March, 2019

• 12 March

  US tech stocks lead rebound as Boeing tumbles anew

  

  Bloomberg The rally in US technology stocks continued, with Apple and Visa leading the pack as investors grew confident the Federal Reserve won’t rush to raise rates. Boeing and Brexit otherwise dominated headlines, as the planemaker’s woes deepened and the pound fell before a key vote. The Nasdaq 100 took its two-day advance towards 3 percent after wobbling earlier in ...

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• 12 March

  Sensex rises again as elections indicate Modi regaining power

  

  Bloomberg India’s benchmark equity index extended gains with the highest close in more than five months after two opinion polls showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling coalition would be close to getting the seats needed to form a government, when election results are announced in May. The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 1.3 percent to 37,535.66 at the 3:30 p.m. close ...

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• 12 March

  Fossil fuels hit as Norway set to cut oil stocks

  

  Bloomberg The decision of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund to reduce holdings in oil stocks wasn’t as far-reaching as the industry feared, but dealt a symbolic blow to fossil fuels that will reverberate for energy companies and their investors. While the divestment by Norway’s $1 trillion fund doesn’t include Big Oil, instead rooting out $7.5 billion of companies that ...

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• 12 March

  Canada makes a dent in US oil reliance

  

  Bloomberg Canada’s oil producers made a small dent in their near-total dependence on the US market after a surge of shipments flowed to China and the UK last year. The holder of the world’s third-largest crude reserves sent 3.43 million barrels a day, or 96.4 percent of its oil exports, to its southern neighbour, the smallest percentage in data stretching ...

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• 12 March

  China to defuse its $4.5trn local hidden debt bomb

  

  Bloomberg China’s multi-year campaign to contain financial risk is re-focusing on the so-called “hidden debt” owed by local governments, as officials seek to reduce repayment pressures amid falling tax revenues. Provinces and cities from Jiangsu in the east to Qinghai in the west are looking for means to pay-off or restructure their implicit borrowings, a term which includes off-book funding ...

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• 12 March

  Hong Kong property prices bouncing back

  

  Bloomberg Hong Kong property prices are bouncing back. Henderson Land Development Co. raised the average price for a new batch of apartments at The Vantage in Kowloon by about 10 percent, a price list shows. The move is well-founded — demand is rising with developers selling more units in the first 11 days of this month than all of February, ...

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• 12 March

  Japan’s manufacturers say business conditions worst

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s biggest manufacturers say current business conditions are at the worst in nearly three years, the latest indication the nation’s export-dependent economy is taking a battering in the current quarter. The Finance Ministry’s quarterly business survey, released on Tuesday, showed a reading of minus 7.3 for conditions among Japan’s largest manufacturers, the worst result since the second quarter of ...

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• 12 March

  Toyota rockets past Musk to put a lunar vehicle on moon

  

  Bloomberg Toyota Motor Corp. is scoping out a new frontier: lunar rovers. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is teaming up with the country’s largest carmaker to build a six-wheeled self-driving transporter that can carry two humans for a distance of 10,000 kilometers. They’re aiming to land a vehicle on the moon in 2029. The announcement comes less than a week ...

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• 12 March

  Chinese money to revive Thai baht at ringgit’s expense

  

  Bloomberg A tide of money from China is likely to lift the Thai baht back up after it went from first to one of the worst among Asia’s currencies. While the baht dropped last month versus the ringgit by the most in almost two years, flows from China are likely to favour Thailand in the coming months. Bangkok is looking ...

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• 12 March

  Singapore water debacle risks 90% losses for investors

  

  Bloomberg The catastrophic slump of Singapore’s much-vaunted water and power company, Hyflux Ltd., has stunned 34,000 retail investors who were lured by the promise of a 6 percent annual return forever from a company that seemed to have a gold seal of government approval. At the heart of the debacle is Tuaspring, a desalination and power plant that cost S$1.1 ...

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