March, 2018

• 21 March

  Blue-chips lift Saudi, Aldar, Emaar climb

  

  Reuters Saudi Arabia’s stock market rose on Wednesday, lifted by its expected inclusion in the secondary FTSE emerging market index, while United Arab Emirates’ markets were boosted by its top two property companies. The Saudi index gained 0.5 percent to close at 7,762 points, backed by leading stocks that investors expect to attract foreign funds if the FTSE upgrade is …

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• 21 March

  New shipping fuel regulations set to bring gains for top oil refiners

  

  Bloomberg Ready the cash-printing machines — the world’s most sophisticated refineries are about to enjoy great times thanks to what might seem like a minor tweak in rules for the type of fuel ships consume. From 2020, vessels must buy fuel with less sulfur, or alternatively be fitted with equipment to curb emissions of the pollutant. One thing is clear: …

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• 21 March

  Kuwait plans $6.6bn industrial city

  

  KUWAIT / Reuters Kuwait’s Public Authority for Industry (PAI) plans to set up a multi-purpose industrial city in the Gulf Arab state with total expected investments of $6.6 billion, an official said on Wednesday. PAI Acting General Manager Abdulkareem Taqi told Reuters that the government would put in place the infrastructure for the city at an estimated cost of $600 …

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• 21 March

  Nigeria’s Sahara revives IPO plan as it looks to pump more oil

  Bloomberg Nigerian energy conglomerate Sahara Group Ltd. said it revived plans for a share-sale as it looks to increase oil production four-fold to 100,000 barrels per day. Lagos-based Sahara mulled an initial public offering in the Nigerian commercial capital and London in 2015, before falling crude prices forced it to backtrack. “The IPO is now back on the table,” Tonye …

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• 21 March

  Trading error erases $3 billion from Taiwan oil heavyweight

  Bloomberg An avalanche of apparently mistaken orders at the close knocked Taiwan’s third-biggest stock down almost 10 percent in minutes, draining $3 billion from its market value. Formosa Petrochemical Corp lurched from around 116 Taiwan dollars to 106 in a cascade of orders that culminated in a 15.2 million-share closing auction — a trade valued at more than $55 million. …

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• 21 March

  Asian banks set to hold fire as Fed hikes rates

  

  Bloomberg Most Asian central banks will stand pat for now, even with the Federal Reserve poised to raise borrowing costs this week. While previous tightening cycles in the US prompted many Asian nations to move in lockstep, things are different this time. Subdued inflation and healthy foreign reserves reduce the need to move quickly and the risk of a trade …

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• 21 March

  China allows foreign firms to payments market

  

  Bloomberg China will now permit foreign companies to access its $27 trillion payments market, which will further open up the world’s second-largest economy. Foreign players can start applying for payment licenses and will be treated the same as local firms, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on Wednesday. Applicants must set up local units, establish payment infrastructure …

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• 21 March

  Bad loans-ridden Greek banks find Sweden buyer

  

  Bloomberg Hoist Finance AB of Sweden is gearing up to buy non-performing credit portfolios from Greek banks as they prepare to offload loans that soured during the country’s debt crisis. “There’s been a lot of talk about Greece for a long time, but now it’s actually happening,” Klaus-Anders Nysteen, the chief executive officer of Hoist, said in an interview in …

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• 21 March

  ECB faces year of living uncertainly after QE end

  

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank is on a slow walk towards concluding four years of quantitative easing, and that challenge might look easy compared with what comes next. While policy makers are comfortable with market expectations for bond purchases to end this year, the bigger specter of 2019 looms large. That’s when the Governing Council might dare to actually withdraw …

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• 21 March

  Nordea says its $400bn wealth business is hiring

  Bloomberg Nordea Bank AB may be cutting thousands of jobs to go digital, but in its wealth management business, it’s hiring. The bank, which is moving its headquarters to Finland from Sweden for regulatory reasons, has hired about 75 people over the past year to help run its $400 billion wealth unit, according to its head, Snorre Storset. “Wealth management …

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