December, 2020

• 22 December

  Hong Kong considers virus curbs, curfews

  Bloomberg Unprecedented virus control measures including curfews and shutdowns of non-essential businesses may be considered in Hong Kong, according to a government health adviser, as the city continues to see a high number of locally-transmitted cases and the holiday season looms. Limiting the number of people per household allowed to shop for groceries, shuttering all businesses deemed non-essential and shortening ...

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• 22 December

  Philippines murder video of mother, son goes viral

  Bloomberg The Philippine government said it would prosecute a police officer over deaths of a mother and son, after a video of point blank shooting went viral in social media, prompting renewed calls against police violence and extrajudicial killings. Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who is recovering from a near-fatal poisoning that he blames on President Vladimir Putin, said he ...

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• 22 December

  France halts UK freight over virus alarm, rocking supplies

  

  Bloomberg Britain’s biggest port stopped all traffic heading to Europe, triggering delays to food supplies after the discovery of a new variant of the virus prompted a wave of countries to ban travel from the UK. The escalating crisis prompted Boris Johnson to convene a meeting of the government’s emergency committee in a bid to keep goods flowing. The concern ...

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• 22 December

  Orban calls Merkel ‘brilliant’ after EU budget compromise

  

  Bloomberg Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said German Chancellor Angela Merkel was “brilliant” for the way she resolved a dispute over the European Union’s $2.2 trillion budget and stimulus package, in an interview in Welt am Sonntag. Germany brokered the compromise that led Hungary and Poland to drop a threat to veto the plan, which would make payments to EU ...

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• 22 December

  Rent-A-Center to buy Acima Holdings in $1.6 billion deal

  Bloomberg Rent-A-Center Inc. is acquiring online lease-to-own provider Acima Holdings LLC in a cash-and-stock deal valued at more than $1.6 billion. The transaction will include $1.27 billion in cash and about 10.8 million shares of Rent-A-Center common stock currently valued at $377 million, the Plano, Texas-based company said. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2021. ...

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• 22 December

  Nokia to sacrifice network margins for growth in 5G

  

  Bloomberg Nokia Oyj said it expects margins for its networking business to be zero next year as it focuses on “regaining 5G leadership.” The company will develop its products for so-called Open RAN, a type of architecture that allows operators to use equipment from multiple vendors, and virtual RAN, which can be run as software on generic hardware, Nokia said ...

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• 22 December

  UK home prices to drop 5% next year

  Bloomberg UK home prices could slump as much as 5% next year as unemployment rises and government incentives end, according to mortgage lender Halifax. House prices surged the most since 2016 this year as demand for more space, state support for wages and a temporary reduction in a property transaction tax offset the economic damage from the Covid-19 pandemic. That ...

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• 22 December

  Musk inquires about moving ‘large deals’ to Bitcoin

  

  Bloomberg Elon Musk inquired about converting “large transactions” of Tesla Inc.’s balance sheet into Bitcoin in a Twitter exchange with Michael Saylor, a prominent booster of digital currency. In a series of tweets, Saylor, chief executive officer of Microstrategy Inc., encouraged the billionaire to shift US dollars from the electric-car maker to Bitcoin and “do your shareholders a $100 billion ...

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• 21 December

  European stocks slump on virus curbs; pound drops

  

  Bloomberg European stocks tumbled as a new strain of the coronavirus in the UK caused chaos ahead of the Christmas holiday, with regional neighbours suspending travel with the nation following another missed deadline in Brexit talks. Travel and energy shares dragged the Stoxx Europe 600 Index down around 2% at the open as Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and France closed ...

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• 21 December

  Singapore’s top stock of this year is facing a rougher ride in 2021

  

  Bloomberg Equity investors have given Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries Ltd. a big thumbs-up this year after it shed its loss-making marine unit. But 2021 may prove to be a lot less euphoric, according to analysts. The utilities firm is 2020’s top gainer on the benchmark Straits Times Index, after being the worst performer in the preceding five-year period. However, concerns over ...

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