January, 2018

• 2 January

  Return of volatility foreshadowed in economic data

  

  If financial market volatility was given up for dead in 2017, then get ready for a resurrection. To understand why, take a look at the incoming economic data. When the underlying dynamics of the economy change, the data tend to become more volatile before markets react. Economic volatility as expressed by the standard deviation of changes in the monthly data ...

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• 2 January

  Markets helped by what didn’t happen in 2017

  

  Many of the assessments of the 2017 financial markets understandably focused on the impressively favourable outcomes delivered by stocks and other risk assets. Yet it is also worth considering what didn’t happen — in particular, nine events, which, by not taking place, contributed to make the last 12 months exceptional for many investors, big and small. Superlatives have been and ...

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• 2 January

  New York Fed takes names in search for new president

  

  Bloomberg It may be the trickiest job to fill in central banking. And as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York search committee casts a wide net to find a replacement for its outgoing president, William Dudley, the wish list is getting long. Interviews with 10 members of the Fed’s advisory boards, which the committee is consulting, suggest they want ...

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• 2 January

  European bonds slip on first day of 2018 trading

  

  Bloomberg European bonds slipped on the first day of 2018 trading, led by longer-dated securities after European Central Bank policy maker Benoit Coeure said its current extension of stimulus may be the last. German 30-year bunds led the drop in the euro-area’s debt, followed by the Netherlands and France, while UK gilts also slid. Coeure said that given the region’s ...

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• 2 January

  Indonesia’s rupiah range shrinks to 20-year low

  

  Bloomberg While volatility in many financial markets has been rising over recent weeks, one notoriously unpredictable currency has been dead in the water. The trading range for Indonesia’s rupiah shrank to the least in two decades last year and volatility all but vanished as the central bank made maintaining the currency’s stability its chief mission. All this in a year ...

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• 2 January

  Former UBS trader says bank ‘mandated’ conduct that led to ban his from industry

  

  Bloomberg An ex-UBS Group AG trader banned from the finance industry over allegations that he manipulated Libor rates told a London court that his actions were “mandated” and “sanctioned” by the bank. Arif Hussein, a former head of UBS’s sterling rates desk, is challenging a decision by the Financial Conduct Authority to ban him at a London court hearing on ...

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• 2 January

  At a glance: What key Africa markets hold for investors in 2018

  

  Bloomberg For bond investors, Africa was a happy hunting ground last year. Its local-currency and dollar securities easily outperformed those of emerging markets overall as investors piled into a continent offering high yields and starting to recover from the commodity bust of three years ago. But risks abound, among them policy tightening in advanced economies, local and global politics, weakening ...

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• 2 January

  JetBlue sings the delay blues, heading for worst since 2007

  

  Bloomberg JetBlue Airways Corp. has little to show for its efforts to improve on-time performance. In the year gone by, through October, the airline’s on-time arrival rate of 70 percent trails the industry average of 79 percent, according to the US Transportation Department. That puts the carrier on track for its worst showing since 2007. Flight delays threaten two of ...

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• 2 January

  EasyJet to carry 90mn travellers in 2018: CEO

  

  Bloomberg EasyJet Plc Chief Executive Officer Johan Lundgren laid out plans to serve 13 percent more passengers, widen links with other airlines and help pioneer testing of a hybrid-power plane in his first year of leading the discount carrier. Lundgren, who succeeded Carolyn McCall as CEO on December 1, 2017, said EasyJet will carry about 90 million travellers in 2018, ...

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• 2 January

  Steinhoff gains as it plans to restate earlier results

  Bloomberg Shares of Steinhoff International Holdings NV rose after the South African retail giant said it will restate financial results going back as far as 2015 amid a probe into accounting irregularities. The stock jumped 27 percent to 5.90 rand by 9:56 am in Johannesburg, the most on an intraday basis since December 12, 2017. Shares in Steinhoff, whose retail ...

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