Bloomberg Taiwan proposed raising its total spending on the military by almost 14% next year, contributing to what’s expected to be a record increase in the government’s budget as it bolsters its defenses from a surge in Chinese military activity. The cabinet signed off on spending plans for 2023 at its weekly meeting Thursday. At a briefing in Taipei, ...
Read More »Bolsonaro’s re-election hinges on aid, moderation of rhetoric, pollster says
Bloomberg President Jair Bolsonaro’s ability to further gain ground with voters less than six weeks before Brazil’s election depends largely on the impact of economic relief measures and his ability to moderate his rhetoric, according to leading pollster Ipec. Approval of Bolsonaro’s administration has been slowly but surely improving this year and now stands close to 30% — a ...
Read More »Bank Indonesia debuts operation twist to lure funds, guard rupiah
Bloomberg Bank Indonesia is undertaking its own version of Operation Twist, selling short-term notes and buying up longer ones, which it says will shore up the rupiah by bringing in foreign inflows. Indonesia’s central bank will sell off shorter-tenor government bonds to boost their yield differential over US rates and attract foreign inflows that would help underpin the currency, ...
Read More »RBC sees rate hikes triggering bigger bills on 80,000 mortgages
Bloomberg Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) said interest-rate hikes may trigger higher monthly payments for about 80,000 customers with variable-rate mortgages. The increases will average about C$200 ($150), a level the lender expects most borrowers can afford, and most of Royal Bank’s variable-rate mortgage customers won’t hit those trigger rates. Less than 0.5% of customers will require so much as ...
Read More »Iceland hikes borrowing costs to a six-year high
Bloomberg Iceland’s central bank raised borrowing costs to a six-year high and indicated more tightening to come, as it seeks to dampen housing market exuberance that has taken inflation to the highest level in more than a decade. The 7-day term deposit rate was raised by 75 basis points to 5.5%, in line with market expectations. It’s Sedlabanki’s eighth hike ...
Read More »India weighs selling at least 51% of $5 billion IDBI Bank
Bloomberg India’s government is considering selling at least 51% of state-backed IDBI Bank Ltd., according to people with knowledge of the matter. Officials in the government and the state-backed Life Insurance Corp of India (LIC), which together own about 94% of IDBI Bank’s shares, are in talks about how much of their stakes they plan to sell, the people said. ...
Read More »BofA adds 2,600 military veterans to workforce
Bloomberg Bank of America Corp (BofA) said it hired 2,600 military veterans this year on top of a five-year goal to add 10,000. The additions mean a 24% increase in representation of veterans at the bank, according to a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg News. The number of veterans at the company is now more than 15% of ...
Read More »Credit Suisse chases a broader set of global wealthy
Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group is shifting resources to win business from high-net-worth clients as the lender focuses more heavily on wealth management amid cuts to its troubled investment bank. The Swiss bank is reassigning advisers to its dedicated Private Banking International unit, led by Raffael Gasser, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. The aim is to expand ...
Read More »China stimulus lifts mood in countdown to Fed’s Powell
Bloomberg US futures rise on Thursday as China’s massive stimulus steadied some nerves in the anxious wait for a key speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Treasury yields and a dollar gauge dipped. Contracts on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 pushed higher in the wake of positive closes for both gauges, though they came off session highs. ...
Read More »HK short squeeze rises risk for Morgan Stanley quants
Bloomberg The amount of bearish bets against Hong Kong stocks has risen to levels that could trigger a surge in share prices as traders rush to close out their positions, according to quantitative analysts at Morgan Stanley. Hedge funds and other short sellers say they’re either covering bearish wagers or planning to do so, strategist Gilbert Wong wrote in emailed ...
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