August, 2017

• 14 August

  Saudi’s Jabal Omar to raise 4bn riyals via sukuk

  

  DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s Jabal Omar Development Co, one of the largest listed property developers in the country, plans to raise 4 billion riyals ($1.1 billion) with local currency sukuk issues, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. The company, which has taken out bank loans over the past few years to back its flagship development in Mecca, ...

  Read More »
• 14 August

  China refinery runs at a 10-month low

  

  BEIJING / Reuters Chinese oil refineries operated in July at their lowest daily rates since September 2016, official data showed on Monday, to ease brimming inventories as state-owned oil giants faced off independents in a retail petrol price war. China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, processed 45.5 million tonnes of crude in July, or 10.71 million barrels per day (bpd), ...

  Read More »
• 14 August

  Britain’s natural gas plants get a boost from e-cars

  

  Bloomberg Britain’s goodbye to fossil-fuel cars by 2040 could boost the need for dirtier natural gas-powered stations. The government’s goal to replace gasoline and diesel cars with those powered by electricity could see the construction of so-called open-cycle gas stations, said Carsten Poppinga, senior vice president of trading and origination at Statkraft AS, the Norwegian utility that operates hydro power ...

  Read More »
• 14 August

  Japan beats G-7 peers as domestic demand fuels GDP

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s second-quarter gross domestic product data put the nation in an unexpected spot: at the top of the growth table among Group of Seven advanced economies. The strongest domestic demand in years helped drive Japanese GDP to a sixth consecutive quarter of expansion, elevating hopes for a sustainable recovery in an economy that’s been better known in recent years ...

  Read More »
• 14 August

  Alibaba, Tencent to deliver on ‘bets’

  

  Bloomberg Alibaba and Tencent can count themselves among the world’s costliest technology companies after a stellar run. To justify those lofty valuations, China’s two largest corporations have to deliver on some of the riskiest bets they’ve placed in years. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which created China’s largest online bazaar but has scant brick-and-mortar experience, spent $8 billion investing in a ...

  Read More »
• 14 August

  Toshiba chip sale talks stalls on payment timing

  

  Bloomberg Toshiba Corp.’s talks to sell its chips business to a consortium led by Bain Capital hit an impasse over the timing of payments for the business and governance issues, according to people familiar with the matter, casting doubt on the company’s ability to complete a deal quickly. The Bain group wants to make cash payments after Toshiba resolves a ...

  Read More »
• 14 August

  China home sales grow at slowest pace in two years

  Bloomberg China’s home sales grew last month at the slowest pace in more than two years amid regulators’ moves to rein in soaring prices. The value of new homes sold rose 4.3 percent to 779 billion yuan ($117 billion) in July from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data released Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics. ...

  Read More »
• 14 August

  US general reassures Seoul on ‘North tensions’

  

  Bloomberg The US’s top general reassured South Korea that President Donald Trump is prioritizing a diplomatic solution to tensions with North Korea, echoing comments from administration officials who sought to tamp down fears of imminent nuclear war. General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, reaffirmed the US commitment to protect South Korea after a meeting with ...

  Read More »
• 14 August

  Militant attack on Burkina Faso restaurant kills 18

  

  Bloomberg Gunmen killed 18 people in an attack on a restaurant in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, the second assault in the city center in less than two years that comes amid a surge of militant violence in West Africa. Two militants were shot by security forces before the attack ended by 5 a.m. on Monday, according to a government statement. ...

  Read More »
• 14 August

  ‘Kosovo partition may solve historic dispute’

  Bloomberg Serbia should end its claim to all of Kosovo and seek to regain control of the northern part of the breakaway province where Serbs are in the majority, Deputy Premier Ivica Dacic said in an opinion piece published by Vecernje Novosti on Monday. In his second such appeal in two weeks and echoing calls for a compromise by President ...

  Read More »