February, 2019

• 6 February

  Russia worried Maduro’s grip may slip in Venezuela

  

  Bloomberg After pledging full support for the embattled regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Russia is starting to show signs of doubt about his ability to survive an opposition challenge. While Moscow hasn’t given up its public backing of Maduro, it increasingly recognizes that the disastrous state of Venezuela’s economy is inexorably draining what remains of his public support, said ...

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• 6 February

  Zimbabwe president invites rivals for talks

  

  Bloomberg Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa invited opposition leaders for talks after a violent crackdown on anti-government protests over an economic crisis. The meeting was expected to take place on Wednesday at State House in the capital, Harare, Madock Chivasa, a spokesman for the opposition National Constitutional Assembly, said by phone. Political leaders who contested last year’s presidential elections can bring ...

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• 6 February

  Salvini’s rival seems poised to help him avoid a trial

  Bloomberg Matteo Salvini is in hot water, and his coalition ally and sometime-rival may be about to let him off the hook. The Five Star Movement, which governs Italy in a contentious coalition along with Salvini’s League party, is preparing to bow to pressure from the anti-immigration deputy premier and block a legal case sparked by his refusal to let ...

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• 6 February

  Oil supermajors’ torrent of cash woos investors

  

  Bloomberg The world’s biggest oil companies are pumping out cash like crude’s at $100 a barrel again, and investors love it. Exxon Mobil Corp, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp and BP Plc smashed analysts’ earnings estimates for the fourth quarter, giving investors assurance that their dividends and buybacks are secure even with oil trading near $60. Those companies together ...

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• 6 February

  Pinduoduo plans to raise $1 billion in Alibaba challenge

  

  Bloomberg China’s upstart e-commerce company Pinduoduo Inc. (PDD) and its shareholders filed to sell more than 50 million shares in a secondary offering that could raise about $1.5 billion after the company’s public debut last year. The Shanghai-based company plans to sell 37 million American depository shares, while investors market 14.8 million, according to a securities filing. Its shares closed ...

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• 6 February

  Indonesia’s economic growth beats forecasts to reach 5.18%

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s economy grew faster than economists expected last quarter, showing resilience in the face of a series of interest-rate hikes and weaker global demand. Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 5.18 percent in the fourth quarter from a year ago, compared with the 5.1 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. That took expansion for the whole year ...

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• 6 February

  China back buying more US soy

  

  Bloomberg China’s back buying more US soybeans just days after the last round of purchases by the world’s top importer. State-run buyer Cofco Corp. bought almost 1 million metric tons of the oilseed, while Sinograin purchased more than a million tons, the two companies said in separate statements. That follows an announcement that they had purchased 2 million tons from ...

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• 6 February

  SoftBank unveils $5.5 billion stock buyback plan with IPO proceeds

  

  Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp. is buying back as much as 600 billion yen ($5.5 billion) of stock, as founder Masayoshi Son steps up efforts to close the disparity between what he thinks the company is worth versus its market value. Proceeds from the 2.4 trillion yen initial public offering (IPO) of its telecommunications business in December will be used to ...

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• 6 February

  Bangkok runs out of air purifiers as toxic smog envelops Thailand

  

  Bloomberg Every time Bangkok fruit seller Veerachai Roopsuwanakul tries to buy an air purifier, he gets the same response: “Out of stock.” “We never imagined the air could get so bad,” said Veerachai, who now wears a face mask to filter out dust. “We can’t find a purifier in shops or online.” The Thai capital is grappling with a second ...

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• 6 February

  Draft Green New Deal calls for jobs, omits fossil fuel ban

  

  Bloomberg Guaranteed jobs, health care, and housing are in a draft of the Green New Deal environmental package set to be unveiled by Democrats this week, but the proposal doesn’t explicitly include the ban on fossil fuels called for by some supporters. Instead, the draft of the much anticipated resolution being crafted by Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York representative, ...

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