May, 2016

• 18 May

  Chile central bank keeps key rate at 3.5 per cent as inflation slows

  

    Bloomberg Chile’s central bank kept borrowing costs unchanged for the fifth consecutive month as inflation slowed toward the target range, while maintaining its tightening bias. Policy makers, led by central bank President Rodrigo Vergara, left the key rate at 3.5 percent on Tuesday, as forecast by all 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The pause in rates comes after two ...

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• 18 May

  Venezuela offers discounted oil in battle for US refineries

  

    Bloomberg Venezuela is offering oil at the biggest discounts in seven years as the third-largest supplier to U.S. refineries fights to defend its market share from Canadian and Middle Eastern grades. The basket of Venezuelan oil is now more than $12 a barrel cheaper than the benchmark West Texas Intermediate and has averaged a discount of $8.44 this year. ...

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• 18 May

  Europe and investment banking are a bad match

  

    Deutsche Bank is undercapitalized and may be facing “insurmountable headwinds,” James Chappell, an analyst with the private bank Berenberg, wrote in a recent note. He’s not just down on Europe’s biggest investment bank, which he thinks should trade at 9 euros ($10.2) per share rather than the current 14.7 euros — he’s irritated with the entire sector, which is ...

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• 18 May

  The growing fatigue at the heart of Europe

    John Micklethwait Over the past few days the Brexit referendum has taken a nasty turn, with Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London and a prominent “leaver,” comparing the European Union to Adolf Hitler and complaining about Germany’s growing power in the EU. He should visit Berlin, which I did last week. Far from wanting to rule Europe, Germany’s ...

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• 18 May

  Xi Jinping tech speech signals tougher times for foreign firms

    When Chinese president and Communist Party chief Xi Jinping gave a speech on cybersecurity and information technology last month, international media noted that even as Xi called for greater tolerance of online criticism, censors were restricting Chinese internet users from posting negative comments about his remarks. However, foreign reporters overlooked other important points in the April 19 speech, including ...

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• 18 May

  Dollar rises with US stocks little changed before Fed minutes

  

    BLOOMBERG Financial markets reawakened to the risk of the Federal Reserve expediting interest-rate increases, buoying the dollar while crimping emerging markets and commodities. U.S. stocks were little changed after slumping on Tuesday. The dollar climbed to a seven-week high and Treasuries fell, pushing two-year yields to highest since April, before Wednesday’s release of minutes from the Federal Open Market ...

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• 18 May

  Commodity that no one knows about but everybody wants to buy

  

    Bloomberg The world’s mines and steel plants got so devalued during the commodity slump that some were just given away by owners struggling to cut losses or debt. But there’s at least one metal that’s been attracting a lot of attention. Niobium — named for a Greek goddess who became a symbol of the tragic mourning mother — is ...

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• 18 May

  Foreign money lifts Egypt; Gulf bourses lose steam

    DUBAI / Reuters Foreign funds boosted the Egyptian stock market for a second straight day on Wednesday, exchange data showed, while Gulf bourses lost steam as investors took profits. Cairo’s main index added 1.2 percent following its 1.9 percent jump on Tuesday, taking the bourse’s gains for 2016 to 9.0 percent. Global Telecom Holding, a stock preferred by international ...

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• 18 May

  Suisse targets rich Thais to reach goal

  

    Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG is targeting Thai millionaires as part of the firm’s goal to bolster the new money it attracts from wealthy clients in the Asia-Pacific region. The Swiss bank is adding a client-relationship team of six in Bangkok, a total expected to increase to 12 by the end of the year, said Francesco de Ferrari, Credit ...

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• 18 May

  Flattest yields since 2007 misprice Fed, says Goldman Sach’s Hatzius

  

    Bloomberg Jan Hatzius, the chief economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., warned bond investors aren’t prepared for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. Fed Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart and his San Francisco counterpart John Williams both said that at least two rate increases may be warranted this year as the economy picks up. Their comments echo ...

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