Bloomberg The European Union outlined ways to bolster the World Trade Organization in a bid to keep US President Donald Trump committed to the global commercial order that America helped shape after World War II. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom presented a “concept paper†aimed at strengthening WTO rules against trade-distorting subsidies, averting a deadlock in the dispute-settlement system of ...
Read More »US consumers dragged into trade war as ‘growth hit’ seen
Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on an additional $200 billion of imports from China drags the biggest part of the US economy into the thick of the trade war, threatening to deliver a more direct hit to growth. The 10 percent tariffs announced on Monday — which take effect from September 24 and will rise to 25 ...
Read More »Stocks gain even as trade tensions grow; oil rises
Bloomberg Global equity markets reacted calmly to the latest salvos in the intensifying trade war between the US and China. Treasuries retreated and oil gained. The S&P 500 Index rose on Tuesday, led by technology shares, even after Beijing responded to President Donald Trump’s announcement of fresh levies by saying it will impose tariffs on $60 billion of US goods ...
Read More »Global markets at mercy of dollar arrive at ‘fork in the road’
Bloomberg Global markets have arrived at an inflection point, with the dollar’s fate poised to determine whether the extreme divergence in equities continues, according to Oxford Economics. “There is a fork in the road,†writes Gaurav Saroliya, director of global macro strategy. The shop is positioning for a weaker greenback, a development that researchers there say would allow non-US equities ...
Read More »China’s PBOC has $1.3trn money-fund headache
Bloomberg China’s ever-growing money market funds pose an increasing problem for the nation’s central bank as policy makers attempt to boost the flow of credit to cushion an economic slowdown. While the funds have offered savers a handy alternative to risky stocks and once high-flying wealth management products, they’re effectively raising borrowing costs. That’s because, with some 8.6 trillion yuan ...
Read More »Dena Bank hits 10-year high
Bloomberg Dena Bank surged the most in 10 years after India’s government announced a plan to combine the state-owned lender with two peers including Bank of Baroda to strengthen the debt-laden banking system. The stock jumped by the 20 percent limit to 19.1 rupees in Mumbai, while Bank of Baroda slumped as much as 14 percent amid concern the merger ...
Read More »Visa, Mastercard reach swipe fee settlement
Bloomberg Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. agreed to pay as much as $6.2 billion to end a long-running price-fixing case brought by merchants over card fees, the largest-ever class action settlement of an antitrust case. The total is in line with sums the two companies previously set aside to cover the costs of the litigation, including $5.3 billion already held ...
Read More »Florence effect: Bankers surf couches to maintain lending
Bloomberg Live Oak Bancshares Inc., the online lender whose headquarters is in flood-ravaged Wilmington, North Carolina, is still operating after it sent employees fanning out across the country ahead of Hurricane Florence. “Everything is in the cloud and our employees, really what they need is an internet connection somewhere,†said Thomas Hill, the bank’s chief information officer. “It was a ...
Read More »HSBC plans wealth hiring spree in CEO’s bet on Asia’s rich
Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc is planning to increase its wealth-management staff in Asia as CEO John Flint bets on growth in the region. The bank plans to add more than 1,300 positions, split roughly between retail and private banking, by 2022, according to the heads of the two divisions, which between them currently employ just over 32,000 people in the ...
Read More »Samsonite to retailers: Prices to rise on Trump’s tariff hit
Bloomberg The trade war arrived at Sun Y. Park’s doorstep the day a letter from Samsonite International SA was delivered to her Manhattan luggage and leather goods shop. In the letter dated August 13, Samsonite North America President Lynne Berard notified wholesale buyers that a 10 percent price increase is imminent if the US follows through with more tariffs on ...
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