Stocks fall as trade talk weighs; Treasuries drop

Bloomberg US stock futures fell as trade tensions with China flared and investors assessed comments from a Federal Reserve official. Treasuries declined. S&P 500 futures dropped after President Donald Trump threatened China with more tariffs days before a sit-down with his counterpart Xi Jinping. Apple looked set to fall deeper into a bear market as Trump suggested levies on mobile ...

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Nasdaq pursues Bitcoin futures despite its plunge

Bloomberg Nasdaq Inc. is moving ahead with a plan to list Bitcoin futures, according to two people familiar with the matter, betting on sustained interest despite the cryptocurrency’s dramatic plunge over the past year. Nasdaq has been working to satisfy the concerns of the US’s main swaps regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, before launching the contracts, the people said. ...

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India set to push RBI to ease lending curb on weak banks

Bloomberg The Indian government will push its central bank to ease lending restrictions for some weak banks and review rules governing its functioning at a board meeting next month, people with knowledge of the matter said. The members, including government nominees, will press for some of the weak banks to be removed from the so-called prompt corrective action list, particularly ...

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JPMorgan Asset Management expects a rough year ahead

Bloomberg JPMorgan Asset Management is preparing for a rough year ahead in financial markets, and is taking to the higher-quality ground of short-dated Treasuries. Escalating trade tensions will likely be “the single most important issue moving global markets” in 2019, as they were in 2018, analysts wrote in a report on the outlook for the coming year. A deeper trade ...

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StanChart weighs restructuring to cut costs

Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc is weighing a plan to simplify its structure as the emerging markets lender looks to control costs across its sprawling network from Zambia to Macau, said people familiar with the matter. The London-based bank, which operates in about 60 markets, is exploring how to free up liquidity and reduce funding expenses within its different legal entities, ...

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Austria’s ECB stance must change: central bank VP

Bloomberg Austria’s designated next central bank governor Robert Holzmann should argue for a tighter monetary policy in the European Central Bank’s policy-making body, according to the country’s new central bank vice president. Barbara Kolm, an economist appointed to the institution’s non-policy oversight body by the nationalist Freedom Party, told Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse in an interview that she’s “hoping ...

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Banks are vying for dominance in Europe’s east

Bloomberg European banks are vying for dominance in one of the continent’s most dynamic corners. Governments in parts of eastern Europe, where growth is outpacing the euro area, are loosening their grip on state-held assets. Serbia and Slovenia are the latest to offer stakes in their banks, opening up a potential battlefield as OTP Bank Nyrt of Hungary, Vienna-based Raiffeisen ...

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Surge in holiday online sales may bring February hangover

Bloomberg The initial Black Friday results have reinforced that this US holiday shopping season will be one of the best in recent memory. But even in good times, there are concerns for retailers. The takeaway from the past few days is that Americans are spending at unprecedented levels, and the overwhelming majority of that growth — if not all of ...

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More Indian retailers in Amazon’s shopping cart

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. is on a shopping spree in India. Helmed by the world’s richest man Jeff Bezos, Amazon has bought into one brick-and-mortar retailer, backed purchase of another and is reported to be in talks to acquire a stake in at least one more as the online retailing giant looks to get more boots on the ground in the ...

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South African suppliers slash payment periods

Bloomberg South African Airways’s suppliers are slashing payment periods to reduce the risk of losing out from a collapse of the troubled state carrier, which is struggling to pay lenders 5 billion rand ($361 million) due by the end of this month. Companies with contracts with SAA are cutting settlement terms to seven days from 21 days as the creditor ...

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