April, 2019

• 1 April

  China announces tariff concessions ahead of trade talks

  

  Bloomberg The Chinese government said it will extend a suspension of retaliatory tariffs on US autos and include the opioid fentanyl in a list of controlled substances, two steps that could generate a positive atmosphere for trade negotiations due to resume this week. Beijing temporarily scrapped the 25 percent tariff imposed on vehicles as a tit-for-tat measure on January 1, ...

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• 1 April

  India’s first REIT rises on trading debut

  

  Bloomberg India’s first real estate investment trust, the Blackstone Group LP-backed Embassy Office Parks, rose on its trading debut, in a vote of confidence for a potential new funding avenue for the nation’s cash-strapped developers. The REIT units climbed as much as 8.3 percent before closing 4.7 percent higher at 314.10 rupees in Mumbai. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex Index ...

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• 1 April

  Singapore luxury home prices drop

  Bloomberg Singapore home prices fell for a second straight quarter, with values of luxury dwellings falling the most in almost a decade as property curbs imposed mid-last year took some heat out of the market. Private residential prices declined 0.6 percent in the three months ended on March 31 from the previous quarter, when they fell 0.1 percent, the Urban ...

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• 1 April

  DSV plans to acquire Panalpina in $4.6bn Europe logistics deal

  

  Bloomberg DSV A/S agreed to acquire Swiss rival Panalpina Welttransport Holding AG in a deal worth $4.6 billion that will create one of the world’s largest companies in logistics and freight forwarding. The board of directors of Panalpina recommended shareholders accept the mostly stock offer worth 196 Swiss francs a share, the companies said in a statement on Monday, confirming ...

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• 1 April

  Sweden says trade row, Brexit may limit scope for spending

  

  Bloomberg Sweden’s government said risks stemming from the UK’s efforts to leave the European Union and global trade tensions are clouding its economic outlook, as it lowered growth and surplus forecasts for the years ahead. The center-left coalition ruling Scandinavia’s biggest economy said economic indicators show that growth will slow during 2019, making it more difficult to set ambitious budget ...

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• 1 April

  Facebook’s top lobbyist Clegg calls for ‘good regulation’ of global web

  

  Bloomberg Facebook Inc made a very public bid over the weekend to shape the global conversation about internet regulation, though so far some politicians remain skeptical of its efforts. The company’s top lobbyist urged regulators around the world to agree on standards governing online content — and to prevent a patchwork of different regulations that make it difficult for international ...

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• 1 April

  Euro-area inflation slows 1.4% in March

  Bloomberg Inflation in the euro area unexpectedly slowed in March and a core measure of prices fell to the lowest in almost a year, underscoring the case for more European Central Bank stimulus. The report, showing a headline rate of 1.4 percent and a gauge stripping out volatile components at 0.8 percent, puts the ECB further away from reaching its ...

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• 1 April

  Italy needs energy storage to deliver on pollution pledge

  

  Bloomberg Italy must more than double its capacity to store electricity if it wants to slash pollution from burning fossil fuels, the head of the nation’s power transmission network said. Terna SpA Chief Executive Officer Luigi Ferraris said Italy may need as many as 6 gigawatts of storage by 2030 to balance a boom in renewables. Storage is one of ...

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• 1 April

  Why Stephen Moore is less

  

  The real reason that Stephen Moore does not belong on the Federal Reserve Board is not that he is unqualified for the job, though he is. Nor is it that he has been a highly partisan and divisive figure for many years, though he has been. The real reason is that, if he’s confirmed by the Senate, Moore could become ...

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• 1 April

  China bad debt is a $300b value trap

  

  There’s plenty of bad debt to go around for investors in distressed assets in China. The question is how to extract value from them. For years, Chinese banks shoveled nonperforming loans to asset managers set up by the government, which sought to get back what they could while warehousing what was irrecoverable. Now, as commercial lenders try to shift record ...

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