July, 2019

• 8 July

  China car sales rise for first time in a year

  

  Bloomberg China’s passenger-car sales showed signs of recovery from a historic rut as dealers offered discounts to clear inventory before new emissions rules kicked in. Retail sales of sedans, sport utility vehicles, minivans and multipurpose vehicles rose 4.9 percent to 1.8 million units in June from a year earlier, according to preliminary numbers from the China Passenger Car Association (CAAM). ...

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• 8 July

  Libra faces skeptical government in India

  

  Bloomberg The latest skepticism to Facebook Inc’s plans for its new cryptocurrency called Libra comes from India as Asia’s third-largest economy is not keen on allowing the digital currency in the country. “Design of the Facebook currency has not been fully explained,” Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg said in an interview in New Delhi. “But whatever it is, it would ...

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• 8 July

  Japan-Korea spat threatens to upend global tech chain

  

  Bloomberg Resurgent tensions between Japan and South Korea threaten to wallop chipmakers from Samsung Electronics Co to SK Hynix Inc, upsetting a carefully choreographed global supply chain by smothering the production of memory chips and other components vital to widely used devices. As the world fixates on Donald Trump’s campaign to contain Huawei Technologies Co and China’s ambitions, a concurrent ...

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• 8 July

  Tata settles $7.3bn of dues to complete sale of mobile unit

  

  Bloomberg India’s Tata Group paid lenders and the government about $7.3 billion to help complete the sale of its mobile-phone services business to Bharti Airtel Ltd, a deal that was announced almost two years ago. Tata Sons Pvt, the group holding company, paid the Department of Telecommunications 100 billion rupees late last month, days after settling all pending loans worth ...

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• 8 July

  Facing economic crisis, Irish business stands firm on Brexit

  

  Bloomberg A no-deal Brexit would be an economic catastrophe for Ireland that would crush exporters, business leaders say. Yet they remain prepared to jump off the cliff with Prime Minister Leo Varadkar if he asks them. Brexit supporters in the UK have long argued that economic self-interest will eventually force Varadkar to blink on the issue that’s holding up Brexit ...

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• 8 July

  US East Coast crude refining margins get boost, double

  

  Bloomberg US East Coast refining margins have more than doubled in the past month, helped by weakening physical crude markets and a fire that crippled the biggest facility in the region. Philadelphia Energy Solutions announced it plans to close after a fire in late June, it’s second that month, destroyed most of an alkylation unit, which makes high-octane gasoline. The ...

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• 8 July

  ‘German recession seems to be inevitable’

  Bloomberg Investors consider an economic recession in Germany inevitable, according to Sentix. An index measuring current conditions and expectations for Europe’s largest economy fell to its lowest level in almost a decade, according to a survey. A similar gauge for the euro area dropped to lowest since 2014. The data suggest that de-escalating tensions between the US and China at ...

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• 8 July

  US, Europe getting more anxious about batteries shortages for EV

  

  Bloomberg Automakers to trading houses from North America to Europe are becoming more concerned about future supply shortages of key materials needed for electric vehicle batteries as spending on new production soars, according to the developer of a $1.5 billion project in Australia. More than a dozen parties have now expressed interest in taking up as much as a 50 ...

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• 8 July

  Milan’s real estate prices surge as billionaires buy in

  

  Bloomberg Real estate investors from Azerbaijan’s sovereign wealth fund to Blackstone Group Inc and UBS Group AG are cashing in on a surge in demand for prime Milan offices that’s pushing prices to new highs. A lack of development in Italy’s financial capital is driving up rents just as a scarcity of prime real estate in some western European cities ...

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• 8 July

  Hong Kong police arrest five as new protest march turns tense

  

  Bloomberg Hong Kong police arrested five people while dispersing a protest in one of the financial hub’s busiest tourist districts, the latest demonstration triggered by a proposed law that would allow extraditions of criminals to mainland China for the first time. Thousands of marchers walked through the pedestrian-heavy Tsim Sha Tsui area towards the city’s new high-speed rail station to ...

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