February, 2019

• 4 February

  Merkel, Abe seek to avoid no-deal Brexit chaos

  

  Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said they want to head off a no-deal Brexit that could rattle their economies, as both braced against the UK’s increasingly chaotic course towards an exit from the EU. Abe and Merkel, both 64, are two of the most outspoken defenders of the international order being shaken by Brexit ...

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• 4 February

  Belgium to take in Ivory Coast ex-president

  Bloomberg Belgium has agreed to receive former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo after his conditional release by the International Criminal Court, pending an appeal of his acquittal on charges of crimes against humanity, the Belga news agency reported. The Brussels government decided to host Gbagbo following a request by the ICC, which cleared him of the charges, foreign ministry spokesman ...

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• 4 February

  Tech leads US stocks higher

  

  Bloomberg US stocks rose for a fourth day, with technology shares leading the advance as investors awaited fresh catalysts after digesting solid American economic data and inconclusive trade talks in Washington. The S&P 500 overcame morning weakness to push higher, while Nvidia, Adobe, Microsoft and Apple led the Nasdaq indexes to solid advances. Alphabet reports earnings after the closing bell. ...

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• 4 February

  India’s sensex climbs to four-month high

  

  Bloomberg India’s benchmark equity index rose to its highest level since September in a late surge helped by gains in a handful of large-cap stocks, as investors digested the the government’s last federal budget before the national ballot. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.3 percent to 36,582.74 in Mumbai after falling as much as 0.7 percent in early trade. The ...

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• 4 February

  $364 billion of Australian shares just got a bump

  Bloomberg Australian investors just got the final piece of a 13-month inquiry into rampant misconduct at nation’s biggest banks and financial firms that could set the tone for country’s stocks this week. The report on financial companies was released after the stock market closed on Monday and recommended against a structural separation. The S&P/ASX 200 Finance Index, whose companies account ...

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• 4 February

  Warmer shift in Europe brings mixes for gas, power traders

  

  Bloomberg For the thousands of energy traders, utility executives and analysts descending on Essen and the E-world fair in Germany this week the impact of a relatively mild winter on the power and gas markets will be a main topic of conversation. The warmer-than-usual temperatures for most of the heating season so far, along with concern about climate change, is ...

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• 4 February

  Pemex bonds sink as Fitch puts it near junk

  

  Bloomberg Petroleos Mexicanos bonds cratered after Fitch Ratings downgraded the state-owned company to just a notch above junk, spurring a slide in sovereign debt and the peso. The yield on Pemex bonds due in 2027 rose 28 basis points to 7.251 percent at 1:02 pm in New York, after jumping as much as 40 basis points earlier in the day. ...

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• 4 February

  Morocco to start capping fuel prices by mid-March

  Bloomberg Morocco will start intervening to limit fuel prices from March as the margins of fuel distributors such as Vivo Energy and Total Maroc come under scrutiny following nationwide protests last year. “The capping mechanism is coming,” General Affairs and Public Governance Minister Lahcen Daoudi said in a video published on his party’s website, indicating it would be put in ...

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• 4 February

  US refiners cut off from Venezuelan crude after sanctions

  

  Bloomberg US oil refiners won’t be allowed to complete shipments of Venezuelan crude they booked before the Trump administration slapped new sanctions on the Latin American nation. US Treasury Department officials have informed some companies that previously contracted cargoes won’t be exempt from a new rule blocking payments to Venezuela’s PDVSA, according to two people familiar with the matter. The ...

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• 4 February

  New Fortress Energy falls in trading debut

  Bloomberg New Fortress Energy LLC fell 6.6 percent in its trading debut, as the markets gave a cold shoulder to the first operating company to go public after the US government reopened. The energy infrastructure company raised $280 million on Wednesday, selling 20 million shares for $14 each — below the $15 price it had set for them. The shares ...

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