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Bloomberg Investor demand for Switzerland’s currency, already trading at a five-year high, will increase as the country’s economy will outperform others during the recession, strategists at UBS Group AG predict. “Switzerland enters this recession with excellent credit quality, and its pandemic health situation is under control,” UBS strategists Thomas Flury and Gaetan Peroux wrote in a note to clients. “Hence ...

Bloomberg The yen’s advance this week may be a sign of things to come, with strategists in Tokyo saying the currency could climb towards 100 against the dollar in the next few months. Citigroup Global Markets Japan Inc. says the yen stands to gain as the Federal Reserve’s massive monetary stimulus weighs on the greenback. MUFG Bank Ltd. sees the ...

Bloomberg China’s central bank has given the green light for some commercial lenders to run trials of its digital currency, according to people familiar with the matter, bringing it a step closer to becoming the world’s first major monetary authority to issue its own digital tender. State-owned Chinese banks are conducting internal, hypothetical-use tests of a People’s Bank of China ...

Bloomberg EasyJet Plc boosted its cash reserves to ride out the coronavirus pandemic, saying it now has sufficient resources to see it through the end of the year. The shares rose after Britain’s biggest discount airline said it had borrowed 400 million pounds ($500 million) against its jet fleet, and may raise 550 million pounds more from selling planes to ...

Bloomberg VietJet Aviation JSC said it has reached agreements with domestic and international lenders to delay repayments on about 80% of loans for its aircraft purchases after the budget carrier experienced a significant drop in passengers during the novel coronavirus outbreak. The lenders, which include HSBC Holdings PLC and Citibank NA, also agreed to delay repayments for three to 12 ...

Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd expects passenger numbers to stay below 1,000 a day this month compared with the usual 100,000 as it operates at just 3% of normal capacity. The Hong Kong-based airline said it is impossible to predict when demand will improve as the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic is intensifying. One day this week, Cathay and ...

Bloomberg Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd stock was suspended in Sydney as discussions over a potential financial restructuring for the airline continue. The shares, already halted from trading, will be suspended for as long as seven days so talks centred on financial help and alternative structures can go on, Virgin Australia said in a statement. “These discussions have continued over the ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc is hitting back at activists within its own ranks, terminating three employees who had criticised working conditions in its warehouses. The retailer confirmed that it had fired Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa for violating company policy. The two employees, who worked at Seattle headquarters, had taken to Twitter recently to voice concerns about the treatment of workers ...

Bloomberg A Swiss retailer is crying foul after a truckload of hand sanitiser it had ordered was commandeered by Italian customs officers. The shipment of disinfectant gel, purchased by Victory Switzerland GmbH for 32,000 euros ($34,800), was stopped by officials on March 30, according to Daniel Gerber, the company’s managing director. “I am not aware of any compensation for us,” ...

ABU DHABI / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Tunisian President Kais Saied, have discussed bilateral relations, the global Covid-19 crisis and ways to contain the pandemic’s repercussions at various levels. In a telephone call, the leaders reviewed the measures the countries ...