February, 2017

• 20 February

  HSBC poised for more share buybacks after stock rallies

  

    Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc investors will be looking for indications that the bank will follow through on its plan to return more capital when it announces fourth-quarter results this week, after a $2.5 billion stock buyback and a slumping pound lifted shares in 2016. The stock has surged 56 percent since the Brexit vote on June 23, the most ...

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• 20 February

  IMF to help Somalia print first banknotes

    Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund is backing Somalia’s plans to replace tattered currency notes that were printed before the Horn of Africa nation plunged into civil war almost three decades ago. The new Somali shilling notes may come into circulation this year, alongside the US dollar that’s been the main means of payment, and will replace fake or old ...

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• 20 February

  RBI intervention makes companies blind to rupee risks

  

    Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) commitment to a stable rupee is having an unintended consequence: local companies are getting complacent about hedging their overseas borrowings. A gauge of expected rupee swings fell the most after Russia among 23 emerging markets over the last two years, thanks to the RBI’s regular interventions in currency markets and its success ...

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• 20 February

  Diversity in technology

  

    NEW YORK / AP The tech industry brought us self-driving cars, artificial intelligence and 3-D printers. But when it comes to racial and gender diversity, its leading companies are no trailblazers. Despite loudly touted efforts to hire more blacks, Latinos and women, especially in technical and leadership positions, diversity numbers at the largest tech companies are barely budging. In ...

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• 20 February

  Korbut — Who turned gymnastics on its head!

  

    SCOTTSDALE, Ariz / AP Olga Korbut walks around the man-made lake in anonymity, despite the bright red warmup jacket with “Olga” in sparkly letters on her left shoulder. Korbut likes it here, this little suburban slice of nature, a place where she can get her body moving, listen to the birds, stroll alongside the dog walkers. Korbut stops at ...

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• 20 February

  Investor optimism rises as OPEC delivers oil cuts

  

    Bloomberg OPEC has never taken supply cuts so seriously, and hedge funds are loving it. Investor optimism that West Texas Intermediate oil prices will rise reached an all-time high as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries delivered on pledges to reduce production. The International Energy Agency said the group has achieved a record 90 percent initial compliance with an ...

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• 20 February

  Debt pain of Indian energy giants eases as fuel reforms pay off

  Bloomberg Lower oil prices and the scrapping of fuel subsidies have allowed India’s biggest energy companies to slash borrowings to the lowest in at least eight years. Total debt at Indian Oil Corp., the nation’s largest refiner, stood at 419 billion rupees ($6.2 billion) at the end of September, down from 863 billion rupees in March 2014, according to the ...

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• 20 February

  India’s new auction lights way to green target

    Bloomberg Record low Indian solar tariffs tendered at a groundbreaking auction may catalyze green investments and help tip the balance of new power to renewables and away from fossil fuels. Solar power in India fell to a record 3.30 rupees (5 US cents) a kilowatt-hour on February 10 after a World Bank-backed auction helped the central Madhya Pradesh state ...

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• 20 February

  Oil supercharges Kazakhstan’s tenge

    Bloomberg Crude is greasing the wheels of one of the world’s best-performing exotic currencies. Kazakhstan’s tenge, which has racked up the biggest advance among its thinly-traded counterparts the past six months, is poised for more gains as demand increases following the rally in the price of oil, the former Soviet republic’s No. 1 export, according to BMI Research. Bank ...

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• 20 February

  Tanzania power issues cast shadow on $12bn debt plan

  

    Bloomberg For investors considering financing Tanzania’s proposed 27.6 trillion-shilling ($12.3 billion) borrowing program, the government’s handling of its power utility’s debt problems may give pause for thought. Last month, President John Magufuli fired the Tanzania Electric Supply Co.’s chief executive officer and vetoed its decision to raise electricity prices, ignoring International Monetary Fund advice that higher tariffs may help ...

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