The SEC just issued their ruling on the Winkelevoss bitcoin ETF, and it wasn’t good news for enthusiasts of the digital currency. Regulators rejected the proposed application, mainly because of the lack of regulation currently surrounding bitcoin. An approval would have meant that the public could invest in bitcoin simply by purchasing shares in the ETF, which would trade on a U.S-based stock exchange. The assumption was that an […]
A Chinese property developer constructing a huge housing project in southern Malaysia has become the latest corporate victim of Beijing’s crackdown on capital flight. Country Garden has closed showrooms in mainland China for its flagship $100bn Forest City development in response to measures by Chinese regulators that have made it harder for individuals to move money out of the country. A slowing Chinese economy, rising US interest rates […]
Kuala Lumpur, 10 March 2017 Cagamas Berhad (“Cagamas” or “the Company”), the National Mortgage Corporation of Malaysia, announced its RM2.2 billion equivalent dual currency issuance, comprising a 5-year RM2.0 billion Conventional Medium Term Notes (CMTN) which was issued under Cagamas’ existing RM40 billion Medium Term Notes Programme and a 1-year SGD50 million Sukuk. The issuance was issued through the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Cagamas Global Sukuk Berhad under […]
KADUNA, Nigeria Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari returned home on Friday after nearly two months of medical leave in Britain, state television and a Reuters witness said. Buhari, 74, walked unaided from his plane after it landed at an air force base in the northern city of Kaduna. The former military ruler then boarded a waiting helicopter, state television showed. Details of his condition have not been disclosed. […]
Mario Draghi has declared victory against deflation and moved a step towards ending the European Central Bank’s ultra loose monetary policy, sending the euro and German bond yields higher as investors bet on the end of crisis-era stimulus measures. Facing growing pressure from monetary hawks in Germany, the ECB president said the bank decided to change its guidance to investors — omitting a reference to using all […]
Friday 06:00 GMT Overview Asian markets were broadly positive on Friday as South Korea’s president was formally impeached, while Treasuries remained under pressure ahead of the US jobs report that could fuel expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week. European bourses are expected to open higher, with spreadbetters predicting the UK’s FTSE 100 will add 20 points to 7,335 and Germany’s Dax to climb […]
By Shinichi Saoshiro | TOKYO TOKYO Asian stocks edged up and the dollar rose to 1-1/2-month highs versus the yen on Friday, ahead of the closely-watched U.S. non-farm payrolls report due later in the day. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.2 percent, taking cues from a modest bounce in Wall Street overnight. Japan’s Nikkei climbed more than 1 percent on the back of […]
Nigeria’s telecoms regulator and central bank governor intervened on Thursday to try to help Etisalat Nigeria resolve debt restructuring talks with its lenders, after the company missed a payment on a $1.2 billion loan. A banking source told Reuters on Wednesday that the Nigerian affiliate of Abu Dhabi-listed telecoms company Etisalat had given notice to its Nigerian lenders that it would miss a payment in February. Debt […]
Dutch paints and coatings maker Akzo Nobel has rejected an unsolicited €20.9bn takeover bid by US industrial chemicals rival PPG Industries and said it is instead looking at spinning off its specialty chemicals business. Akzo Nobel said on Thursday that the PPG bid substantially undervalued its prospects and it made a broader appeal to its stakeholders by saying the takeover was not in the interests of customers […]
Oil prices were under intensifying pressure on Thursday, with the US West Texas Intermediate benchmark dipping below $49 a barrel for the first time since late November. The falls came after oil prices fell the most in more than a year over the previous session when US crude inventories climbed for a ninth straight week to a record high. Renewed concerns about a supply glut sent ripples […]
Thursday 14:30 GMT Overview The euro is firmer and Bund yields are trundling higher with Treasuries after the European Central Bank stood pat on interest rates and indicated it was not looking to ease policy further. Oil prices tried to rally but have resumed their sell-off, putting energy stocks under pressure and weighing on equity benchmarks. Hot topic (1) After a period when politicians seemed to rule […]
Oil prices were back under pressure on Thursday, with the West Texas Intermediate benchmark falling under $50 for the first time since December. The falls came after oil prices fell the most in more than a year over the previous session when US crude inventories climbed for the ninth straight week to a record high. Renewed concerns about a supply glut sent ripples through the currency market […]
