December, 2018

• 12 December

  LNG traders in US face a new reality: Expansion exhaustion

  

  Bloomberg Welcome to the new world market for natural gas, where computers never sleep and, apparently, neither do traders. With US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports set to surge by almost 80 percent in 2019, traders in America face a new reality: expansion exhaustion. As more and more inte- rnational players participate in US gas markets, the price of market …

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• 12 December

  Alberta output-cut mandate may be driving oil prices up

  

  Bloomberg Alberta’s plan to boost crude prices through mandatory production cuts is working a little too well. Just over a week after Premier Rachel Notley announced that oil producers will be required to curtail output by 8.7 percent, the price of heavy Canadian crude has more than do- ubled, in some ca-ses rendering Wes-tern Canadian Sel- ect too expensive to …

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• 12 December

  Angola seeks to jumpstart oil exploration

  

  Bloomberg Angola’s state-run oil and gas company is ramping up efforts to lure foreign investors and halt a decline in crude output. Once Africa’s biggest oil producer, output has tumbled in recent years due to under-investment in new projects and natural declines at aging fields. If it fails to halt this decline it will put severe strain on an economy …

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• 12 December

  Australia growth to be hit by housing ‘perfect storm’: AMP

  

  Bloomberg Australia’s tumbling property prices could shave up to 1.2 percentage points from economic growth in 2019 as the decline hits housing construction and consumer spending, according to AMP Capital Investors Ltd. Sydney and Melbourne prices will drop a further 10 percent next year, taking their peak-to-trough fall to 20 percent as a “perfect storm” smacks housing, AMP Chief Economist …

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• 12 December

  US stocks rally on renewed trade hopes; pound climbs

  

  Bloomberg US stocks joined a global rally as the outlook for trade took a positive turn and confidence grew that the British prime minister will defeat a challenge to her leadership. Chipmakers and energy producers led the S&P 500 Index higher following gains in Europe and Asia after the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co. was granted bail and …

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• 12 December

  Asia stock traders hit ‘buy’ as US-China trade magic returns

  

  Bloomberg The power of news headlines is back, and a renewed dose of trade optimism is finally lifting Asian stocks from a six-week low. To be exact, the regional benchmark is heading for its biggest jump since December 3, when the market reacted to Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping’s dinner in Buenos Aires. Huawei Technologies Co.’s chief financial officer …

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• 12 December

  Fed piles up $66 billion in paper losses

  

  Bloomberg The Federal Reserve is piling up unrealised losses on its $4.1 trillion bond portfolio, raising questions about its finances at a politically dicey moment for the independent central bank. The Fed had losses of $66.5 billion on its securities holdings on September 30, if it marked them to market, according to its latest quarterly financial report. That dwarfed its …

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• 12 December

  Credit Suisse set to buy back $3bn shares

  

  Bloomberg A year ago, Tidjane Thiam asked Credit Suisse Group AG shareholders to stay with the bank through its restructuring. Those that did may still be left wanting more. Switzerland’s second-largest bank plans to buy back as much as 3 billion francs ($3 billion) of shares in the next two years, while increasing the dividend by at least 5 percent …

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• 12 December

  Goldman, Citi see risks for Hong Kong banks

  

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s banks are staring at a tough year for business, marred by lower demand for loans and a peak in local property prices. Goldman Sachs Group Inc cut the lenders’ loan-growth estimates and target prices. Citigroup Inc said the banks’ shares may drop as much as 15 percent in 2019. “A cyclical slowdown in loan growth has been …

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• 12 December

  RBI chief faces long to-do list in new job

  

  Bloomberg India’s new central bank governor has a list of challenges to face as he takes office: from fixing a banking crisis to convincing investors of the institution’s autonomy. Shaktikanta Das, 61, a former economic affairs secretary at the Finance Ministry, took charge at the Reserve Bank of India for a three-year term on Wednesday, two days after Urjit Patel …

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