February, 2021

• 1 February

  Zuma shuns graft inquiry in defiance of court order

  

  Bloomberg Former South African President Jacob Zuma said he will flout an order by the nation’s top court by refusing to cooperate with a judicial panel that’s probing graft during his rule, and dared the authorities to arrest him. “The Commission Into Allegations of State Capture can expect no further cooperation from me in any of their processes,” Zuma said ...

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• 1 February

  EU calls $15.8 billion Apple tax ruling ‘contradictory’ in appeal

  

  Bloomberg The European Union (EU) is seeking to overturn Apple Inc.’s victory in a 13 billion-euro ($15.8 billion) tax dispute, saying judges used “contradictory reasoning” when they found that the company’s Irish units weren’t liable for huge payments. A summary of the appeal published on Monday shows the EU’s determination to challenge the critical July court judgment. The decision was ...

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• 1 February

  Joe Biden withdraws $27.4 billion in spending cuts proposed by Trump

  

  Bloomberg President Joe Biden withdrew all the spending cuts proposed by former President Donald Trump during his final days in office. Biden said in a letter to Congress that he was reversing all 73 spending cuts that Trump had requested, which touched virtually every cabinet-level agency as well as federal programs such as the National Endowments of the Arts and ...

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• 1 February

  Argentine province reaches deal with creditor group

  Bloomberg Argentina’s Salta province reached a deal with an ad-hoc creditors group for amendments to its foreign bonds due in 2024, the provincial government said in a statement. The bondholders group, represented by VR Advisory Services Ltd., holds roughly 40% of the notes. Salta owes $350 million of debt it issued in 2016, which trades at distressed levels with yields ...

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• 1 February

  UK mortgage approvals post best year since 2007 on tax cut

  

  Bloomberg UK lenders approved more mortgages in 2020 than in any year since before the financial crisis, as house hunters sought to take advantage of a temporary tax cut. The stamp duty holiday, which allows buyers to save as much as 15,000 pounds propelled the housing market into high gear even as the coronavirus crisis sent the wider economy into ...

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• 1 February

  US consumer sentiment cooled in January

  Bloomberg US consumer sentiment edged lower in late January, adding to signs that consumers remain subdued about prospects for the economic recovery as the pandemic wears on. The University of Michigan’s final sentiment index falls to 79 from a preliminary reading of 79.2 earlier in the month and 80.7 in December, data showed. The figure fell below the 79.4 median ...

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• 1 February

  Italian manufacturing fuels hope of economic recovery

  

  Bloomberg Italian manufacturing is picking up at the fastest pace in nearly three years, a bright spot in an economy that probably shrank close to 10% during the 2020 pandemic. Factories, mostly located in the country’s north, saw a sustained upturn in output in January, with orders expanding at a solid pace thanks to demand from Europe and North America, ...

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• 1 February

  Global stocks, US futures rise; silver jumps to eight-year high

  

  Bloomberg Global stocks and US futures climbed as concern over volatile retail trading receded and China took steps to ease a cash crunch. Silver crossed $30 an ounce for the first time since 2013 in a Reddit-fuelled frenzy. Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index rallied 1%, led by silver mining companies. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 1.7%, the biggest gain in ...

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• 1 February

  JPMorgan to BofA see scope for longer S Africa stock rally

  

  Bloomberg South African stocks have made their best start to the year since 2012, even after last-week’s pullback, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America are among those predicting further gains. A global appetite for riskier assets has propelled emerging market inflows and the Johannesburg exchange is set to benefit from its heavy weighting in mining stocks as ...

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• 1 February

  Dubai launches vaccine logistics alliance to expedite distribution

  

  DUBAI / WAM Dubai on Sunday launched the Vaccine Logistics Alliance to speed up distribution of Covid-19 vaccines around the world through the emirate. The move follows the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. In support of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) COVAX initiative and its efforts to ...

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