Japan underwhelms markets with ¥28 trillion stimulus package August 2, 2016 Markets have given a lukewarm reaction to the long-awaited details of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's latest economic salvo. The Japanese government today signed off a stimulus package worth a headline ¥28 trillion (£207bn), though critics said this figure betrayed the fact much of the spending comes in the form of cheap loans rather than direct [...]
Oil rout forces Kuwait to hike petrol prices 80 per cent August 2, 2016 Kuwait will hike its petrol prices by more than 80 per cent from 1 September, as part of the Opec member's adjustment to lower for longer oil prices. Its cabinet said yesterday that the price for the highest grade petrol would rise to 165 fils a litre, from 90 currently, according to a report by state news agency KUNA. Read [...]
Matteo Renzi: Italian banks not the bane of Europe August 2, 2016 Italy's Prime Minister has today hit back at critics' claims his country's banks are some of the most burdensome in Europe's banking sector. The country's banks are thought to be saddled with approximately €360bn (£304.7bn) of non-performing loans and it has been widely speculated that Renzi has recently been trying to arrange a capital injection for the sector with [...]
Let’s park the negativity and remember how incredible the Olympics can be August 1, 2016 Incredibly, it is now less than two weeks until the Olympics starts in Rio de Janeiro. Yet rather than hype, excitement, and expectation, it has been an avalanche of negativity. Rarely has a city been buffeted by so many crises leading up to a major event. London had its wobbles, but our road to hosting [...]
India’s largest mortgage lender issues world’s first “Masala bond” in London August 1, 2016 The world's first ever "masala" bond has been issued in London today, in what chancellor Philip Hammond described as a major win for the UK economy in the aftermath of the EU referendum. India's largest mortgage provider, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), became the first Indian company to list corporate rupee-denominated debt outside of India, with the [...]
China urges Hinkley approval as its state media scolds security concerns August 1, 2016 China urged the UK government to press ahead with the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant, after it delayed making a final decision until October. Reports suggest Prime Minister Theresa May pushed back final approval last week because of security concerns regarding the involvement of China's state nuclear company, which would own about a third of the project. [...]
Manufacturing stutters forward in the Eurozone as PMI dips slightly August 1, 2016 Factories in the Eurozone entered the summer with a slight wobble, as output dipped and fundamental weaknesses in the manufacturing sector appeared stubborn. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for manufacturing across the single currency bloc slipped to 52 in June, down from 52.8 in July, on a reading where scores above 50 mark expansion. It [...]
Uber is merging its China business with arch rival Didi Chuxing August 1, 2016 Ride-hailing app Uber is merging its Chinese operations with its biggest rival in the region, Didi Chuxing, signalling an end to a long-standing and expensive rivalry. Didi has confirmed earlier reports of a deal between the two, saying it will acquire Uber's China assets. In return, Uber will take a 17.7 per cent stake in Didi, while Uber China's shareholders [...]
Fresh delay for US rate hike on weak growth figures August 1, 2016 The prospect of a second US interest rate rise since the recession has slipped back following weak GDP data and some dovish comments from one of the Federal Reserve's key rate-setters. Futures markets now indicate the probability of a rate rise by the end of the year is less than one in three, down from around [...]
Asian shares climb on weak US and Eurozone growth figures August 1, 2016 Asian shares climbed higher overnight everywhere except China as markets benefitted from Friday’s weak growth figures in both the US and the Eurozone. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.4 per cent to hit 16,635, largely unchanged on its level before the Bank of Japan (BoJ) decided on Friday to hold back on fresh stimulus. In Hong [...]