February, 2018

• 4 February

  Wall Street slide pulls down Mideast markets

  Reuters Middle Eastern stock markets sank on Sunday in response to the tumble on Wall Street on February 2, after US data showed the strongest annual wage growth since 2009 and raised the risk of more interest rate hikes than expected this year. The Saudi index dropped 0.6 percent with falling shares outnumbering gainers by 105 to 74. Saudi Arabian …

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• 4 February

  OPEC, Russia supply steady as Saudi masks Venezuelan drop

  

  Bloomberg Crude production by OPEC and its main ally Russia held steady last month as increases in Saudi Arabia and Iran offset the ongoing deterioration of Venezuela’s oil industry. Output from the 14 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries rose just 20,000 barrels a day to 32.4 million a day in January, according to a Bloomberg News survey …

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• 4 February

  Iran can boost output fast if OPEC ends cuts, says oil minister

  

  Bloomberg Iran can swiftly increase production of crude if OPEC decides to scrap limits on global output when the group meets next in June, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said. The Persian Gulf nation can raise daily production by at least 100,000 barrels within “five or six days” if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decides that crude prices are …

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• 4 February

  Lebanon signs first power purchase agreement

  BEIRUT / Reuters Lebanon has signed its first deal to buy electricity from private companies, the energy minister said, in a model which took years to hammer out and opens the country up to more international investment. Lebanon has been short of electricity since its 1975-90 civil war. Households experience at least three-hour outages each day. Those who can afford …

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• 4 February

  French N-giant seeks survival by rewriting rules

  

  Bloomberg France’s nuclear giant has a plan to survive the wave of renewable energy that’s sweeping aside old-fashioned utilities across Europe. First it needs to disprove the conventional wisdom about how reactors work. Electricite de France SA says its fleet of nuclear reactors aren’t just able to provide a steady stream of power, they’re flexible enough to complement a large …

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• 4 February

  American refiners talk expansion after reaping billions in tax gains

  Bloomberg The biggest independent refiners in the US are lining their pockets with billions of dollars in tax reform windfalls just in time to invest in equipment that meets ever-tightening domestic and global environmental rules, making the “liquid freedom” they export cleaner than ever. “The reduction in the corporate tax rate is a catalyst for incremental investment in the business,” …

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• 4 February

  Coeure urges reforms to avoid next crisis testing limits of ECB

  

  Bloomberg European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure urged European governments to push ahead with plans to strengthen monetary union to avoid stretching his institution’s mandate in the next crisis. “Without further reforms, the next crisis may well force the ECB to test the limits of its mandate,” he said in a speech near Ljubljana, Slovenia. “To assume that …

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• 4 February

  BOE rate hike likely in May if Brexit transition agreed

  Bloomberg UBS AG brought forward its forecast for the next UK interest-rate increase, though it also sounded a warning bell about such a move. Bank of England policy makers will raise their benchmark by 25 points at their May meeting, strategist John Wraith wrote in a report dated January 31. In forecasts published after the BOE’s November rate hike, UBS …

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• 4 February

  EU’s biggest hawks raise rates

  Bloomberg Czech policy makers raised borrowing costs for the third time in six months to cool one of Europe’s fastest-growing economies and unveiled a hotly anticipated outlook predicting a surge in the currency. The Czech National Bank’s board voted unanimously to increase the benchmark interest rate a quarter point to 0.75 percent, Governor Jiri Rusnok said. The fresh forecasts, which …

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• 4 February

  Banks get big break as US eases leverage rule

  

  Bloomberg Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and State Street Corp. stand to benefit most as US regulators rush to ease a key leverage rule, giving the custody-banking giants room to once again accept deposits they’ve shunned in recent years. The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency may unveil a proposal to ease the leverage …

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