December, 2019

• 14 December

  Modi risks losing focus on India’s ailing economy as protests build

  

  Bloomberg A new law on Indian citizenship is threatening to pull Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus away from a flagging economy as protests and criticism builds against the divisive plan. The government was forced to call in the army to quell protests in some parts of the country after the parliament passed legislation that will prevent undocumented Muslim migrants from ...

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• 14 December

  Oil climbs to level last seen after Saudi attacks in Sept

  

  Bloomberg Oil settled above $60 a barrel for the first time since missile strikes on Saudi Arabia sparked a record price surge three months ago. Futures closed 1.5% higher in New York, buoyed by a partial truce in the US-China trade war that has imperiled demand all year. “The market has just priced in this outcome to a certain extent ...

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• 14 December

  Pakistan’s biggest LNG terminal plans to start next year as demand surges

  

  Bloomberg Pakistan’s Energas plans to start the nation’s largest liquefied natural gas import terminal in 2021 to help meet soaring demand once it gets the green light to build the project. Energas, a consortium of large domestic users, aims to begin construction of the $140 million to $160 million facility next year, Chief Executive Officer Anser Ahmed Khan said in ...

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• 14 December

  WPX in talks to buy Felix assets for $2.5b

  

  Bloomberg WPX Energy Inc is in talks to buy the oil and gas exploration assets of closely held Felix Energy for about $2.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. WPX Energy could announce a deal with Denver-based Felix Energy later this month, said one of the people. No final decision has been made and talks could fall through, ...

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• 14 December

  World is stuck with dollar as the reserve currency

  

  The US dollar’s position as the world’s reserve currency might be weakening. In the last few years, the fraction of global reserves denominated in dollars has been inching down: This follows a longer-term slide; at the turn of the century more than 70% of reserves were in dollars. Meanwhile, central banks are buying more gold, which could signal a lack ...

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• 14 December

  Lagarde’s ECB debut tests her mettle

  

  Christine Lagarde is famous for her lively and engaging speaking style. But when she holds her first press conference as president of the European Central Bank, she would be wise to play it safe. It takes time to build a reputation as a central banker who can speak clearly and then deliver on her promises. A wrong foot could make ...

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• 14 December

  Chevron ushers in oil’s era of the sober-major

  Along with never invading Russia or getting into a Twitter argument, we can add another golden rule — this one specifically for US oil majors: Never buy a shale-gas business. Chevron Corp.’s $10-11 billion impairment relates mostly to the Appalachian gas assets it picked up in 2011’s $4.9 billion acquisition of Atlas Energy Inc. Back then, the Permian basin was ...

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• 14 December

  Fed is sick of being held hostage by trade wars

  Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues sent a message with their final interest-rate decision of 2019: Don’t expect us to be subject to the whims of America’s ever-shifting trade policy in the year ahead. The Federal Open Market Committee, in its first unanimous decision since May, kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged in a range of 1.5% to ...

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• 14 December

  India’s Yes Bank needs RBI to find a better rescue partner

  

  Yes Bank Ltd.’s latest $2 billion rescue plan was perfect except for one minor detail: Most suitors for the beleaguered Indian lender aren’t the kind the board can really take to meet the regulator for tea. Yet in a five-hour meeting, the directors decided to do exactly that. Jane Austen would have been proud of their desperation to marry off ...

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• 14 December

  Amazon’s Deliveroo takeout leaves an unpleasant taste

  

  It’s the worst nightmare of supermarkets and food delivery firms alike: Amazon.com Inc. turbocharging its grocery business with a network of couriers who can have grub on your doorstep within an hour. So you can see why Britain’s competition regulator decided to challenge the e-commerce giant’s planned investment in Deliveroo, the UK rival to UberEats. The Competition and Markets Authority ...

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