November, 2018

• 17 November

  Google plans high-flying balloons to provide internet in Africa

  

  Bloomberg Bringing fast, widespread internet to rural Africa has proven vexing for companies that have tried—and largely failed—with strategies ranging from drones to satellites. Now, a sister company of Google says it has the answer: balloons. Loon, spun out of the search giant’s X innovation lab in July, is teaming up with Telkom Kenya Ltd. to build a network of ...

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• 17 November

  Powell: Solid economy faces headwinds as Fed mulls rates

  

  Bloomberg Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the US economy is strong but could face headwinds next year as policy makers weigh how far and fast to raise interest rates. “We have to be thinking about how much further to raise rates, and the pace at which we will raise rates,” Powell said during a question and answers session in ...

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• 17 November

  Chinese top bank fails to sell dollar bonds to US buyers

  

  Bloomberg China’s biggest lender pulled an offering of dollar bonds in the US market, adding to concern that American investor demand for Chinese offerings is dwindling amid the trade war. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Ltd had been marketing three-year and five-year floating-rate notes through its New York branch, then decided not to proceed with pricing, according to people ...

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• 17 November

  Warren Buffett ramps up bets on banks

  

  Bloomberg Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc is betting big on banks. The billionaire’s company piled more than $13 billion into those stocks in the quarter, making Berkshire a major shareholder in four of the five largest US banks, according to a regulatory filing. Berkshire disclosed a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co and increased bets on Bank of America ...

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• 17 November

  Risky debt could magnify downturn: RBA’s Debelle

  

  Bloomberg Australia’s central bank No. 2 official Guy Debelle says risky borrowing is more likely to be an accelerator to an economic downturn rather than its source, in an address discussing the impact of lending curbs. “If a negative shock were to hit the Australian economy, particularly one that caused a sizeable rise in unemployment, then the risk on the ...

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• 17 November

  Indonesian central bank surprises with 6th rate hike this year

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank unexpectedly raised its benchmark interest rate for a sixth time this year to help rein in a widening trade deficit and bolster the currency. The seven-day reverse repurchase rate was raised by 25 basis points to 6 percent, surprising most economists who had predicted no change. That takes the cumulative rate hikes since May to 175 ...

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• 17 November

  Modi enlists Tata for India’s Jet Air rescue

  

  Bloomberg The interests of India’s government and the nation’s biggest conglomerate are converging over a teetering airline. Narendra Modi’s administration has approached Tata Group’s salt-to-software empire to help rescue Jet Airways India Ltd., people familiar with the matter said. To aid the process, the government is talking to Tata about a potential haircut to state-run banks on Jet’s loans and ...

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• 17 November

  China Southern to exit SkyTeam alliance, target new partners

  

  Bloomberg Asia’s biggest carrier is abandoning the SkyTeam airline alliance. China Southern Airlines Co. will exit the partnership in 2019, nearly two years after selling a minority stake to American Airlines Inc., which is a member of the rival Oneworld group. The Guangzhou-based carrier, the continent’s largest as measured by passengers carried, said in a statement that it will seek ...

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• 17 November

  Tencent-backed startup Mogu reduces US IPO valuation goal

  

  Bloomberg Mogu Inc., a Chinese startup selling fashion and cosmetics online, is targeting a reduced valuation of $2 billion in its US initial public offering amid a market rout that has hit demand for tech stocks, people familiar with the matter said. More volatility could hit its ability to achieve the goal and Mogu is evaluating conditions, the people said, ...

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• 17 November

  UK retail sales unexpectedly fall

  Bloomberg UK retailers made a faltering start to the fourth quarter as sales unexpectedly fell for a second month in October. The volume of goods sold in stores and online declined 0.5 percent from September, the Office for National Statistics said. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey was for a 0.2 percent gain. Decline was largest in seven months ...

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