executive Officer Andrew Thorburn and Chairman Ken Henry, who testified during the Royal Commission’s final round of hearings. “Having heard from …

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