Wednesday , 17 December 2025

Stocks pare drop on ISM data; EM assets wobble

Bloomberg US stocks pared losses after a gauge of US manufacturing hit a 14-year high, bolstering confidence in the world’s largest economy. The dollar climbed as trade tensions persisted and emerging markets remained under pressure. The S&P 500 was little changed after falling as much as 0.5 percent. Nike Inc. fell amid a politically controversial ad campaign and Facebook Inc. …

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Rand tumbles with bonds as South Africa recession hits markets

Bloomberg South Africa’s rand headed for its weakest level in more than two years after data showed the country’s economy had slipped into a recession for the first time since 2009. Government bonds fell the most in 10 months as credit risk jumped and stocks took a hit. The rand slumped as much as 3.2 percent, leading emerging-market currency declines …

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Chinese solar giants boost output, chase growth plans

Bloomberg The top solar manufacturers in China are boosting production capacity, betting higher output will help them seize a bigger chunk of the global market that is set for its first-ever annual contraction. JinkoSolar Holding Co., which has lost almost half its market value this year, is ramping up cell and panel capacity and targeting higher-quality production, Qian Jing, vice …

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Europe should get over oil storage and look to gas, says OIES

Bloomberg Europe’s strategic energy reserves shouldn’t be all about oil. As natural gas gains ground in the global energy transition, the cleanest fossil fuel should be allowed to replace some compulsory crude and oil product storage, according to Thierry Bros, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES). That would help the region use some of …

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India’s PVR seeks growth opportunities overseas

Bloomberg PVR Ltd., India’s largest movie exhibitor, is seeking growth opportunities overseas after sealing a deal to acquire a local cinema chain. The company’s “big focus” is to look at Saudi Arabia, while it’s also planning projects in Dubai, Chief Financial Officer Nitin Sood said in a telephone interview. PVR also expects to open a nine-screen multiplex in Sri Lanka’s …

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Germany solar battery sales poised to boom

Bloomberg Solar battery sales in Germany are poised to boom as prices for the facilities continue to drop and homeowners turn to generate their own electricity to shield against rising power prices, the BSW solar lobby said. Total solar battery installs in Germany exceeded 100,000 units this summer and at the current rate of growth may double by 2020, the …

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White Sasol staff to step up strike

Bloomberg South Africa’s Solidarity labour union plans to escalate a strike at energy and chemicals company Sasol Ltd. from September 6 over the exclusion of white staff from an employee-shareholding plan, deputy General-Secretary Deon Reyneke said. Members of the union began protests including a so-called go-slow at the company on September 3, Reyneke said. The full strike later this week …

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Bank Indonesia to beef up tools in battle to save rupiah

Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank is intensifying its fight to protect the nation’s currency and bonds with a slew of measures that includes more hedging tools. Bank Indonesia plans to soon introduce overnight index swaps and interest-rate swaps to widen its pool of hedging tools for investors, exporters and banks. The central bank will also start offering a one-month tenor foreign-exchange …

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Australia holds key rate as sliding currency stimulates growth

Bloomberg Australia kept interest rates at a record low on Tuesday, as it has for the past two years, while a currency sliding towards 70 US cents offers the prospect of additional stimulus for the economy. As expected, Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe left the cash rate at 1.5 percent, a stance he expects will eventually tighten the labour market …

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ING to pay $900 million to end Dutch money-laundering probe

Bloomberg ING Groep NV agreed to pay 775 million euros ($900 million) to settle an investigation by the Dutch prosecutor into issues including money laundering and corrupt practices in one of the biggest fines ever given to the country’s banks in a criminal case. The lender acknowledged “serious shortcomings” in executing customer due diligence policies to prevent financial crime at …

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