February, 2019

• 26 February

  Brexit: Energy traders brace for chaos

  

  Bloomberg The possibility of Britain exiting the European Union without a deal is coming into sharper focus for power, natural gas and carbon allowance traders as futures for next month start to expire. A no-deal Brexit could rattle traders because of the complicated links that hold the EU energy market together. For example, natural gas produced in Norway can be ...

  Read More »
• 26 February

  Shale backlash hits China after quake in key drilling area

  Bloomberg The backlash against shale drilling in earthquake-prone regions — a thorn in the side of US energy companies for the past decade — reached China this week after a series of temblors killed two people and reduced homes to rubble. China’s biggest oil and gas producer halted drilling in an area of the country’s shale hub after three quakes ...

  Read More »
• 26 February

  Global stocks slide as trade optimism wanes; pound up

  

  Bloomberg Global stocks dropped on Tuesday as the rush of optimism over US-China trade talks from earlier in the week faded. The pound rallied as UK Prime Minister Theresa May promised a vote to delay Brexit if her proposed deal fails. S&P 500 Index futures slid and European stocks edged lower after US President Donald Trump raised the possibility of ...

  Read More »
• 26 February

  Stocks, rupee pare declines as investors weigh impact of attacks

  

  Bloomberg Indian stocks and the rupee bounced off the day’s lows as investors assessed the impact of the rising tensions between India and Pakistan against the backdrop of falling oil prices and buoyant emerging markets. The S&P BSE Sensex tumbled as much as 1.4 percent and the rupee lost 0.5 percent in reaction to an air strike on a terrorist ...

  Read More »
• 26 February

  Investors flee shadow banks in India after shock of defaults

  

  Bloomberg As key engines of loan growth in the world’s fastest-expanding major economy, they once were investor favourites. But now traders won’t go near India’s shadow banks. About $22 billion has evaporated from a group of almost two dozen non-bank financial companies (NBFC) since August 31, before confidence was rocked. And investors aren’t rushing to get back in, according to ...

  Read More »
• 26 February

  India misses out on investment boom

  

  Bloomberg Unlike Southeast Asia, India isn’t seeing any investment gains as global trade tensions disrupt supply chains. Foreign direct investment in the third-largest Asian economy fell 7 percent in the nine months to December, signaling slowing investment before upcoming elections. FDI inflows into India during the period was $33.5 billion, lower than the $35.9 billion in the year-ago period. The ...

  Read More »
• 26 February

  Hong Kong’s budget surplus shrinks

  

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan will have a much smaller pile of cash to distribute than last year when he presents the annual budget on Wednesday, and a longer list of problems to address. The economy has slowed as the trading hub found itself wedged between the US-China standoff and the property market has come off its record ...

  Read More »
• 26 February

  Indonesia plans for fishing grounds in South China Sea

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia plans to develop lucrative fishing grounds in the South China Sea as part of efforts to assert its sovereign authority over waters in which it has clashed with China. The Natuna Islands on the edge of the South China Sea, rich in gas and fish stocks, would be developed into a fishing hub, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime ...

  Read More »
• 26 February

  Samsung, Huawei double down on Apple’s high-price strategy

  

  Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co. and Huawei Technologies Co. watched as Apple Inc. first priced a mass market smartphone at more than $1,000 — and now have upped the ante with new models at almost double that cost. Apple kicked off the trend in 2017 with the iPhone X. Its latest premium iPhones, the XS and XS Max, cost as much ...

  Read More »
• 26 February

  GE’s $21.4bn bio-pharma sale lifts new CEO’s revamp

  

  Bloomberg When Larry Culp took command of flailing General Electric Co. late last year, his mandate was simple: be more aggressive. Fewer than five months later, investors are applauding. The shares soared as Culp took his boldest step yet to rescue the troubled behemoth, agreeing to sell GE’s bio-pharmaceutical business to his former employer, Danaher Corp, for $21.4 billion. Culp ...

  Read More »