March, 2018

• 20 March

  Supermarket casualties begin to pile up in Amazon-fuelled battle

  

  Bloomberg This is how the grocery industry lives now. Regional chains are filing for bankruptcy. European-born discounters are expanding, forcing competitors to keep their own prices low. And Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc., the two largest grocers in the US, are investing in technology and expanding delivery as they try to fend off an incursion by Amazon.com Inc. It’s a …

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• 20 March

  Pratt to ship spare engines for grounded IndiGo jets

  

  Bloomberg Pratt & Whitney will provide spare engines within 40 days to get all grounded Airbus SE A320neo aircraft at India’s IndiGo flying again, with the first delivery scheduled for Wednesday, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The engine maker communicated its plan on Tuesday to the jet’s biggest customer, the people said, asking not to be identified …

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• 20 March

  Jewellery chain Claire’s files for bankruptcy

  

  Bloomberg Claire’s Stores, known for tween jewellery and ear piercing, has become the latest victim of the retail apocalypse. The company filed for bankruptcy on March 19 and said it reached an agreement with creditors including its private-equity backer, Apollo Global Management LLC, to restructure around $1.9 billion in debt. Its plan to survive rests on its reputation for trendy …

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• 20 March

  Airbus, Heathrow mark 10th anniv of first A380 flight to London

  

  Emirates Business Airbus and Heathrow airport are celebrating the 10th anniversary of A380 operations at the airport. They began on March 18, 2008 with the arrival of the first A380, a Singapore Airlines flight SQ308 from Singapore Changi airport making Heathrow one of the first to welcome Airbus’ iconic double decker. Heathrow is now the world’s busiest A380 airport by …

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• 19 March

  Petrofac wins AED2.13bn engineering contract in GCC

  LONDON / WAM UAE-based Petrofac, a leading service provider to the oil and gas production and processing industry, on Monday announced that it has signed a binding letter of intent, for a contract worth around $580 million (AED2.13 billion) with a GCC National Oil Company for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a major project. Specific details in relation …

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• 19 March

  Stocks slide amid technology sell-off; Brexit spurs pound

  

  Bloomberg Stocks declined globally on Monday amid a technology sell-off and as investors braced for a week packed with risk events, from central bank decisions to a G-20 gathering. Government bonds also fell, while the pound jumped on a Brexit breakthrough. US stock slumped as tech companies were roiled by weekend reports of a Facebook Inc. data breach and Apple …

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• 19 March

  Weakening FANG stocks stir overnight volatility in US equity futures

  

  Bloomberg A steady weakening in US equity futures snowballed into one of the biggest drops in a month for Nasdaq 100 contracts, as pre-market trading revealed losses of around 1.5 percent in Apple Inc., Facebook Inc., Alphabet and Amazon.com. Facebook was in the spotlight as government officials in the US and Europe were demanding answers from the company after reports …

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• 19 March

  Merkel looks to LNG industry to cut Germany’s dependence on Russia

  

  Bloomberg Angela Merkel’s government is seeking to build a liquefied natural gas industry in Germany basically from scratch to reduce the nation’s dependence on supplies arriving by pipeline from Russia and Norway. With gas reservoirs depleting from the UK to the Netherlands, Germany is becoming increasingly reliant on Russia for its energy needs at a time when political tensions are …

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• 19 March

  Oil halts gains as US explorers resume drilling binge

  

  Bloomberg Oil halted gains as US explorers resumed their drilling binge, raising concerns over whether output cuts by OPEC and its allies will be enough to clear a glut despite a pledge from Russia that it’s committed to the curbs. Futures in New York fell 0.2 percent after data showed American producers added oil rigs for the seventh time in …

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• 19 March

  Iraq’s SOMO chief sees oil prices stable in 2018

  

  BAGHDAD / Reuters The head of Iraq’s state-oil marketer SOMO said that he expected oil prices to remain at current levels for the whole of 2018. “I expect oil prices to stay stable at their current levels at least until the end of 2018,” SOMO chief Alaa al-Yasiri told reporters at a SOMO event in Baghdad. “Oil price stability depends …

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