KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian police identified a senior official in the North Korean embassy on Wednesday as a suspect in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, and said another was linked to North Korea’s state airline. Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said both suspects are still in Malaysia and have been called in for questioning. He said North Korean diplomat held the rank of second secretary at the […]
By Shinichi Saoshiro | TOKYO TOKYO Asian stocks edged up on Wednesday, joining a record-setting night for world markets as investors cheered upbeat factory activity in Europe and solid earnings on Wall Street. The dollar was steady after hawkish comments from top Federal Reserve officials bolstered expectations the world’s no. 1 economy was strong enough to keep policymakers on course to further raise rates this year. MSCI’s […]
Rising angst over the outcome of France’s presidential election sent the premium investors are demanding to own French debt instead of German bonds to a new post-eurozone crisis high. The gap between the yield on 10-year French debt and German equivalent bonds exceeded 0.81 percentage points for the first time since August 2012, as a fresh poll showing far right candidate Marine Le Pen is on course […]
Wholesale telecommunications and cloud services provider Inabox has announced it has successfully raised AU$4 million via a private placement that it said will be used to pay down short-term debt from its recent acquisition of Hostworks Group and its associated companies. Under the placement, 3,636,364 fully paid ordinary shares will be issued at AU$1.10 per share, and the placement shares are expected to commence trading on the […]
U.S. stocks rose to fresh record highs on Tuesday, boosted by strong earnings reports from Wal-Mart and Home Depot and continued optimism about the economic agenda of President Donald Trump. Wal-Mart’s (WMT.N) shares were the top gainer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, rising 3 percent after the world’s largest retailer reported higher-than-expected U.S. sales. Home Depot (HD.N) shares gained 1.4 percent after the home improvement retailer […]
The International Monetary Fund’s description of Greek debt as potentially explosive has left negotiators in Brussels struggling to bridge the differences between Athens and its creditors before time runs out to avert default. With creditors unwilling to release the next tranche of bailout money needed to keep the country afloat, Greece is facing €7bn of debt redemptions in July that it cannot afford. Investors appear to have […]
European markets regulators are examining a potential loophole in share-trading rules, which they fear promotes lightly regulated, private networks rather than placing curbs on trade away from public exchanges. Concern is mounting that the rules, which take effect from next January, could be exploited by some banks and high-frequency traders (HTF), to sidestep policymakers’ determination to make share trading more transparent. In an effort to improve trading […]
21 February 2017 Dubai – Auerbach Grayson & Company, LLC, a New York-based brokerage firm specializing in global trade execution and exclusive in-depth research on developed, frontier and emerging markets, announced today that it has partnered with Dubai-based Arqaam Capital, the specialist emerging markets investment bank, to provide U.S. investors with greater access to the Middle East and South Africa. Through its exclusive partnership with Arqaam Capital, […]
Success for banks selling large blocks of stock in the European market this year points to a supportive environment for new listings in the months ahead, bankers say. There have been 70 such accelerated offerings so far this year according to Dealogic, worth €11.3bn, more than double the €5.5bn sold in the same period a year ago when anxiety about the state of China’s economy prompted much […]
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has reiterated that parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal are still worth salvaging despite the United States’ withdrawal last month, with Australia to continue pushing for a revised deal during a meeting in March with the remaining TPP members in Chile. “While Australia is disappointed by the decision of the United States to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, we are […]
As the world’s oil traders descend on London this week, the hot subject will be how to keep North Sea Brent, the benchmark for the global oil price, fit for purpose. S&P Global Platts , the oil pricing agency, is trying to execute the biggest overhaul of North Sea oil trading in a decade, with plans to rejig how prices in the region are set ahead of […]
LONDON Shares in Anglo-Dutch consumer goods group Unilever (ULVR.L) (UNc.AS) dropped 8 percent on Monday after U.S. rival Kraft Heinz Co (KHC.O) abruptly ditched its surprise $143 billion merger proposal. Backed by Warren Buffett and the private equity firm 3G, Kraft had wanted to buy Unilever to build a global consumer goods giant but its offer was flatly rejected on Friday by the maker of Lipton tea […]
