Bloomberg Hong Kong’s stock market is suffering from a post-holiday hangover. The flood of Chinese money into the city before the mainland’s National Day celebrations in early October has slowed to a trickle since traders returned from the week-long break. Investors in Shanghai spent more than $8 billion on Hong Kong shares in September, the biggest monthly inflow through ...
Read More »ANZ Bank to trim 30 jobs
Bloomberg Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Australia’s third-biggest bank by market value, is cutting about 30 jobs in its institutional banking unit. The affected positions are based in New York, London and Asia, and are mostly in customer relationship roles, ANZ Bank spokesman Stephen Ries said in an emailed statement. “We continue to reshape our network by ...
Read More »Every international trade deal needs a referee
While the economic arguments for freer trade are strong, many people remain skittish about proposed trade deals involving the U.S., Asia and Europe. In particular, critics are focusing on provisions of these deals that set up tribunals to rule on disputes between governments and companies. The critics charge that these Investor-State Dispute Settlement panels would have too much power ...
Read More »What the Fed needs to know
The U.S. Federal Reserve faces a tough task in figuring out how best to respond to a highly unusual economic recovery. As chair Janet Yellen noted in a recent speech, it could use some help from academia. So what key questions should researchers be trying to answer? Let’s start with what the Fed got right. Internal documents from 2009 ...
Read More »When climate change campaigners miss the point
Voters in Washington state will be asked next month whether they want to adopt the nation’s first carbon tax — a powerful way to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. You’d think environmental groups would be doing everything they can to back that idea. You’d be wrong. THE COST OF CARBON Initiative 732 will be on the ballot on Election Day. It ...
Read More »UK govts must plan towards common goal
After four months of Brexit, a new chapter unfolds on Monday as British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with the first ministers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The meeting would be crucial as the leaders seek to lay out a roadmap for departure from the EU. The meeting of Joint Ministerial Committee (JME) would be the first since December ...
Read More »Buoyant investor sentiment lifts Saudi, Egypt cools
DUBAI / Reuters Major stock markets in the Gulf rose on Sunday with Saudi Arabia outperforming its peers, continuing to climb on the back of upbeat investor sentiment following the mammoth international bond sale at the end of last week. Egypt’s index slipped on profit taking. Riyadh’s index added a further 1.6 percent, taking its gains since Wednesday to ...
Read More »Canada stocks rise as energy rallies on
Bloomberg Canadian stocks extended their rally to a fifth day on Saturday, closing with the biggest weekly gain since March, energy shares continued to ride the rebound in oil and banks advanced on signs that inflation is picking up, making an interest rate hike more likely. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.6 percent to 14,939.04 at 4 p.m. in ...
Read More »GCC ministers meet as OPEC oil cut looms
Bloomberg Russia’s energy minister met with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf oil-producers to discuss steps to stabilize crude markets amid OPEC’s drive to win cooperation from the biggest supplier outside the group in limiting output to prop up prices. Ministers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates gathered in Riyadh for oil ...
Read More »Sabic seeks to ease reliance on domestic natgas
Reuters Petrochemicals giant Sabic is scouting for more overseas ventures to ease its dependence on domestic Saudi Arabian natural gas as it pushes ahead with its largest foreign investment with U.S. partner Exxon Mobil. “We do have projects that we evaluate with our existing partners or potential partners… We are a global company, we have the capability to start ...
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