December, 2016

• 7 December

  Trade gap in US widens to a four-month high

    Bloomberg The US trade deficit widened to a four-month high in October as overseas sales weakened and American companies imported more equipment and consumer goods. The gap grew to $42.6 billion from the prior month’s revised $36.2 billion, Commerce Department figures showed. The 17.8 percent increase from September was the largest since March 2015. The Bloomberg survey median called ...

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• 7 December

  Global stocks go up on telecoms news, stimulus hopes

  

    TOKYO / AP Global stock markets rose on Wednesday amid optimism about the telecommunications industry and as investors expect more central bank stimulus in the eurozone. KEEPING SCORE: France’s CAC 40 added 0.9 percent to 4,671 while Germany’s DAX was up 1.5 percent at 10,935. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.5 percent to 6,884. U.S. shares were set to drift ...

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• 7 December

  UAE stock market outperforms region

  

    Reuters Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates outperformed the region on Wednesday while investors booked profits in Saudi Arabian petrochemical shares and Egyptian blue chips. Dubai’s main index closed 1.3 percent higher in healthy volume as some large and mid-sized shares, which had been relatively quiet so far this week, gained. Emaar Properties rose 2.4 percent. A Dubai-based ...

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• 7 December

  Egypt minister sets ‘3-year strategy’ to revive economy

  

    Cairo/ AFP Egypt has an ambitious three-year reform plan that, with foreign help, can revive its struggling economy, the minister of international cooperation said. In an interview, Sahar Nasr said the “three-year strategy” will lead to a return of investments, boost industrial production and create jobs. It comes as Egypt faces not only falling growth and a currency crisis ...

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• 7 December

  After oil crisis cull, Norway’s junk market emerges transformed

  

      Bloomberg Those oil service companies and drillers that are still around will likely survive. That’s the good news, according to Kevin Liang, who helps oversee 10 billion kroner ($1.2 billion) in bonds at Svenska Handelsbanken AB in Oslo. But the bad news is that the debt market for Norway’s battered oil sector is now a very different animal. ...

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• 7 December

  Oman plans to sell $2bn bonds amid deficit

    Bloomberg Oman, the largest Arab oil producer that’s not an OPEC member, plans to sell between $1.5 billion to $2 billion of bonds internationally in 2017 to plug a deficit caused by low crude prices. “There’s an appetite still and I think even when interest rates are raised there will still be appetite,” Ali Hamdan Al-Raisi, vice president for ...

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• 7 December

  Shell signs initial Iran oil and gas deals

  

    Reuters Royal Dutch Shell signed a provisional agreement on Wednesday to develop Iranian oil and gas fields, an Iranian official said, the first deal by the world’s second biggest listed oil firm in Iran since sanctions were lifted. The Anglo-Dutch company confirmed it had signed a memorandum of understanding with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on Wednesday “to further ...

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• 7 December

  Oil trades near $51 after slumping Shale comeback signs

  

    Bloomberg Oil traded near $51 a barrel amid speculation a production boost from U.S. shale producers will counter the first output cuts from OPEC in eight years. Futures fell 0.2 percent in New York after falling 1.7 percent on Tuesday, the first drop in five days. The Energy Information Administration increased its U.S. oil output forecast for this year ...

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• 7 December

  Saudi Aramco, Japan extend Okinawa crude storage deal

    Reuters State-run Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) said it signed a contract with the world’s top exporter Saudi Aramco on Wednesday to extend a crude oil storage deal on the island of Okinawa by three years. Under the agreement, Saudi Aramco can store up to 1 million kilolitres (6.3 million barrels) of crude oil on the ...

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• 7 December

  Aussie economy shrinks as spending falls

  

    Sydney / AFP Australia’s economy contracted for just the fourth quarter in 25 years, official data showed on Wednesday, slowing the annual growth rate to 1.8 percent amid weaker government and consumer spending on top of softer trade figures. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported a 0.5 percent contraction for the September quarter. It was the weakest figure in ...

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