April, 2018

• 11 April

  Airlines warned to stay cautious on ‘Syria air strikes’

  Bloomberg Eurocontrol, an air traffic agency in Europe, asked airlines to apply caution on flights to the eastern Mediterranean region because of possible air strikes in Syria over the next 72 hours. “Due consideration needs to be taken when planning flight operations in the Eastern Mediterranean,” the agency said in a statement posted on its website citing the European Aviation ...

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• 11 April

  Malaysia Airlines may buy widebody jets from Airbus or Boeing

  

  SINGAPORE / Reuters Malaysia Airlines has indicated that it may be interested in buying 20-30 widebody jets from either Boeing Co or Airbus SE, a source with knowledge of the matter said. Such a deal could either expand or replace a previous non-binding agreement with Boeing that was reached during a high-profile US visit by the country’s prime minister in ...

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• 10 April

  Aramco, Total ink $5bn deal to build petchem facility

  Reuters French oil and gas major Total on Tuesday signed a $5 billion dealwith Saudi Aramco to build a giant petrochemical complex at their 440,000 barrels-per-day Jubail Satorp refinery. Saudi Aramco holds a 62.5 percent stake in the refinery, while Total holds the other 37.5 percent. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on the sidelines of a visit by ...

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• 10 April

  Stocks rally as trade tiff eases; Treasuries slip with dollar

  

  Bloomberg Stocks surged on Tuesday following conciliatory remarks from Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at releasing some pressure from a trade dispute between the world’s biggest economies. Treasuries fell with the dollar. All major US equity indexes were up more than 1.4 percent after Xi said Cold War and zero-sum mentalities were “out of place,” and backed free trade and ...

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• 10 April

  Worst-performing Swedish krona seen gaining in turnaround

  

  Bloomberg The krona is the worst-performing major currency this year. That may be about to change. Sweden’s krona should recover from this month’s eight-year low of 10.35 per euro as factors that have weighed, such as weaker-than-forecast inflation, are either already priced in or will improve, according to SEB AB. The bank sees it appreciating to 9.80 per euro by ...

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• 10 April

  China gas giant ‘confident’ energy sector ties with US set to deepen

  

  Bloomberg The head of China’s largest natural gas importer believes the country’s energy ties with the US are set to deepen, despite trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies that has roiled financial markets. “There is more room for cooperation than confrontation between China and the US,” China National Petroleum Corp. Chairman Wang Yilin said in an interview with ...

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• 10 April

  Saudi wants oil price near $80 a barrel

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia wants to get oil prices near $80 a barrel to pay for the government’s policy agenda and support the valuation of state energy giant Aramco before an initial public offering. In conversations with OPEC delegates and oil market participants, Saudi officials had been careful to avoid pinpointing an exact price target. Yet people who have spoken to ...

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• 10 April

  ECB still confident after euro area hits economic soft patch

  

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank’s top officials lined up to express cautious confidence in the euro-area economy after a series of reports pointing to a surprisingly weak start to the year, while reiterating that they’ll move only slowly towards ending stimulus. President Mario Draghi and three of his most-senior colleagues signalled that while inflation remains too low and a global ...

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• 10 April

  BNP Paribas expands Poland footprint with Raiffeisen deal

  

  VIENNA / Reuters BNP Paribas is increasing its presence in Poland with the 775 million euro ($954 million) purchase of Raiffeisen Bank International’s (RBI) main business in the European Union’s largest eastern economy. The French bank said it will merge Raiffeisen Bank Polska, Poland’s tenth largest lender by assets, with BGZ BNP Paribas, which it bought in 2014, bolstering its ...

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• 10 April

  Axis Bank surges most since October after CEO cuts tenure

  Bloomberg Axis Bank Ltd.’s Chief Executive Officer Shikha Sharma will step down at the end of 2018, more than two years before the proposed end of her term, amid reports the regulator is questioning the lender’s performance. The board of India’s third-largest private bank had proposed she stay through 2021 but accepted Sharma’s request for an exit on December 31, ...

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