global news Archives

1. Stocks Slump, Dollar Rebounds Amid Risk-Off Mood

Investors are winding up the week doing risk-off trades, with U.S. stimulus talks hung up and coronavirus developments weighing on sentiment. The dollar rose the most in a month. European stocks fell 1% as record virus deaths in Germany prompts discussion about whether to impose a hard lockdown over the holiday season. The pound slumped 1% as a key European official warned a no-deal split with the U.K. was the likeliest outcome by Dec. 31. U.S. equity futures sank in the wake of stimulus talks stalling over whether to shield companies from virus lawsuits.

Futures on the S&P 500 Index dipped 0.7% as of early morning New York time.

Nasdaq 100 Index futures decreased 0.7%.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped 1.1%.

The MSCI Emerging Market Index advanced 0.1%.

2. Hyundai Motor Buys 80% of Robotics Firm Boston Dynamics

Hyundai Motor Group agreed to buy a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics in a deal that values the mobile robot firm at $1.1 billion. Hyundai Motor Group, along with some associated companies, will acquire an 80% interest in the U.S. robotics company from SoftBank Group, leaving the Japanese firm with a 20% share. South Korean conglomerate Hyundai Motor Group has been beefing up its research in robotics as it expands further into electric and autonomous vehicles. It is also exploring practical uses for industrial robots.

3. FDA Vows Fast Pfizer Vaccine Action Amid Political Pressure

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it’s working toward rapid emergency-use authorization of Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine that was backed Thursday by a panel of agency advisers. The drug regulator has “notified the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Operation Warp Speed, so they can execute their plans for timely vaccine distribution,” the FDA said Friday in a statement. The FDA statement comes as the agency is under tremendous political pressure from President Donald Trump and his administration to clear the vaccine, which has already been approved by the U.K. and Canada. Weary Americans are also eager for an end to a pandemic that has killed nearly 300,000 and dealt a crippling blow to the economy.

4. Sri Lanka Debt Concerns Mount After Downgrade Deeper Into Junk

Markets are showing mounting concern about Sri Lanka’s ability to manage debt loads, amid financial deterioration that sparked a downgrade deeper into junk Friday. Prices of the country’s dollar bonds show that while traders expect securities next year to be repaid, they’re increasingly uneasy about dwindling cash reserves for debt bills down the line. Notes due in 2021 are indicated at about 88 cents on the dollar. That’s a level that shows some misgivings yet not alarm. But securities maturing in 2023 are at about 66 cents, while it’s even worse for ones due 2030 at 57 cents.

5. Hong Kong Buys 15 Million Vaccine Doses From Pfizer, Sinovac

The Chinese company with the rights to market the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in Hong Kong is preparing to seek approval of the shot soon after the U.S. clears it. Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group. is getting ready to submit paperwork to the drug regulator in Hong Kong for review as soon as next week. The development comes as Hong Kong on Friday announced it has struck deals for 15 million doses of shots from Pfizer-BioNTech and Chinese developer Sinovac Biotech Ltd., with the first vaccines to be received next month.

6. Sweden Explores Moving to a Digital Currency

Sweden’s government will start exploring the feasibility of having the country move to a digital currency, marking another step into the unknown for the world’s most cashless society. Sweden is among the first countries in the world to consider introducing a digital currency. Its central bank is already running a pilot project with Accenture to introduce an electronic krona based on the same blockchain technology that underpins digital currencies like Bitcoin. From the point of view of the government, Bolund said that “it’s crucial that the digitalized payments market functions safely, and that it’s available to everybody.”

7. Johnson and EU Warn of No Deal as Deadline Nears

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen both warned that a no-deal Brexit is looming on Dec. 31 as they continued last-ditch talks to try to reach a deal before Sunday. Johnson said on Friday that a no-deal Brexit at the end of the year now looks “very, very likely.” His pleas for European Union leaders to step in and salvage the faltering negotiations were frustrated as summit talks overran on Thursday night, pushing Brexit to the fringes. On Friday, von der Leyen spent just 10 minutes briefing government leaders on the subject. Both sides have said they will continue discussions until Sunday, but officials concede that, without fresh political direction, the negotiating teams will have little to talk about.

8. Gold Declines as Investors Weigh Stimulus and U.S. Job Woes

Gold declined as the dollar strengthened amid weak risk sentiment while fading prospects for a U.S. stimulus deal and poor jobs data raised questions over the economic recovery. European stocks and U.S. equity futures fell as investors wound up the week with risk-off trades, amid a worsening of the coronavirus pandemic. German cases and deaths rose the most since the outbreak began, while Indonesia reported record deaths. The dollar strengthened the most in almost two weeks, putting pressure on gold. U.S. efforts to draw up a coronavirus relief package hit another roadblock as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s top lieutenants said key portions of a compromise proposal aren’t likely to get backing from most Republicans. Meanwhile, applications for U.S. unemployment benefits surged last week, topping estimates with the highest level since September, casting a shadow over the strength of the recovery.

9. Malaysia’s Ringgit Erases Covid-19 Losses to Rise to Strongest Since 2018

Malaysia’s ringgit climbed to the strongest since July 2018, erasing its virus-fueled losses for the year. The currency rose as much as 0.3%. The gains came amid weakness in the greenback and a recent advance in crude prices. The ringgit has climbed with Asian peers this quarter as the dollar weakened and risk assets were boosted by Covid-19 vaccine developments. An easing of domestic political tension also helped, after Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin survived a key test to his leadership.

