Bloomberg President Donald Trump said the “Big Oil deal†sealed will save hundreds of thousands of American jobs. But the agreement he brokered depends on a sharp downturn in shale that will likely bring about a wave of bankruptcies and job cuts. Days of frantic diplomatic maneuvering culminated in an agreement by Opec+ to pare production by 9.7 million barrels …
Read More »China’s ‘green zone’ coal price tested as virus fight continues
Bloomberg China’s coal prices have sunk to levels that threaten state intervention, but this time policy makers may refrain from doing so as they continue efforts to buttress the economy hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. The government will try to keep power prices low as it pushes to restart the economy, according to analysts. That goal will be helped by …
Read More »Oil’s belt-tightening is bad news for clean power
Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp said that it would slash its capital expenditures by $10 billion, to about two-thirds of what it had planned just a month ago. It’s the second-largest capex cut in the company’s modern history, according to Bloomberg News. While those capex cuts are in the future, oil production dynamics are changing in real time. Rystad Energy analysis …
Read More »Virus may nix 39% of US power projects
Bloomberg More than a third of new US electricity generation expected to come online over the next six months could hit roadblocks as the coronavirus pandemic curbs power consumption and disrupts supply chains. About 4.9 gigawatts, or 39%, of new utility-scale capacity will be “either cancelled or indefinitely postponed†from April through September, said Energy Information Administration economist Tyler Hodge. …
Read More »Global stocks decline after best week; oil pares gains
Bloomberg Global stocks began the week on the back foot as investors readied for the start of an earnings season marked by unprecedented uncertainty over the corporate impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Oil pared earlier gains after a historic deal to cut output. Futures on the three main US equity indexes all dropped, while stocks fell in Asia’s main financial …
Read More »Bitcoin’s below $7,000 but investor stays long, shorts stocks
Bloomberg Famed investor Mike Novogratz says this is the time for Bitcoin, citing greater adoption around the globe and unprecedented actions by central banks battling the fallout from the spreading coronavirus. “The risk on any store of value, if it’s gold, is that enough people believe in it,†Novogratz said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “It’s still a question of …
Read More »India’s central bank doubles down on market it despised
Bloomberg India’s most ambitious attempt to influence how foreigners trade its currency slipped through with little fanfare two weeks ago. On a day when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) executed an emergency rate cut and pledged $50 billion of liquidity, it also opened the way for local banks to trade non-deliverable forwards (NDFs), a currency derivative often blamed as …
Read More »Investment bank consolidation likely amid virus fallout
Bloomberg A “new wave of consolidation†among global investment banks could be triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report by Oliver Wyman and Morgan Stanley. Some banks may find their lack of scale and the short term pressure “too acute†to survive the crisis, particularly in Europe where returns are lower compared to bigger, more profitable global …
Read More »Virus may create $75b funding hole in Africa
Bloomberg The funding needs of governments in sub-Saharan Africa could rise by $75 billion as the coronavirus pandemic hammers their economies, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. If measures such as tax cuts that some governments, including Kenya’s, have already announced are included, the financing gap might end up being higher, they said. A combination of lockdowns to contain the …
Read More »Malaysian banks unswayed by global moves to cut dividends
Bloomberg As banks elsewhere scrap or defer dividend payments, investors in Malaysian lenders can still expect their usual cash rewards. Malayan Banking Bhd., the biggest lender by market value, plans to keep its payout ratio of as much as 60% its profit after tax and minority interests, on top of paying a 2019 interim dividend on May 6, its spokesperson …
Read More »
The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.