December, 2016

• 29 December

  Shale drillers promise no 2017 binges as oil hangover eases

  

    Bloomberg Shale oil companies are ready to play chicken with supply and demand again. Roiled by a year that began with crude at a 12-year low and ended with a surprise OPEC agreement boosting prices, U.S. producers including Continental Resources Inc. and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. are promising not to overreact — or overspend. The temptation will be strong: ...

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• 29 December

  Oil IPOs seen ready to bloom across US

  

    Bloomberg It may be time for a baby boom in U.S. oil. Rising crude prices and a deregulatory push in Washington may spur as many as 40 companies to hold initial public offerings over the next two years, potentially tripling 2016’s activity, according to Maynard Holt, chief executive officer at Houston-based investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. After ...

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• 29 December

  China turns to $503bn rail expansion to boost growth

  

    Bloomberg China plans to spend 3.5 trillion yuan ($503 billion) to expand its railway system by 2020 as it turns to investments in infrastructure to bolster growth and improve connectivity across the country. The high-speed rail network will span more than 30,000 kilometers (18,650 miles) under the proposal, according to details released at a State Council Information Office briefing ...

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• 29 December

  S Korea govt cuts 2017 growth projection

  

    Bloomberg The South Korean government cut its growth projection for next year to 2.6% from 3%, reflecting tepid domestic consumption and weak exports. The government will maintain loose fiscal policy and pressure state-run companies to spend more in an effort to shore up sagging consumer and business sentiment, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Thursday in its report ...

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• 29 December

  China’s diesel demand likely to rise ahead of Lunar New Year

  

    Bloomberg China’s diesel demand is likely to pick up pace ahead of the Lunar New Year as traders stock up barrels ahead of the festivities and as construction activity picks up in some areas, four trade sources said on Thursday. Implied diesel demand in October in China, the world’s second-largest oil user, rose to 3.4 million barrels per day, ...

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• 29 December

  Toshiba’s ‘writedown’ wipes out gain from 2016 share rally

  

    Bloomberg Toshiba Corp.’s impending multibillion-dollar writedown has triggered one of the worst-ever share declines for a major Japanese company, with ratings downgrades and investor pessimism erasing almost all of its 87 percent rally this year. Shares in the electronics and industrial conglomerate fell 17 percent to 259 at the close on Thursday. Toshiba said it may write down billions ...

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• 29 December

  Toyota’s hybrid bet pays off as Dieselgate spurs Europe demand

  

    Bloomberg For years, Toyota Motor Corp. focused on pushing its hybrid models in Europe, avoiding a diesel-for- diesel competition with market leaders including Volkswagen AG. The Japanese carmaker’s strategy is finally paying off. In the first full year since Volkswagen’s emissions scandal threw the German giant into disarray, Toyota is on track for roughly a 40 percent jump in ...

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• 29 December

  Call for constitutional right to clean air, water in New York

    ALBANY / AP Environmental and public policy groups in New York are calling for a state constitutional amendment that would guarantee residents a right to clean air and water. Environmental Advocates of New York and EffectiveNY are promoting the proposed amendment with online video ads on Thursday featuring children from Hoosick Falls, where water wells have been contaminated by ...

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• 29 December

  London house-price growth lags behind UK

  

    Bloomberg London’s housing market underperformed the rest of the UK for the first time in eight years as buyers increasingly found themselves stretched by affordability, according to Nationwide Building Society. Home prices in the capital rose 3.7 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, down from 12.2 percent in 2015, the mortgage lender said on Thursday. Across the U.K., ...

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• 29 December

  Volkswagen buys PayByPhone for parking services

  

    Bloomberg Volkswagen AG bought North American parking-payment operator PayByPhone in the latest move by Europe’s biggest carmaker to expand from manufacturing into mobility services. The purchase of Vancouver-based PayByPhone, which processed more than $250 million in transactions this year, will turn the German company’s Volkswagen Financial Services unit into the leader in mobile payments for parking, the automaker said ...

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