10. Aramco Hires Moelis to Raise Billions From Asset Sales

Saudi Arabia is looking to emulate neighbouring Abu Dhabi by using its state energy firm to raise billions of dollars from investors, as the kingdom seeks cash to counter a severe recession. Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company, has hired Moelis & Co. to devise a strategy for selling stakes in some subsidiaries. The plan includes raising around $10 billion from a stake sale in Aramco’s pipelines, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Saudi Arabia has been hammered this year by coronavirus lockdowns and the slump in crude prices. The economy will contract 5.4% in 2020, the most since the 1980s, according to the International Monetary Fund. The budget deficit could widen to 12% of gross domestic product.

1. U.S. Futures Drop on Jobless Data, Waning Stimulus Hope

U.S. stock futures slumped after jobless claims posted an unexpected increase amid waning prospects for more stimulus before the November election. Treasuries and the dollar rose. Risk assets also fell as Europe’s biggest cities clamped down to curb the virus, with central bank officials seeing strong reasons to avoid rushing into expanding government aid. Some sectors have done well, like a housing market that’s booming thanks to record-low mortgage. At the same time, the data show the recovery is already slowing. September saw the smallest gain in employment since a jobs rebound began in May.

2. European Stocks Slump With Virus Sparking New Restrictions

Stocks slumped around the world as Europe’s biggest cities clamped down to curb the coronavirus amid waning prospects for more economic stimulus. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 2.4%. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dipped 1.1%. The euro decreased 0.3% to the dollar .West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 3.5%.

3. Hong Kong Stocks Slide Most in 3 Weeks With Tech Firms Leading

Hong Kong stocks fell the most in more than three weeks, with tech shares leading losses. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 2.1% at the close. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. slid 4.3%, the most since July, after reports of the U.S. is seeking to blacklist its affiliate Ant Group. Tencent Holdings and Xiaomi Corp. fell at least 3.4%, among the worst performances. The tech industry has been a focus of tensions between China and the U.S., with Trump seeking to curtail the influence of Chinese apps such as Tencent’s WeChat super app.

4. Hong Kong-Singapore Travel Bubble to Reopen Financial Hub Links

Singapore and Hong Kong will open their borders to one another for the first time in almost seven months, exempting people in both cities from compulsory quarantine in an agreement that will reinstate links between Asia’s two premier financial hubs. Compulsory quarantine will be replaced by coronavirus testing. Hong Kong-listed Cathay Pacific Airways jumped as much as 7.8%, the most in more than seven weeks. Shares of Singapore Airlines rose 0.6%. Both carriers have been hit particularly hard by travel curbs and the drop in demand from the coronavirus pandemic because they don’t have a domestic market to fall back on.

5. London Households Banned from Mixing as Virus Rules Tightened

Londoners will be banned from mixing with other households indoors from this weekend as tighter coronavirus restrictions are imposed in an attempt to curb a rise in cases in the U.K. capital. The change in the rules, which will come into force at 00:01 a.m. on Saturday, was announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock in Parliament on Thursday.

6. Value Stocks Could Shine After U.S. Election, No Matter Who Wins

Next month’s U.S. election could bring in a shift from growth stocks into value, regardless of the outcome. Every presidential vote in at least the last 40 years has sparked a potential rotation from one part of the market to another no matter who is elected. This year, the contest could put value stocks in the limelight after growth shares have surged amid low interest rates and plunging bond yields.

7. Indonesia Now Has the Worst Virus Outbreak in Southeast Asia

Indonesia overtook the Philippines in its number of coronavirus cases, becoming the country with the largest outbreak in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia’s largest economy has been marking fresh records in the daily increase of virus cases every few weeks, while the Philippines have seen its numbers slowly ease. It was only in August that the Philippines overtook Indonesia to have the region’s worst outbreak as it brought back a second lockdown on its capital. Indonesia’s struggle to contain the spread of coronavirus infections is set to tip the economy into its first annual contraction since the Asian financial crisis.

8. Fate of formal and business fashion hangs by a thread

Most people in “white-collar” jobs are working from home, with a newfound love of sweatpants, a trend that some experts expect to outlive the pandemic. This seismic shift in behaviour is having profound repercussions across the supply chain for suits and formal wear. In Australia, the world’s biggest producer of merino wool, prices have been in freefall, hitting decade lows. In northern Italy, the wool mills that buy from the farmers and weave the fabric for high-end suits have seen their own orders from retailers nosedive. In the United States and Europe, several retail chains specialising in business attire such as Men’s Wearhouse, Brooks Brothers and TM Lewin have closed stores or filed for bankruptcy over the past few months.

9. Increased Chinese scrutiny triggers investment risk for ‘Beast’ Ant IPO

As Ant Group was working in August towards its giant IPO, at least two smaller Chinese banks with existing ties to the fintech firm decided to stop sourcing new consumer loans from it. Their moves came after regulators scrutinised banks that used Ant’s technology platform excessively for underwriting consumer loans at a time when concerns about loan defaults and lenders’ asset quality grew in a pandemic-hit economy.For its lending business, Ant originates loan demand from retail consumers and small businesses and passes that on to about 100 banks for underwriting and providing loans, earning fees from the bank and keeping itself free of risk.

10. World Health Organization: European cases rocket, strong limits needed

The exponential surge of coronavirus cases across Europe has warranted the restrictive measures being taken in numerous countries, making them “absolutely necessary,”. WHO warned that even more drastic steps could be taken if the pandemic does not recede. It called for countries to be “uncompromising” in their attempts to control the virus and said most of the COVID-19 spread is happening in homes, indoor spaces and communities not complying with protection measures, hence it is up to the citizens to accept them while they are still relatively easy to follow. The evolving epidemic in Europe raises great concern, but strict steps will be necessary to avoid the same very painful damaging actions seen in the first peak.