Key to enhancing and diversifying its service offering in the domestic maritime industry 20 February 2017 Riyadh – Saudi Arabia – Bahri, a global leader in logistics and transportation, has opened a new office in Mumbai to strengthen its presence in the fast-growing Indian maritime industry and lay the foundation to offer diverse shipping services to domestic customers. The new office, located in the central suburb of […]
Stock markets in the Middle East were mixed in modest trading volumes on Sunday with Saudi Arabia and Qatar outperforming because of support from the banking sector, while Egypt fell as the currency hit a three-month high. Two-thirds of the 12 listed banks on Saudi Arabia’s bourse gained, lifting the index 0.1 percent. Alawwal Bank added 2.7 percent, with most activity occurring in the last hour of […]
SINGAPORE — It is important at this juncture for the United States and China to articulate their overarching foreign policy objectives towards Asia, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said yesterday. During a panel discussion at the 53rd Munich Security Conference in Germany, Dr Ng said the US’ ability as a military power to continue its presence and influence in the Pacific was “not in doubt”. “But this […]
Partnership will maximise onshore field value in support of ADNOC’s long-term growth objectives 19 February 2017 Abu Dhabi, UAE – Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), today, signed an agreement with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), awarding it an 8% interest in Abu Dhabi’s onshore oil concession. CNPC contributed a sign up bonus of AED 6.5 billion ($1.77 billion) to enter the concession. The onshore […]
Theresa May has ordered her top officials to examine Kraft Heinz’s proposed takeover of Unilever to see if it raises concerns for the wider British economy and merits government intervention. The $143bn takeover approach is a big test for Mrs May’s industrial policy: last year she criticised Kraft’s 2010 takeover of the British chocolate maker Cadbury — the US company reneged on a promise to retain factories […]
Here are the questions the FT Markets team will be pondering this week: What do retail flows mean? Money flows are widely watched but, like anything in markets, there is signal and then there is noise. Investors poured money into global stock funds last week, one when US stock markets set fresh records, and US long-only equity funds received the first net inflow of cash ($0.5bn) in […]
Pakistan stocks exchange (PSX) remained under pressure during the week ended February 17, 2017 as worsening security situation and political uncertainty kept the participants on the sidelines, dealers said. An analyst at Arif Habib Limited (AHL) said mixed trend was witnessed at the local bourse with levels above the psychological 50K mark seemingly untenable. “Resistance became the underlying theme of the market given reservations over the ongoing […]
China has banned coal imports from North Korea until the end of 2017, the Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday, after a week in which Pyongyang tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile and carried out an assassination in Malaysia. Kim Jong Nam the brother of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un, was killed by two female assailants in the Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday. He had been living […]
By Emily Chow and Liz Lee | KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian police said on Saturday they had arrested a North Korean man in connection with the murder of the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as a diplomatic spat over his body escalated. Kim Jong Nam died this week after being assaulted at Kuala Lumpur International Airport with what was thought to be […]
When Paul Polman became chief executive of Unilever, the consumer goods company which on Friday rejected a $143bn takeover approach from Kraft Heinz, he told investors to steer clear unless they were prepared to sacrifice short-term profit for “sustainable” ideals. The same message has been delivered to the maker of Kool-Aid drinks and Oscar Mayer hot dogs, with a flat rejection of a deal that would be […]
Mondelez shares dropped 5 per cent in early trading on Friday after Kraft Heinz’s approach for Unilever lessened the odds that the US group would be an acquisition target. Speculation of a potential take-over by Kraft of Mondelez was a “key factor supporting multiples for the group at such a high level,” said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Christopher Growe. “While this potential transaction (between Kraft and Unilever) does […]
The shares of several competing food producers were under pressure on Friday after Kraft Heinz approached Unilever to propose a $143bn takeover. Mondelez, Kellogg, General Mills and Campbell Soup are all seen as potential buyout targets for Kraft, said Christopher Growe, analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. “While this potential transaction does not count out a future acquisition of these businesses, it certainly delays the potential at least a […]
