December, 2018

• 23 December

  S Korea’s won not stopping bond bulls

  

  Bloomberg Foreign investors piling into South Korean bonds have made them the second-best performers in emerging Asia in the past six months. The coming week may give them more reason to keep buying. Seen as a haven from this year’s sell-off in emerging-market assets, the nation’s debt has drawn $45.6 billion from global funds this year. A weakening won — ...

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• 23 December

  Quantitative tightening is rattling markets

  

  Bloomberg When it comes to reversing their crisis-era bond buying, central bankers are focussed on the destination. Traders in risk assets care more about what could be a painful journey. The contrasting views upset markets this week. Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the notion that the Federal Reserve would remain on auto pilot when trimming its $4 trill- ion portfolio, and ...

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• 23 December

  US loan fund sees record outflows

  

  Bloomberg Investors pulled money out of US loan funds at a record pace, withdrawing $3.3 billion in the week ended December 19, as they grew increasingly spooked by market turmoil. It was the fifth straight week of outflows of more than $1 billion, an exodus that’s driven prices to the lowest since September 2016, according to the S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan ...

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• 23 December

  Morgan Stanley plans to boost bonus pool

  

  Bloomberg Morgan Stanley is planning to increase bonuses for dealmakers and traders, businesses that are on pace for a bigger revenue jump than at the firm’s rivals, according to a person familiar with the matter. Percentage increases for Morgan Stanley’s institutional-securities group will be in the low-to-mid single digits, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing pay ...

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• 23 December

  Inflation overshoot fades over Fed hike

  

  Bloomberg The Federal Reserve spent early 2018 assuring investors it wouldn’t fret if inflation climbed above its 2 percent target. That possibility now looks increasingly distant. Oil prices have slumped, weighing on expectations. Housing, a big inflation contributor throughout this cycle, is cooling. And while the core version of the Fed’s preferred price index touched 2 percent this year, Fed ...

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• 23 December

  UniCredit to sell $1.1bn of German realty assets

  Bloomberg UniCredit SpA is seeking to sell as much as 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) of German real-estate assets as part of a plan to boost capital, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Italian bank is working with real estate company Cushman & Wakefield on the sale of office buildings and bank branches belonging to its HypoVereinsbank unit, ...

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• 23 December

  Nike soars on earnings beat as Kaepernick campaign pays off

  

  Bloomberg Nike Inc. surged the most since June after its second-quarter results soared past projections, particularly in its two most important regions: North America and Greater China. Domestically, the world’s largest sportswear company posted its third-straight quarter of growth. That sustained momentum is a critical benchmark for investors. Nike was previously in a yearlong slump at home, letting rival Adidas ...

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• 23 December

  Indian PM to pump $330mn in Air India

  

  Bloomberg The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought Parliament’s approval for an equity infusion of 23 billion rupees ($330 million) in Air India, effectively ruling out an immediate revival of its plan to sell the ailing carrier. Modi’s bid to turn the airline profitable under his watch comes after the government failed to find any takers for its ambitious ...

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• 23 December

  Airbus tumbles on US’ bribery probe report

  

  Bloomberg Airbus SE shares tumbled following a report that the US Department of Justice has officially started an investigation into the European planemaker in parallel with British and French bribery probes. The stock fell 4.4 percent, the biggest drop in 2 1/2 years. Le Monde reported that Airbus was informed at the end of the summer about the move by ...

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• 23 December

  US spends $126bn online this holiday

  Bloomberg When it comes to online orders this Christmas, US consumers are spending more than ever before. Shoppers shelled out a record $110.6 billion online between November 1 and December 19, about $17 billion more than in the same period last year, data from Adobe Analytics show. Half of website traffic this year came from shoppers on the go using ...

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