January, 2019

• 13 January

  Markets signal US more likely hurtling towards recession

  

  Bloomberg Many financial markets are already signalling that the US is more likely than not hurtling towards recession. But will they prove prescient or overly fretful? The prospect of a widespread yield inversion in the Treasury market, which has preceded US downturns for more than half a century, has generated the most alarm and is edging even closer to fruition. ...

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• 13 January

  Tech stocks witness solid gains in 2019

  

  Bloomberg Technology stocks have seen solid gains since tumbling to a 15-month low late last month, but investors aren’t convinced that that low represents a bottom for the sector, which has been volatile amid questions over growth and valuation. The S&P 500 information technology index is up 10 percent since the close of trading on December 24, when it ended ...

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• 13 January

  Saudi Aramco could sell $10bn bond to acquire stake in Sabic

  

  Bloomberg Saudi Aramco could tap the bond market for about $10 billion to help fund the acquisition of petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp, according to the country’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih. The kingdom will decide in the “next few weeks” about the size of the proposed bond, though the offering would not be “huge,” Al-Falih told reporters in Abu ...

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• 13 January

  Russia eyes island storage for Arctic gas

  

  Bloomberg Russia’s Novatek PJSC is looking at storing liquefied natural gas produced in the Arctic on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu so it can better meet spot demand from China and cut shipping costs. Saibu Gas Co, which last month signed a preliminary deal to allow Russia’s biggest LNG producer to use its storage facilities, said it may build two ...

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• 13 January

  Chevron touts shale as electric cars dim big oil’s future

  

  Bloomberg Chevron Corp will spend about half its capital budget on projects that yield quick returns over the next three years, underscoring the importance of shale as it prepares for growing uncertainty in how the world consumes energy. The US oil giant will spend about $9 billion to $10 billion a year on “short-cycle investments” through 2022, primarily focussed on ...

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• 13 January

  Alberta keeps oil cuts at January levels

  

  Bloomberg Alberta’s government maintained its mandated oil curtailment in February at the same level as January even as Canadian heavy oil prices surged. The province’s oil producers collectively must cut February output by 325,000 barrels a day, according to an email from Mike McKinnon, an energy ministry spokesman. The baseline for the cuts is the highest single month of production ...

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• 13 January

  Pressure mounts on Huawei after spying arrest

  

  Bloomberg As Poland added to the global scrutiny of Huawei Technologies Co with the arrest of a company employee and a local former security agent, the country’s authorities also exposed the division in Europe over policy towards the Chinese technology giant. Huawei is facing increasing pressure across the European Union amid growing concerns that Beijing could use the company’s equipment ...

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• 13 January

  Alibaba-backed AI firm mulls $1bn IPO

  

  Bloomberg Megvii, the owner of facial recognition developer Face++, is considering an initial public offering in Hong Kong that could net as much as $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Megvii is weighing an IPO to raise between $500 million and $1 billion with Hong Kong as a destination, the people said, requesting not to be named because ...

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• 13 January

  Indonesia plans new investment tools for its ‘amnesty funds’

  

  Bloomberg Indonesian authorities are working to develop new investment instruments with “good” returns in a bid to retain onshore more than $10 billion that was repatriated under a tax amnesty program three years ago, with officials acting before a lock-in period on the funds expires later this year. Bank Indonesia, the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Services Authority are ...

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• 13 January

  Singapore kickstarts zero-waste plan

  Bloomberg Singapore is making a clarion call to citizens and businesses to reduce domestic and industrial waste towards zero as the country’s recycling rate has stalled and its sole landfill may run out of space by 2035. The government will publish a master plan in the second half, with grants to support projects, Masagos Zulkifli, minister for environment and water ...

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