|By Matein Khalid| Janet Yellen confirmed the Wall Street consensus that the Federal Reserve will raise its overnight borrowing (Fed Funds) rate at the March FOMC. Wage growth, inflation, crude oil, asset prices, economic data momentum and Trump’s fiscal stimulus all reinforce the dual mandate logic of a rate hike. Only a really awful February non-farm payroll shock (consensus is 200,000 jobs) will avert a rate hike […]
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Trevor Hunnicutt | NEW YORK NEW YORK Investors are betting market regulators will approve what would be the first U.S. exchange-traded fund to track the price of bitcoin. From investment funds to wealthy individuals and even a Las Vegas strip club, the bitcoin ETF is generating a lot of buzz for a financial product. The surge in interest in the digital currency is […]
Here are the big questions set to frame a new trading week for markets. How frothy are equity and junk bond valuations looking?Another record-breaking week for equities and a red hot reception for the Snap initial public offering is not the only sign of investor optimism running wild. Junk bond spreads — the premium investors demand to hold the bonds over Treasury yields — are heading towards […]
By Saikat Chatterjee | HONG KONG HONG KONG Asian stocks edged lower on Wednesday after a strong start to the week due to profit-taking as investors lacked conviction to buy risky assets before a U.S. policy meeting next week that may see interest rates rising for the second time in three months. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.1 percent in early trade, a […]
GoldenEye ransomware targets human resources departments because they’re used to opening emails and attachments from unknown sources. Image: Ali Donzanti What is a ransomware attack? Cybercriminals didn’t use to be so obvious. If hackers infiltrated your corporate network, they would do everything possible to avoid detection. It was in their best interests not to alert a victim that they’d fallen victim to cybercrime. But now, if you […]
Donald Trump is not alone. When the US president complained, just before taking office, at the size of his country’s trade gap with Germany, he highlighted an issue that has long been the source of irritation in Washington and beyond. It is a topic that is now also stimulating debate within Germany — with possible consequences for the country’s trade ties with the rest of the world […]
In 2004, the U.S. banned cigarettes in all federal prisons and it was pretty much the best thing that could have happened to the packaged mackerel industry (yes, you read that correctly…the packaged fish). So how did a smelly package of fish become the gold standard of America’s federal prisons? Well, for a variety of reasons (we’ll let your imagination run wild) prisoners are not allowed to […]
Monday 21:56 GMT Overview Global equities sold off on Monday, encouraging flows into sovereign debt, after Asian markets were rattled by North Korea firing missiles into the Sea of Japan and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate meeting drew nearer. US President Donald Trump’s latest spat with the country’s security services may also be damping the mood somewhat as markets continue to price in a rate rise by […]
By David Lawder | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Trump administration trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Monday the $65 billion U.S. trade deficit with Germany was “one of the most difficult” trade issues, and bilateral discussions were needed to reduce it outside of European Union restrictions. Navarro, the director of the new White House National Trade Council, said at an economic conference in Washington that Germany has used the […]
TOKYO U.S. stock futures dropped and Asian shares were on the defensive on Monday as investors weighed the near-certain prospect of an interest rate hike in the United States this month against news of slower growth in China this year. Risk appetite also took a hit on rising geopolitical tensions in East Asia, as North Korea fired four ballistic missiles early in the day, while a spat […]
China has lowered its annual economic growth target to “around” 6.5 per cent, as Beijing plans to focus on risk control in the final year of President Xi Jinping’s first term. The figure, down from the government’s target growth range of 6.5 to 7 per cent for 2016, was revealed on Sunday morning by Premier Li Keqiang in his annual “work report” to China’s parliament, the National […]
The calendar may have only just flipped into March, but it has already felt like a long year for dollar bulls. They have been frustrated with the wait for detail from Donald Trump on the proposed tax and fiscal policies that started their run at his election in November. It is a rally that has faded in 2017, with the US currency down 0.25 per cent this […]
