February, 2019

• 27 February

  Powell: Fed is in no rush to make policy change decision

  

  Bloomberg Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said a healthy US economy has faced some “crosscurrents and conflicting signals” that officials in January decided warranted taking a patient approach to future interest-rate changes. With inflation pressures “muted,” the Federal Open Market Committee in its decision last month to keep interest rates unchanged “determined that the cumulative effects’’ of its actions and ...

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• 27 February

  Germany to extend Weidmann’s term as Bundesbank chief

  

  Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet agreed to extend Jens Weidmann’s term as head of the Bundesbank by another eight years from May as he waits to see if he is picked later this year for the top job at the European Central Bank. The decision, which needs formal approval from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, was taken at a meeting on ...

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• 27 February

  BOJ may resort to more QE if yen jumps: Ex-board member

  

  Bloomberg The Bank of Japan may resort to its least preferred tool to expand stimulus next time the yen jumps: more government bond purchases. That’s according to Takahide Kiuchi, a former BOJ policy board member who said the central bank’s favored option — deepening negative interest rates — would face opposition from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration because it would ...

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• 27 February

  Metro Bank shares hit record-low

  

  Bloomberg Metro Bank Plc, the lender founded by US entrepreneur Vernon Hill, plunged to a record low after it disclosed that British regulators are probing how it misclassified assets, an incident that prompted a share sale. Shares in Metro Bank tumbled as much as 20.8 percent to 1,030 pence, the lowest since the London-based lender first sold stock to the ...

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• 27 February

  Banco Santander does U-turn on scrip dividend

  

  Bloomberg Banco Santander SA may return to using a scrip dividend a year after saying it would reward shareholders entirely in cash, in a sign that it’s concerned about capital. Spain’s biggest bank said it would combine any such payout with share repurchases to avoid diluting the existing stock. The lender also decided to increase its medium-term dividend payout target ...

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• 27 February

  Pilot crunch puts Asia travel boom in trouble

  

  Bloomberg An unprecedented travel boom in Asia has spawned new budget carriers and millions of first-time fliers, but a shortage of pilots is threatening to choke that demand. Bamboo Airways Co. in Vietnam was the latest low-cost carrier to start services this year and more are expected to join the race. In Southeast Asia alone, low cost carriers have about ...

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• 27 February

  Costco emerges as consumer favourite while Amazon wanes

  

  Bloomberg Costco Wholesale Corp. may be a latecomer to e-commerce, but consumers love it even more than Amazon.com Inc., according to a customer satisfaction survey released. The warehouse shopping club scored 83 on the annual American Customer Satisfaction Index, edging out Amazon’s score of 82. Amazon had topped the category since 2010, but its score slipped four points compared with ...

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• 27 February

  Farfetch shares soar on pact with Harrods

  

  Bloomberg Farfetch Ltd. shares advanced for a third straight session and hit their highest levels of the year following an e-commerce pact with London-based luxury department store Harrods that may lead to more business from elite retailers. The stock gained as much as 9.4 percent and traded at its highest level since mid-December. Shares of the online retail apparel company ...

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• 27 February

  Air France-KLM plunges most since merger on surprise Dutch stake

  

  Bloomberg Air France-KLM Group fell the most ever after the Dutch government’s surprise decision to buy a stake in the airline raised concern that competing national interests will derail Chief Executive Officer Ben Smith’s efforts to streamline the carrier. The Netherlands purchased a 13 percent holding, a move aimed at gaining parity with influential shareholder France following a power clash ...

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• 26 February

  Adnoc inks three energy deals with Korean firms

  

  SEOUL / WAM During an official visit to the Republic of Korea by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has signed three framework agreements with Korean energy companies. The agreements will explore upstream exploration and production opportunities, ...

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