February, 2020

• 3 February

  This $1.6 trillion fund says short selling is wrong

  

  Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) been a trailblazer in promoting the need to incorporate environmental, social and governance issues into the day-to-day job of portfolio construction. With $1.6 trillion under management, it has a lot of firepower in the investing world. So its recent stand against short selling, judging the practice to be incompatible with its role as the ...

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• 3 February

  Stocks in China slide; US equity futures advance

  

  Bloomberg US equity futures rose and European stocks fluctuated following steep losses at the end of last week and as investors digested the latest developments in the coronavirus outbreak. Shares plunged in China as markets there reopened after a long holiday. Contracts on the three main American equity indexes all advanced in the wake of previous declines. Gains in technology ...

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• 3 February

  India’s tax rates cloud prospects of insurers

  

  Bloomberg India’s steps in the budget to end some exemptions given for tax planning and the removal of a dividend-distribution tax for companies will weigh on the earnings prospects of insurers. The lower tax rates under the alternative tax slabs will only apply to those forgoing exemptions, which include investments in certain insurance products. Insurers will be taxed on dividend ...

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• 3 February

  Bitcoin spikes to October highs as China stocks dip

  Bloomberg Cryptocurrencies briefly jumped amid chaotic trading in Asia after China’s stock markets reopened to steep losses following an extended holiday shutdown. Bitcoin surged to $9,608, the highest since October, shortly after markets opened at 9:30 am in Hong Kong, before giving back most of those gains less than half an hour later. The wider Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index tracking ...

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• 3 February

  China cuts rates, adds $21.4b in liquidity as markets sink

  

  Bloomberg China’s central bank took its first concrete steps to cushion the economy and plunging markets from the blow of a spreading new virus, providing short-term funding to banks and cutting the interest rate it charges for the money. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) added a net 150 billion yuan ($21.4 billion) of funds on Monday using 7-day and ...

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• 3 February

  Indonesia takes ‘bold’ steps to shield rupiah from virus shock

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank is taking “bold” steps to guard the nation’s currency and bonds as mounting concerns about the economic impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic trigger a selloff by foreign investors. Bank Indonesia is intervening in the bond, currency and non-deliverable forwards markets to protect the rupiah, Nanang Hendarsah, the central bank’s executive director for monetary management, said ...

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• 3 February

  Greenpeace ‘targeted’ by Credit Suisse for protest

  

  Bloomberg Credit Suisse targeted Greenpeace after the environmental group staged a dramatic protest at one of the bank’s events, according to newspaper Sonntagszeitung. After the group’s activists abseiled from the ceiling and unfurled a banner over the podium at the annual shareholder meeting in 2017, Credit Suisse got on Greenpeace’s e-mail distribution list of upcoming protests. The bank then set ...

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• 3 February

  Pound slumps before tough Brexit trading negotiations

  

  Bloomberg The pound is back in the doldrums after reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will effectively threaten to walk away from negotiations with the European Union without a formal trade deal. Sterling fell more than 1% to lead losses among Group-of-10 currencies, wiping out last week’s advance. The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier is also setting out his planned ...

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• 3 February

  Citi doesn’t see oil revival from virus until fourth quarter

  

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc slashed its price forecasts for commodities from oil to copper and iron ore as it said the impact of the coronavirus looks much worse than it initially thought. Oil came in for the most severe downgrades, with the bank cutting estimates for the first three quarters. Citi also reduced its first-quarter copper projection by almost a fifth, ...

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• 3 February

  Hedge funds Cerberus, SSG compete over India’s Altico

  Bloomberg Competition for ownership of Indian shadow bank Altico Capital India Ltd has revived with the re-entry of Cerberus Capital Management LP into the race. New York-based hedge fund Cerberus submitted a bid for ailing Altico last week, after getting an extension from an initial deadline in the previous week, said people familiar with the matter. The creditor-run debt restructuring ...

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