BLOOMBERG Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd said it will request that one of the key remaining conditions to separate its transmission unit is concluded within the next month, a step that would mark progress towards transforming the business and opening the grid up to private producers. Spinning off the business to become the National Transmission Co South Africa still requires licenses ...
Read More »UK pushes for ‘step change’ in green financing to reach net zero
BLOOMBERG The UK published a revised version of its green finance strategy, laying out plans to track investment flows and boost transition finance as it seeks to become the world’s first net-zero aligned financial center. In the long-awaited update to a 2019 strategy, the UK said it will publish a series of net-zero roadmaps this year that outline funding needs ...
Read More »Nato chief urges allies to pledge yearly $543 million to Ukraine
BLOOMBERG Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is pressing allies to pitch in a total of €500 million ($543 million) a year to help Ukraine with non-lethal aid and other long-term support, according to people familiar with the matter. The head of the military alliance wants allies to boost contributions to a fund for Nato’s comprehensive assistance package for Ukraine, which ...
Read More »India court suspends two-year sentence for Rahul Gandhi
BLOOMBERG An Indian court suspended a two-year sentence for opposition leader Rahul Gandhi until it hears his appeal in a defamation case. The court fixed April 13 as the next date to start hearing arguments on Gandhi’s request to stay a conviction that led to his disqualification from parliament, said Kirti Panwala, a lawyer for the Congress party leader. Gandhi ...
Read More »Ex-PM Borissov wins Bulgaria vote
BLOOMBERG Former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov won Bulgaria’s fifth election in two years, but his failure to secure a majority threatens to extend a political stalemate undermining European Union unity over Russia’s war in Ukraine. A bloc led by Borissov’s Gerb party won 26.5%, according to official results with 93.4% of districts counted on Monday. The bloc led by the ...
Read More »Won’s bad start to year poised to get even worse
BLOOMBERG The South Korean won, Asia’s worst-performing currency this quarter, will soon have a new item added to its long list of troubles — the dividend payment season in April. This month normally sees overseas investors take dividends out of the country. Expected handouts to foreign investors at the top 10 Korean companies with the largest dividends allotted to global ...
Read More »China’s CBIRC warns top bankers of deepening crackdown on graft
BLOOMBERG Chinese authorities warned the nation’s top banking executives that the crackdown on the $60 trillion industry is far from over in a private meeting, just as they were about to announce the probe of the most senior state banker in nearly two decades. Officials from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) and the Central Commission for Discipline ...
Read More »ECB warns of risks posed by $1.1trn real estate funds
BLOOMBERG Funds investing in commercial property pose a threat to financial stability after growing significantly over the last decade, according to the European Central Bank (ECB). The net asset value of the real estate investment funds more than tripled to more than €1 trillion ($1.1 trillion) in the past 10 years, boosting their interdependence with property markets, the ECB said ...
Read More »US tech stocks’ rally overdone: Strategist
BLOOMBERG Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson — among the most prominent bearish voices on US equities — warns the rally in tech stocks that’s exceeded 20% isn’t sustainable and that the sector will return to new lows. The Nasdaq 100 has soared into a bull market as investors fled economically sensitive sectors like banks following the collapse of several US lenders. ...
Read More »Treasury yields advance as oil jump adds to inflation concerns
BLOOMBERG Treasury yields rose on concern a rally in oil prices will keep inflation elevated and put pressure on the Federal Reserve to go on raising interest rates. The two-year US yield rose as much as 11 basis points to 2.73% as crude prices jumped after Opec+ announced a surprise oil production cut. This reignited concern about inflation and led ...
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