Bloomberg Snaking queues of thousands of prospective apartment buyers in Hong Kong signalled authorities have made no progress in cooling a red-hot property market, where prices are at records. People were lining up and over the weekend at Victoria Skye, a luxury project at the former airport site of Kai Tak, and at the Ocean Pride development by Cheung Kong ...
Read More »Vietnam PM confident of 6.7% growth without adding inflation
Bloomberg Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said he is confident economic growth this year will meet a government goal of 6.7 percent without adding to inflation, despite weak expansion last quarter. Vietnam is taking steps to bolster the economy as the nation seeks to retain its status as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, the premier said in an ...
Read More »China developers surge as Evergrande hits record
Bloomberg Chinese developers extended Asia’s biggest rally this year, with China Evergrande Group surging to a record in Hong Kong. Evergrande soared 23 percent at the close, while Country Garden Holdings Co. and Sunac China Holdings Ltd. gained more than 9 percent. Lianhua Supermarket Holdings Co. rallied 24 percent after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. agreed to buy a stake in ...
Read More »Swiss economic growth still left in shade by Germany
Bloomberg If the Swiss economic growth is still left in the shade by Germany this week, its central bank knows exactly why. Two-and-a-half years after suffering an exchange-rate shock that made its exports even more expensive, Switzerland has yet to rediscover its knack of outperforming neighboring Germany. While the two economies boast significant similarities, prompting the Swiss to dub their ...
Read More »â€˜US duties to drive Canada wood exports to China’
Bloomberg A rise in US tariffs on Canadian softwood will help drive an increase in lumber exports to China and other Asian markets, Canada’s top trade official said. “There’s an enormous opportunity,†said Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne in an interview in Singapore. “Diversification is the key, that’s why Canada has an ambitious trade agenda.†With other Canadian industries also bracing ...
Read More »London’s hottest home markets see price cuts
Bloomberg On the less fashionable fringes of London, home sellers are quickly finding out just what the market can bear. Buyers fleeing the capital’s costly center turned peripheral boroughs into London’s hottest property markets. Now, more sellers in those areas are being forced to cut their prices after values quickly outstripped the spending power of the average buyer. The number ...
Read More »Russia starts largest renewable energy auction in bid for jobs
Bloomberg Russia is pressing ahead with its biggest-ever auction for renewable energy, seeking to award contracts to purchase 1.9 gigawatts of clean electricity as well as attracting foreign investment to support jobs at home. The government tender starting on Monday has attracted the interest of For-tum Oyj, Finland’s largest energy com- pany, which is prequalified to participate in the auction. ...
Read More »OPEC wins hedge funds back with jump in oil bets
Bloomberg Hedge funds are giving OPEC some credit again. Following four weeks of growing pessimism, bets on rising West Texas Intermediate prices jumped the most this year just as Saudi Arabia and Russia were mustering support for the deal they struck in Vienna last week, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. What happens to US stockpiles will be key ...
Read More »Oil trades below $50 as market pessimism on OPEC deal lingers
Bloomberg Oil traded below $50 a barrel after OPEC underwhelmed investors with its production-cut extension deal. Futures fell 0.2 percent in New York. Prices closed 1.1 percent lower last week after OPEC agreed to extend limits on crude output through the first quarter of 2018. Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said the oil-cuts strategy is working and that global ...
Read More »Iraq may consider hedging crude production
LARNACA / Reuters Iraq may look at hedging part of its crude oil production, the head of the OPEC member’s oil marketer SOMO said, as a way to protect government revenue against the risk of oil price volatility. “It is in our strategy in the future that maybe we will consider hedging part of Iraqi crude … SOMO is floating ...
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