March, 2020

• 10 March

  Europe stocks bounce after worst rout since ‘08 on stimulus bets

  

  Bloomberg European stocks rebounded on Tuesday from their biggest selloff since 2008 on optimism about stimulus measures to counter the impact of the coronavirus. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose as much as 3.5%, tracking gains in US futures, after President Donald Trump said he will seek a payroll tax cut and “very substantial relief” for industries hit by the ...

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• 10 March

  Australian stocks gain most since Nov 2016

  Bloomberg The S&P/ASX 200 index erased an early loss and surged out of bear market territory amid hopes for government measures that will offset the economic impact of the spreading coronavirus. Australia’s benchmark index rose 3.1% to close at 5,939.6, its largest gain since November 2016, after having earlier declined as much as 3.9%. The market flirted with a bear ...

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• 10 March

  Virus seen adding $100bn to Asian bank credit costs

  

  Bloomberg The coronavirus outbreak will add $100 billion in credit losses to banks in the Asia-Pacific region this year with Chinese lenders bearing the brunt of the damage, according to S&P Global Inc. “Some activity will be lost forever,” Shaun Roache, S&P’s Asia-Pacific chief economist, wrote in a note on Tuesday. “We estimate an income loss of about $211 billion, ...

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• 10 March

  Bank of East Asia considers $1 billion insurance asset sale

  

  Bloomberg Bank of East Asia Ltd., (BEA) the Hong Kong lender that has been besieged by activist investor Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp., is considering options including a sale of insurance assets as part of its strategic review, according to people familiar with the matter. BEA could seek more than $1 billion from a sale of assets including its life ...

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• 10 March

  BMO, CIBC join firms in moving traders amid outbreak of virus

  

  Bloomberg Bank of Montreal (BMO) is splitting up its trading operations in Canada, the US, Asia and London, following other firms including Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in taking measures to ensure business continues amid the coronavirus outbreak. “We are separating some of our critical trading staff to our business continuity plan sites in some locations as part of our ...

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• 10 March

  JPMorgan to cut 140 jobs in Switzerland

  

  Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to eliminate as many as 140 positions at its private bank in Switzerland as it moves teams to cheaper locations to cut costs, according to a person familiar with the matter. The bank notified employees that it will be moving jobs in operations, technology and other support functions to locations including Scotland, the Philippines ...

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• 10 March

  Riksbank touts liquidity aid, not rate cuts, to fight virus

  

  Bloomberg Sweden’s Riksbank signalled it is preparing liquidity measures to protect the largest Nordic economy from the fallout of the coronavirus, but said interest-rate cuts aren’t likely to play a role in any emergency package. “Our assessment right now is that maintaining the supply of liquidity is the most important thing,” Governor Stefan Ingves said in a statement on Tuesday. ...

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• 10 March

  S Africa’s rand plunges by 8% against dollar

  

  Bloomberg South Africa’s rand plunged by almost 8% against the dollar, touching its weakest level on a closing basis since January 1980, as investors fled riskier assets, with tumbling oil prices adding to nervousness spurred by the spreading coronavirus. The currency soon pared losses as investor panic eased to trade 1.9% weaker at 15.9726 per dollar in Johannesburg. It briefly ...

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• 10 March

  Qantas, Air France cut flights as coronavirus impedes travel

  

  Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd and Air France-KLM became the latest airlines to announce massive cuts in flights as the coronavirus impedes travel. Qantas cut almost a quarter of its international flights for six months, grounded most of its giant A380 jets and slashed management pay as the outbreak hammers demand for travel. Air France said it plans to cancel 3,600 ...

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• 10 March

  Boeing hit with $19.7m fine for 737 lapses

  

  Bloomberg Federal regulators hit Boeing Co with proposed fines totalling $19.7 million for allegedly installing unapproved cockpit equipment in hundreds of 737 Max and Next-Generation aircraft. The company put the devices into a total of 791 planes even though the aircraft weren’t certified for the devices, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a press release. The fine would be ...

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