Bloomberg Modern office buildings are all the rage in central London, with a swath of companies including UBS Group AG moving into new premises in the last 12 months. The problem for landlords is finding someone to replace them. A growing number of unoccupied older properties caused the overall office vacancy rate to climb to 5.8 percent at the end ...
Read More »Caution reigns as US politics turmoil takes center stage
Bloomberg Growing concerns over the turmoil engulfing President Donald Trump’s administration weighed on risk appetite, boosting the yen and gold and sending stocks lower. Oil gained as more producers backed the extension of supply cuts. S&P 500 Index futures declined with European and Asian equities on reports that Trump asked FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into former ...
Read More »Real estate sector lifts Egypt stock markets
DUBAI / Reuters Egypt’s stock market outperformed its Gulf peers on Wednesday on the back of strong first-quarter earnings and positive news from a real estate developer, while Saudi Arabia saw increased activity as traders took positions ahead of Ramadan. Egypt’s index rose 1.0 percent as real estate firm Sixth of October Development (SODIC) jumped 4.2 percent to a four-month ...
Read More »Lloyds Bank bailout nets UK $1.2bn as government exits
Bloomberg The UK government sold its last remaining shares in Lloyds Banking Group Plc, bringing Britain’s biggest mortgage lender back into full private ownership almost a decade after it was bailed out in the depths of the financial crisis. The Treasury made a profit of 894 million pounds ($1.2 billion) on its original 20.3 billion-pound investment after disposing of its ...
Read More »RBI targets rupee forwards as cash hinders spot intervention
Bloomberg Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is increasingly turning to the forwards market for currency intervention, as a banking system already flooded with cash limits its ability to act in the spot market. RBI bought $8 billion of foreign currency in the forwards market in March, latest official data released this month showed, as the rupee capped its best first-quarter ...
Read More »ECB sticks to lowest gears as Euro area trundles towards QE exit
Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) is trying to work out a key question about the road to policy normalization: what’s the speed limit? Three weeks before their next policy decision, the terms of debate between the ECB’s 25 Governing Council members over announcing and implementing an exit from unconventional stimulus have coalesced around the pace. In one camp are ...
Read More »Wider laptops ban to cost passengers $1bn: IATA
Bloomberg The widening of a US ban on carrying electronic devices aboard aircraft to include flights from Europe would cost travellers in excess of US$1 billion, the head of the airline industry’s global lobby group said. Extending the curbs, which currently apply only to some US-bound services from the Middle East and North Africa, would obstruct travel and might not ...
Read More »Boeing’s flying cash machine debuts as Lion takes first 737 Max
Bloomberg Boeing Co. delivered the first 737 Max to the jetliner’s largest customer, Lion Mentari Airlines PT, a step toward reaping a cash bounty from the best-selling aircraft in company history. The Tuesday hand-off to Lion’s Malaysia affiliate, Malindo Airways, was only one day later than first scheduled after the US planemaker quickly recovered from a possible engine manufacturing defect, ...
Read More »TAV mulls bid for stake in Malaysia Airports unit
Bloomberg Turkey’s TAV Havalimanlari Holding AS will bid for the Istanbul unit of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd if a stake in the operator of Turkey’s second-biggest airport is put up for sale. TAV is ‘definitely interested’ in looking at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport should requests for proposals be made, Chief Executive Officer Sani Sener told reporters. Malaysia Airports plans to ...
Read More »Airbus flier Vistara seeks Boeing pilots for hiring
Bloomberg Vistara, Singapore Airlines Ltd.’s Indian venture that operates an all-Airbus fleet, is seeking to recruit pilots trained on Boeing Co. aircraft, people familiar with the matter said. The airline is hiring first officers with at least 750 hours of experience flying Boeing aircraft, according to a letter the New Delhi-based airline sent to pilots, the people said, asking not ...
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