March, 2017

• 20 March

  Turkey at crossroads as referendum looms

    Turkey’s referendum on expanding the president’s power is facing resistance both from inside and outside the country. The country is deeply divided over the constitutional changes proposed by President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan. It would bring an executive presidential system, merging the powers of the prime minister and the president. Erdogan argues that a strong presidency will make Turkey better ...

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• 20 March

  China’s trading partners urge to scale back food import controls

  

    BEIJING/ AP China’s trading partners are bringing the top UN food standards official to Beijing in a last-ditch attempt to persuade regulators to scale back plans to require intensive inspections of food imports — including such low-risk items as wine and chocolate — that Washington and Europe say could disrupt billions of dollars in commerce. The rule could inflame ...

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• 20 March

  Singapore’s looming debt wall fuels concern as Ezra stumbles

  

    Bloomberg Default fears are resurfacing in Singapore ahead of a wall of maturing corporate debt, as a US bankruptcy filing by a firm from the city flags lingering pain despite economic recovery. Pressure to pay down obligations has been unrelenting. Companies excluding banks must repay S$38 billion ($27 billion) of local bonds over the next four years. The maturities ...

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• 20 March

  Australia housing market may face more lending restrictions

  

    Bloomberg Australia is facing a period of “heightened risk” in the housing market, the nation’s top banking regulator said, amid rising speculation further lending curbs may be imposed to cool runaway housing prices. Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Chairman Wayne Byres said that while he refused to ever use the “B-word” — referring to a bubble — “if everyone isn’t ...

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• 20 March

  India woos PE investors to meet $11bn asset sale target

    Bloomberg India is asking private equity funds to invest in profit making state-controlled companies as Asia’s third biggest economy seeks to meet its asset sale target of 725 billion rupees ($11 billion) for next financial year. The government is inviting buyout firms to “look into the opportunity of picking up strategic stakes in state assets, whether as a technology ...

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• 20 March

  Rupee jump may push India Central Bank to use rare cash tool

  

    Bloomberg The rupee’s surge and a banking system awash with funds will shift focus to a little-used tool in the Indian central bank’s arsenal before next month’s policy review. The Reserve Bank of India may consider raising the cash reserve ratio for the first time since 2010 if deposits accumulated due to November’s cash ban don’t flee over the ...

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• 20 March

  Insurance, petchems dampen Saudi, Qatar rises

  

    Reuters Stock markets in the Middle East were mixed on Monday with petrochemicals and the insurance sector weighing on Saudi Arabia while Qatar rose as it completed its upgrade by index compiler FTSE Russell to secondary emerging market status. The Saudi index fell 0.5 percent with the main drag coming from the petrochemical sector as Brent oil futures fell ...

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• 20 March

  Modi magic seen lasting in Indian stocks amid foreign flows

  

    Bloomberg Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election-win magic looks to be casting a spell on the Indian stock market. The S&P BSE Sensex index will climb to 32,000 by the end of December, up more than 8 percent from its close of 29,518.74 on Monday, according to a median estimate of eight traders and investors surveyed by Bloomberg News on ...

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• 20 March

  Global stocks weighed down by G20 statement

    LONDON / AP Global stock markets were trading lower on Monday after finance ministers from the world’s major economies dropped a pledge to oppose trade protectionism from a weekend statement due to resistance by the Trump administration. In Europe, France’s CAC-40 fell 0.3 percent to 5,015 while Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.1 percent to 7,417. Germany’s DAX declined 0.3 ...

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• 20 March

  Tesla’s fundraising is just an appetizer

  

    Tesla Inc. clearly understands the best appetizers leave you hungry for more. After months of playing coy about whether or not it would raise more money, Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle-cum-renewable-energy company announced it was seeking up to $1.15 billion in new money, three quarters of it from a convertible bond and the rest from selling new stock. Bit of a ...

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