August, 2018

• 29 August

  Didi backlash sounds a warning

  

  Is China falling out of love with its unicorns? The country is home to four of the world’s 10 most valuable startups, according to CB Insights. Its companies raised about $31 billion from venture capital in the second quarter, beating the US for the first time, Goldman Sachs Group Inc estimates. But the biggest of all, Didi Chuxing, is facing ...

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• 29 August

  Fanuc’s busy robots are just taking a breather

  Investors are treating the Japanese industrial giant Fanuc Corp. like a manufacturer of largely redundant machinery. That only makes sense if you have doubts about Apple Inc. and Toyota Motor Corp. Fanuc’s stock is down almost 40 percent from its January peak. Much of the decline reflects investor doubts about the smartphone, as one of the Japanese company’s biggest divisions ...

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• 29 August

  Billionaire Drahi will soon have to swallow his pride

  Patrick Drahi probably didn’t have much choice. The billionaire founder and president of Altice Europe NV plans to sell a stake in the high-speed fiber networks of the company’s French carrier, SFR. It’s one way for the highly levered firm to secure the cash it needs to fund the next generation of networks — and probably the best way at ...

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• 29 August

  The dollar is losing its mojo at the wrong time

  

  What’s wrong with the dollar? Barely two weeks ago the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index reached its highest since June 2017. President Donald Trump tied the strength to confidence in the US, boasting in a tweet on August 16 that “money is pouring into our cherished DOLLAR like rarely before.” But since then the greenback dropped as much as 2.2 percent, ...

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• 29 August

  What is eating Chinese stock market? Everything

  

  As the American stock market stages its longest bull run in history, investors in China can only look on with envy. In preparation for a lengthy trade war with the US, Beijing has shifted back to a pro-growth stance. The People’s Bank of China revived a measure to support the weakening yuan, while the Ministry of Finance is ready to ...

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• 29 August

  Venture capital could use some geographic diversity

  

  The US high technology industry looks like it may be too concentrated. One sign of this is the lack of geographic diversity in the venture capital industry, which is highly concentrated in a few technology hubs, mostly on the coasts: In 2017, three metro areas — San Francisco, New York and San Jose, California — took about two-thirds of the ...

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• 29 August

  StanChart may face fresh line for ‘sanctions’ breach

  

  Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc has already paid a painful penalty for secretly moving billions of dollars through the US on behalf of Iranian clients, in violation of sanctions. But a sweeping investigation has found evidence suggesting that the bank’s Iranian business was more extensive than it admitted, according to five people familiar with the matter. Now US authorities are weighing ...

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• 29 August

  India asks central bank to identify lenders that can be merged

  

  Bloomberg India has asked its central bank to prepare a list of candidates for merger among 21 government-controlled lenders as it seeks to strengthen a banking system laden with bad debt, people familiar with the matter said. In a meeting this month, finance ministry officials also asked the Reserve Bank of India to suggest a time frame for the consolidation, ...

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• 29 August

  Westpac bank to raise mortgage rates

  

  Bloomberg Westpac Banking Corp. raised its key mortgage rate, the first of the nation’s biggest banks to decide passing on higher funding costs is worth the risk of further reputational damage. Its variable standard home-loan rate for owner occupiers will rise 14 basis points to 5.38 percent, the Sydney-based lender said in a statement. The move reflects “a sustained increase ...

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• 29 August

  Chinese biggest banks post earnings growth

  

  Bloomberg China’s biggest banks posted stable earnings growth in the second quarter, boosted by tighter liquidity even as the broader sector struggled with government policies. Profits at four of the five largest lenders rose at least 5 percent in the three months through June, as President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on riskier financiers pushed business to large state-connected banks. The results ...

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