November, 2018

• 4 November

  No evidence to back Kavanaugh allegations, says Senate panel

  Bloomberg The Senate Judiciary Committee found “no credible evidence” to support allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh that were presented during his confirmation process. “This was a serious and thorough investigation that left no stone unturned in our pursuit of the facts,” said Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the committee, in a statement about the report on the ...

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• 4 November

  Bolsonaro taps astronaut, car wash judge for Brazil cabinet

  

  Bloomberg When Donald Trump called to congratulate Brazil’s president-elect on Sunday, neither spoke the other’s language. Luckily, among Jair Bolsonaro’s well-wishers in the room, was a 24-year-old YouTube personality who was ready to offer his English skills to bridge the translation gap. That was just the start of a week marked by off-protocol improvisation. The former Army captain was elected ...

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• 4 November

  Shell steps up buybacks as cash flow increases with crude price

  

  Bloomberg Royal Dutch Shell Plc stepped up its share buyback program as cash flow surged on higher crude prices, even as profit fell slightly short of expectations. Cash flow from operations including working capital movements was $12.09 billion in the third quarter, the highest since 2014. The company said it will repurchase $2.5 billion of shares up to January 28, ...

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• 4 November

  Encana arouses investor ire with US expansion

  Bloomberg Encana Corp. agreed to buy US shale producer Newfield Exploration Co. in its largest-ever acquisition, inflaming investors’ ire by reversing course on a strategy of slimming down its oil and gas portfolio. The $5.5 billion purchase will give Encana positions in the Stack and Scoop shale fields in Oklahoma, the Bakken region of North Dakota and the Uinta play ...

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• 4 November

  Russian oil output nears all-time high

  Bloomberg Russian oil production moved closer to an all-time high before the nation meets with OPEC partners to discuss future supply. The country’s crude and condensate output averaged 11.412 million barrels a day last month, according to data from the Energy Ministry’s CDU-TEK unit released. Th-at’s about 160,000 barrels a day more than two years ago, before Russia agreed to ...

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• 4 November

  S Korea must find fix to WWII labour case, says Japan’s Kono

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s top diplomat says it is up to South Korea to resolve forced labour claims looming over dozens of Japanese companies that are threatening to upend ties between the two neighbours. Foreign Minister Taro Kono said in an interview that the South Korean Supreme Court’s decision ordering a Japanese company to pay compensation to people forced into its service ...

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• 4 November

  Indian tycoon Birla’s Hindalco posts profit amid cost pressures

  

  Bloomberg Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla’s Hindalco Industries Ltd. reported a jump in quarterly profit driven by higher revenue at its aluminum operations even as it flagged risks from higher raw-material costs and rising imports. Net income, including that of its Utkal Alumina unit, rose to 7.3 billion rupees ($100 million) in the three months through September from 4.7 billion ...

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• 4 November

  Gupta-linked firm JIC to be liquidated over debt

  Bloomberg A South African mining contractor owned by the Gupta family has been put into liquidation, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Westdawn Investments, which does business as JIC Mining Services (Pty) Ltd., has debt of almost 60 million rand ($4.2 million), said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The company ...

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• 4 November

  DLF: India’s credit market turmoil to help home sales

  Bloomberg The turmoil in India’s credit markets, brought on by defaults at a major infrastructure financier, will benefit the nation’s largest developer, allowing it to sell homes while peers struggle to get money to finish their projects. Gurugram-based DLF has adequate liquidity and access to capital to meet all of its obligations on time. It believes that it is well ...

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• 4 November

  China critic’s Hong Kong art show cancelled after threat

  

  Bloomberg A Hong Kong exhibition featuring an artist critical of China — as well as the band Pussy Riot and former protest leader Joshua Wong — has been cancelled because of “threats” by the Chinese authorities, the organier said. “The decision follows threats made by the Chinese authorities relating to the artist,” the organiser, Hong Kong Free Press, said in ...

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