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Bloomberg Currency intervention is an “essential” policy tool for Switzerland, its central bank chief said, in a riposte to the US which has the country on a watchlist for allegedly manipulating its exchange rate. “Even though we still have scope for further interest-rate cuts, the fact remains that one cannot lower interest rates indefinitely,” Swiss National Bank (SNB) President Thomas …

Bloomberg After aggressive interest-rate reductions to shore up their economies against the havoc wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, central bankers in most sub-Saharan African countries will ask themselves whether the cutting cycle is over when they meet over the next nine days. South Africa’s monetary policy committee (MPC) may take advantage of the scope to lower its benchmark rate even …

Bloomberg Intesa Sanpaolo SpA sweetened its takeover offer for UBI Banca SpA by adding 652 million euros ($746 million) in cash as it tries to win approval of Italian investors hit by the pandemic. The Italian bank will pay additional 57 euro cents for each UBI share tendered in the offer in addition to the share swap it announced in …

Bloomberg Barclays Plc warned of challenges to its capital strength and souring loans at its consumer and corporate businesses as British lenders gear up to battle deteriorating economic conditions. The UK’s third-largest bank by market value said its earnings later this month will “reflect challenging income and impairment conditions for the consumer and corporate businesses, and continuing strength of markets …

Bloomberg The euro strengthened to a four-month high, and European bond spreads narrowed after leaders made progress in negotiating a historic stimulus package. European shares erased losses. Italy’s 10-year bond yield spread over Germany, a key gauge of risk in the region, fell to the lowest level since March. US equity futures pointed to a weaker open. AstraZeneca Plc gained …

Bloomberg India stocks rose as investors focused on company earnings commentaries while weighing the impact of the continuing spread of coronavirus infections on the business outlook. The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 1% to 37,388.14, as of 10:08 am in India, after closing above a key technical barrier and capping its longest stretch of weekly wins since December. The measure’s 50-day …

Bloomberg The world’s biggest money manager is joining a wave of global investors taking profits in Chinese equities after a historic rally, and plans to shift some of the funds to emerging markets that are in a more nascent stage of recovery. Gordon Fraser, co-head of global emerging markets equities at BlackRock Inc., began betting on stocks in countries such …

Bloomberg Boeing Co. is running out of space to stash newly-built 787 Dreamliners, with jetliners seemingly tucked onto every available patch of pavement on airfields near its factories in Washington and South Carolina. Dozens of planes are sitting on the company’s premises, according to people familiar with the situation. Uresh Sheth, a much-followed blogger who meticulously tracks the Dreamliners rolling …

Bloomberg Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd’s own mishandling of a repair contract led to the closure of its Camden power plant, a move that worsened power cuts by South Africa’s near-monopoly electricity provider, the company said. In its first detailed explanation of the shutdown, Eskom said the initial 635 million rand ($38 million) contract expired in 2018 amid questions about conflicts …

Bloomberg Sunrun Inc, America’s largest residential-solar company, is about to become even bigger by acquiring one of its top rivals. The deal will also help redefine it as more than just an installer of rooftop panels and batteries. For Sunrun, buying Vivint Solar Inc is a way to accelerate a key objective: clustering thousands of batteries in dense areas that …