January, 2020

• 25 January

  China orders travel agencies to cancel tours amid virus threat

  

  Bloomberg China has ordered all travel agencies to suspend sales of domestic and international tours as part of an effort to contain the spread of a novel coronavirus that has killed 25 and sickened hundreds. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism ordered travel agencies and tourism companies to stop selling tour packages beginning from January 24, according to a document ...

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• 25 January

  Shetty family’s fortune tumbles $1.5b post Muddy Waters attack

  

  Bloomberg The year is starting off much like the last one ended for the Shetty family. The billionaire clan behind financial services firm Finablr Plc and hospital operator NMC Health Plc has seen its fortune drop more than $1.5 billion since it came under fire in December from short seller Carson Block. The latest blow came after a filing revealed ...

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• 25 January

  Huawei gets reprieve as Trump aides fail to agree on restrictions

  

  Bloomberg A US proposal to further restrict sales to China-based Huawei Technologies Co has encountered objections within the Trump administration and is being held up as officials debate whether the step could harm exporters, a person familiar with the process said. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said new rules coming soon will put more limits on technology sales to Huawei, which ...

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• 25 January

  Singapore’s home prices up 0.5% in Q4

  Bloomberg Singapore private home prices rose just 0.5% in the final quarter of 2019, with the slowdown reflecting the lingering impact of government curbs more than a year after they were imposed. The rise was slightly higher than the preliminary estimate of a 0.3% gain, data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority show-ed, and compared with a 1.3% expansion in the ...

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• 25 January

  In HK, choosing restaurants is a political act

  

  Bloomberg In deciding where to dine out in Hong Kong these days, many local residents are turning to a Yelp-like mobile app: Not for reviews of food or service, but to separate “yellow” from “blue” eateries. After more than seven months of unrest, even choosing a restaurant has become political in Hong Kong. Of 3,000 eateries listed on the app, ...

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• 25 January

  Can Wall Street save us from climate change?

  

  Climate change has come to Wall Street in the guise of Larry Fink. For those who don’t know, Fink runs BlackRock, a $7 trillion collection of investment funds consisting of stocks, bonds and other securities. Fink is a global opinion-maker, and he believes that worldwide climate change is driving “a fundamental reshaping of finance.” This is, or could be, a ...

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• 25 January

  The iron ore party draws to a close

  

  Iron ore had a carousing 2019 — for all the wrong reasons. A fatal dam collapse in Brazil, followed by a tropical cyclone in Australia, battered production and sent prices to their highest level in five years. Early figures from BHP Group and Rio Tinto Group show just how much benefit both have reaped. With supply coming back, Chinese mills ...

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• 25 January

  HK risks squandering its Alibaba dividend

  Hong Kong is missing an opportunity to displace the US as an offshore listing venue for Chinese companies by keeping trading fees too high. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s $11 billion offering in November showed the potential for the city’s stock exchange to attract US-listed mainland enterprises amid an unsettled trade relationship between the two largest economies. Relatively expensive costs threaten ...

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• 25 January

  Trump’s French trade truce puts off the battle

  Who said Davos doesn’t make a difference? As world leaders, business executives and cheerleaders for the planet descended on the Swiss resort for the annual World Economic Forum, one diplomatic victory was being chalked up on the sidelines: A presidential truce between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron over France’s plan to tax tech companies, which the US says discriminates against ...

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• 25 January

  ‘No-deal’ Brexit is finally back as a real possibility

  

  The UK-European Union trade talks haven’t started officially, but both sides are testing out negotiating lines. Britain is already colouring some of them red, setting up a fight later this year that will encompass the three Fs: fish, financial services and the freedom to diverge from EU rules. To use another f-word, all three issues are fraught. But it’s the ...

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