August, 2019

• 18 August

  HK official warns of ‘economic typhoon’

  Bloomberg Protest-battered Hong Kong should also brace itself for an “economic typhoon” caused by the US-China trade war and recent political unrest in the city, Financial Secretary Paul Chan wrote in a blog post on Sunday. The warning from the city’s top budget official came after Hong Kong slashed its 2019 growth forecast to as little as zero, down from ...

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• 18 August

  Bank Indonesia keeps rupiah bears at bay as EM risks rise

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s rupiah has braved headwinds both at home and abroad to escape largely unscathed in the recent emerging-market (EM) sell-off, and the nation’s central bank is largely to thank for that. Bank Indonesia’s repeated interventions to maintain currency stability have helped soothe investor nerves, with the rupiah’s 0.8% loss this quarter making for the second-best performance among Asian EM ...

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• 18 August

  KCB group first half profit surges to 5%

  

  Bloomberg KCB Group Ltd. first-half profit jumped 5% as the East African nation’s largest lender earned more interest income from investing in government securities and providing business loans. Net income in the six months through June was 12.7 billion shilling ($123 million), Chief Finance Officer Lawrence Kimathi told investors. That matched estimates by African Alliance Securities Kenya. Net interest income ...

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• 18 August

  JPMorgan picks tariff stocks, trims S&P’s 2020 estimate

  

  Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. has cut its 2020 earnings estimates for US stocks based on the projected impact of incoming tariffs and pinpointed companies that could be particularly affected by the levies. “Tariffs remain the largest source of risk for equities,” strategists led by Dubravko Lakos-Bujas wrote in a note. The bank is reducing its 2020 earnings estimate for ...

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• 18 August

  Deutsche Bank chairman is searching for successor

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG Supervisory Board Chairman Paul Achleitner is searching for his successor after overseeing a tumultuous period marked by multiple restructurings, top management changes and a slumping share price. The search is partly in response to shareholder criticism about succession planning, though Achleitner intends to complete his term expiring in 2022, people with knowledge of the matter said, ...

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• 18 August

  Another bank turns gloomy on ‘trade war’

  Bloomberg Berenberg, Germany’s oldest bank, has given up hope that US-China trade tensions will subside any time soon — with severe consequences for export-reliant nations. Economists slashed their 2020 growth forecasts for countries including Japan, Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. They expect the euro area will expand by just 0.9%, down from 1.4% predicted only a few months ...

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• 18 August

  Banks worried over S Africa’s new credit ammendment bill

  

  Bloomberg South African banks are concerned that some of their customers will get away with not having to repay their debt. President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the National Credit Amendment Bill into law, setting the groundwork for over-indebted consumers to have payments suspended, in part or full, for as many as 24 months, or even scrapped if their financial situation has ...

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• 18 August

  BofA says, municipal-bond yields won’t turn negative

  Bloomberg Bank of America Corp., (BofA) the biggest underwriter of state and local government debt, isn’t worried that municipal-bond yields will turn negative, even if they do in other parts of the US fixed-income markets. Bond yields have been plunging fast, making it seem possible that American investors could actually wind up paying governments to lend them money — as ...

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• 18 August

  Macy’s stock falls on outlook, department store chain fears

  

  Bloomberg Macy’s Inc plunged after a worse-than-expected second quarter underscored investor fears that the teetering department-store industry is slated for more pain ahead. The retailer, the first of its peers to report earnings, slashed its profit outlook for the year — and it warned that the cut doesn’t even take into account the next round of Chinese tariffs, some of ...

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• 18 August

  US backs F-16 sale to Taiwan, drawing warning from China

  

  Bloomberg The Trump administration has informally told Congress that it supports a potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, drawing a preemptive warning from China at a critical moment in trade talks with the US. The State Department has informally told key House and Senate committees that it supports the $8 billion sale of 66 F-16s, according to two ...

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