July, 2017

• 10 July

  Britain isn’t Greece, Prime Minister

  

  Britain’s government isn’t due to announce a new budget until the autumn, but debate is already raging over public-sector pay. With Brexit bearing down, the embattled prime minister, Theresa May, will have to choose between making another embarrassing U-turn and defending a policy that is both unpopular and unnecessary. Sadly for May, the U-turn makes better sense. For years it ...

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• 10 July

  Italy’s migrant crisis is Europe’s problem

  Summer makes it easier for migrants to cross the Mediterranean, so Italy is struggling to cope with another influx of refugees. And like before, its European partners are doing too little to help. The Italian government is asking for a new approach, and it’s right: The EU should see this as a pan-European issue, requiring a pan-European response. More than ...

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• 10 July

  India can tout a big reform, but not yet reformers

  

  Checking out of a hotel in Kerala this week took so long that I almost missed my flight. It wasn’t the hotel staff’s fault; their work, temporarily, had been doubled. As a polite note in my room reminded me when I checked in, they would have to present two invoices to me when I left—one for the days prior to ...

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• 10 July

  Asian stocks can skip this ‘taper tantrum’

  

  The global bond and stock selloff has revived unhappy memories of the 2013 taper tantrum, when the Federal Reserve’s rumblings about removing stimulus shaved 17 percent off the value of emerging market stocks in less than two months. For the current difficulties you can partly blame risk-parity funds, which buy benchmark government bonds to hedge against stock portfolios. When bond ...

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• 10 July

  The world is about to change even faster

  

  We sometimes take for granted that which is right before our collective noses. Creative destruction caused by technology is so rampant that it is practically a cliche. It is easy to ignore not only the speed at which disruption caused by technology is affecting society, but the acceleration in the pace of change. This acceleration and its effect on markets, ...

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• 10 July

  US stocks rise on tech bounce

  

  Bloomberg Technology shares drove gains in US equities, while natural gas and crude lifted commodities. The dollar strengthened with Treasuries as investors prepare to parse second-quarter earnings for more evidence global economic growth is back on track. The S&P 500 Index rose for a second day as tech shares rebounded from last week’s selloff. Trading was light, with the volume ...

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• 10 July

  Middle East follows global shares up, strong Q2 boosts Saudi

  

  DUBAI / Reuters Middle East markets followed global shares higher on Monday and Saudi Arabia’s stock index was bolstered by strong quarterly reports and dividend announcements. For now, unease about an end to the era of ultra-cheap money has given way to optimism about global growth, with Friday’s stronger-than-expected US non-farm payrolls report bolstering risk appetite. Data on Monday showed ...

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• 10 July

  Vietnam’s rate cut may spur growth amid credit worries

  

  Bloomberg Vietnam’s surprise lowering of interest rates for the first time in three years may help to support economic growth, but raises credit risks in a nation still grappling with a hangover of bad debt. The central bank reduced the refinance rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent and also lowered the discount rate to 4.25 percent from 4.5 ...

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• 10 July

  Saudi Arabia to issue domestic sukuk soon

  

  Dubai / Reuters Saudi Arabia will issue a local currency sukuk, or Islamic bond, this month, Saudi finance minister Mohammed Al Jadaan told Al Arabiya News on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg. The government is expected to tap both the local and international bond markets this year, depending on the level of demand and the pricing it ...

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• 10 July

  Morgan Stanley gets new CEO for Saudi office

  RIYADH / Reuters Morgan Stanley named a new chief executive of its office in Saudi Arabia on Monday, as the firm carries out work on high-profile deals like the initial public offering of state oil giant Aramco. Abdulaziz Alajaji was previously head of corporate banking at JPMorgan & Chase Co in the kingdom. Rival JPMorgan enjoys a strong position in ...

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