January, 2018

• 22 January

  Oil holds near $69 as nations say output cuts will continue

  

  Bloomberg Brent crude steadied after Saudi Arabia and Russia pledged to continue supply cuts. Futures rose as much as 0.5 percent in London before paring those gains. Output limits should remain through 2018 as rebalancing may be achieved next year, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said in a Bloomberg television interview held with his Russian counterpart. Russia is prepared …

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• 22 January

  Biggest US east coast oil refinery files for bankruptcy

  

  Bloomberg Philadelphia Energy Solutions LLC, owner of the largest oil refinery serving the New York Harbor gasoline and diesel market, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company, a joint-venture between The Carlyle Group LP and a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners LP, filed a petition in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Chief Executive Greg Gatta said in a memo …

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• 22 January

  Saudi seeks proposals to refinance $10bn loan

  DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia has asked banks for proposals to refinance its $10 billion international syndicated loan and to help the sovereign raise funds through other means, the country’s debt management office said. In addition to the req- uest for proposals (RFP) on the loan refinancing, the government has issued RFPs covering further US dol- lar debt capital market …

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• 22 January

  UBS share buyback leaves investors underwhelmed

  

  Bloomberg UBS Group AG investors were left underwhelmed by the bank’s first share buyback since the credit crisis and rejigged financial targets. The stock declined the most since July after the Zurich-based bank downgraded a key profitability target, as well as paring back forecasts for its asset- management business and net new money at its combined wealth-management unit. The bank …

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• 22 January

  Nigerian Central Bank keeps key rate at 14%

  

  Bloomberg The Central Bank of Nigeria won’t hold its rate-setting meeting scheduled for Monday and Tuesday because lawmakers have yet to approve monetary policy committee members, leaving the body unable to form a quorum. The bank will “maintain key monetary policy variables” at levels decided in November, Governor Godwin Emefiele said in an emailed statement, effectively leaving the key interest …

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• 22 January

  Search for ECB’s next vice president begins

  

  Bloomberg When euro-area finance ministers launch the process to find a new European Central Bank vice president, they won’t be flooded with nominations. So far, only Spain has said it will put forward a candidate to replace Portugal’s Vitor Constancio, whose term expires at the end of May, with Finance Minister Luis de Guindos the most likely nominee. The meeting …

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• 22 January

  National Bank of Kuwait Q4 profit rises 5.4 percent

  

  DUBAI / Reuters National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the Gulf Arab state’s largest commercial lender, reported a 5.4 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit, in line with analysts’ forecasts, according to Reuters calculations. The bank made a net profit of 80.0 million dinars ($266.3 million) in the three months to December 31, compared with 75.9 million dinars a year earlier, …

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• 22 January

  UK’s Prudential was mystery victim of HSBC’s front-running

  

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc and the US Justice Department, announcing last week that the bank would pay $100 million for front-running client currency orders, left one thing unstated — the name of a big client the bank’s traders defrauded. That unidentified victim was London-based insurer Prudential Plc, according to court records and testimony in a related case and a person …

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• 21 January

  Saudi: OPEC, allies will cooperate beyond 2018

  

  MUSCAT / Reuters Global oil producers are in agreement that they should continue cooperating on production after their deal on supply cuts expires at the end of this year, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid Al-Falih said on Sunday. It was the first time Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, had publicly stated OPEC and non-OPEC producers would keep cooperating …

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• 21 January

  Platinum is hedge fund darling

  

  Bloomberg After lagging behind other precious metals in 2017, platinum is finally outperforming, and hedge funds are taking notice. Money managers increased their bets on a rally for platinum, a commodity used in pollution-control devices for cars. Investors had been pessimistic on prices until the start of this year, but that sentiment changed as signs of synchronised global growth boosted …

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