January, 2018

• 30 January

  Saudi Sipchem mulls US shale venture in first foreign foray

  Bloomberg Saudi International Petrochemical Co. is considering investing in the US shale industry in what would be the company’s first foreign venture as it faces higher costs and a shortage of feedstock at home in Saudi Arabia. Sipchem, as the business is known, may seek a US partner in its effort to tap into the booming shale industry, though Chief …

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• 30 January

  Oil slows down on inventory growth threat

  

  Bloomberg Oil’s slowing down as danger signs flash ahead. Futures are on course for their biggest drop in seven weeks amid concern an investor frenzy for risky assets may be overextending markets, while a weak dollar that had lifted commodities is gaining back some strength as Treasury yields advance. Sentiment is also being hurt as American crude inventories were forecast …

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• 30 January

  Exxon $50bn bonanza returns spending to pre-rout level

  Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp. is set to invest $50 billion over the next half decade in a return to the oil giant’s spending habits before crude suffered its worst price rout in a generation. With oil prices now hovering above $65 a barrel in New York, Exxon Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods disclosed a program that includes the Permian Basin …

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• 30 January

  UK homeowners ‘risk losing properties’

  Bloomberg Some borrowers with interest-only mortgages may lose their homes as a result of shortfalls in repayment plans, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority warned. The FCA has identified three peaks in interest-only mortgage repayments, the first of which is currently underway. Defaults are less likely in the present wave of maturities because the homeowners are approaching retirement and have higher …

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• 30 January

  Once-hot Toronto housing hits deep freeze as lending rules bite

  

  Bloomberg The only thing that might be colder than Toronto in January is the Canadian city’s housing market. While the bleak mid-winter is never the best time to sell a home in Canada, a string of open houses in the country’s largest city were chillingly empty on a recent afternoon. Tougher mortgage rules went into effect on January 1 just …

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• 30 January

  China’s risk crackdown gives giant bank stocks a boost

  

  Bloomberg China’s top banks — the biggest in the world — have typically traded below the value of their assets on concern over rising bad debt and falling profitability. That’s starting to change, and quickly. A recent surge in the Hong Kong-traded shares of China’s Big Four state banks lifted their average price-to-book value ratio to 1. That’s the highest …

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• 30 January

  Lloyds set to merge consumer finance unit earnings with retail

  

  Bloomberg Lloyds Banking Group Plc is changing the way it reports some of its key numbers ahead of its annual results next month. The earnings of the consumer finance unit, whose assets increased by 12 percent to 39.2 billion pounds ($54.8 billion) in 2016, will be merged with the retail division, according to a memo sent to investors and seen …

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• 30 January

  Mauritius inflation contained for now

  

  Bloomberg Inflation expectations in Mauritius are contained for now, leaving room for the central bank to stick to its accommodative stance to support economic growth, Governor Yandraduth Googoolye said as he prepares to chair his first Monetary Policy Committee meeting next month. The pick-up in the average rate of price growth in the 12 months through December was due to …

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• 30 January

  Australian bank sued for ‘rate rigging’

  Bloomberg Commonwealth Bank of Australia is being sued by the nation’s securities regulator for allegedly rigging the benchmark bank-bill swap rate, adding to legal problems for the nation’s largest lender. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission said it began legal proceedings on Tuesday in the Federal Court in Melbourne, alleging the bank engaged in “unconscionable conduct and market manipulation” between …

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• 30 January

  Morocco currency float up to 15yrs away as reforms vital

  

  Bloomberg Morocco may need anything from five to 15 years to fully float the dirham, with further currency liberalisation dependent on other reforms including strengthening the country’s export base and reducing the current-account deficit, central bank Governor Abdellatif Jouahri said. Policymakers finally eased their grip on the dirham on January 15, allowing the currency to trade 2.5 percent above or …

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