Americas markets wrap: Stocks rise and currencies firm on US jobs report
Latin American markets rose today as an upbeat jobs report in the US eased worries over the health of the economy of one of the region’s biggest trading partners.
Stock indices gained and most currencies firmed against the dollar and investors’ risk appetite picked up, despite lower commodities prices. Continue reading »
Private equity investment surges 55% in emerging markets
Emerging markets are seeing a “robust recovery” in private equity investment, led by a surge in Latin America and strong levels in India and China, according to a report by the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association.
Flows are already 55 per cent ahead of where they were this time last year and are expected to remain strong, according to figures collected by the industry group. In the first half of 2010, investments totaled $13bn, compared with $8bn in the first six months of 2009. 402 deals have been completed so far this year, up 44 per cent from 280 last year. Continue reading »
Better-than-expected US job figures and strong earnings helped to buoy central and eastern European markets, as most bourses pared early losses on Wednesday. Investors were in risk-on mode in afternoon trading, encouraged by strong demand for Czech and Polish bonds. Currencies were mainly down, save for the Czech crown and the Polish zloty, both of which were firm due to successful bond auctions. News that the IMF would extend its $20bn loan had little effect on Romanian shares, and the leu barely moved in day trading. Continue reading »
An amusing paradox: China needs copper for its rural electrification programme, and its supplier of choice is Chile, whose copper production has been suffering from power cuts.
But for Codelco, Chile’s state miner and the world’s largest copper producer, the stakes are very serious. It forecast this week that China’s rural electrification programme could increase demand for copper by 1m tonnes over the next two-and-a-half years.
That’s over $70bn worth of copper at current prices. Continue reading »
Guest post: Colombia’s fiscal rule leaves plenty of room for disappointment
By Hernan Yellati, Javier Finkman and Marjorie Hernandez of HSBC
Outgoing president Álvaro Uribe wants to cement his legacy with a fiscal rule for future administrations that will address Colombia’s main economic weakness – its relatively large structural fiscal deficit.
In the final weeks of his presidency, he proposed a fiscal rule that targets a primary surplus of 1 per cent of GDP by 2016. If achieved, this would reduce Colombia’s debt-to-GDP ratio to 28 per cent from 38 per cent by 2020, representing a 1 percentage point contraction per year of Colombia’s indebtedness ratio. But how would the plan work and what would it mean for Colombia’s economy? Continue reading »
Deal of the day: Pilsen changes hands, after steel price rebounds
By Pamela Barbaglia and Rob Hartley of mergermarket
The recent run of steel acquisitions, which has involved Indian and South Korean companies, has spread to Europe.
Russia’s United Group, headed by Igor Shamis, has bought Pilsen Steel of the Czech Republic for an estimated 175m euros ($231m) – in a deal originally mooted two years ago. Continue reading »
Poland: homebuyers rush to beat forex regulation
Fear can be a powerful motivator – as Polish property developers are happily finding out.
Consumers are afraid that Poland’s banking regulator will tighten up rules on foreign-currency lending on August 23. So they are rushing to snap up flats now, before any new regulation can come into force. Continue reading »
More hints from China on the renminbi
Today brings yet more hints from Chinese regulators about the future opening up of the country’s capital account.
Ever since China said in late June that it was abandoning its dollar peg, the Chinese central bank has published a blizzard of public statements explaining its position – five from vice governor Hu Xiaolian and another bunch from Safe, the body that manages China’s foreign exchange reserves and regulates the currency market.
Why all the announcements from the usually media-shy regulators? Continue reading »
Another day, another potential EM billionaire football club owner
On Monday it was Liverpool and Kenneth Huang (unless of course, it turns out to be Liverpool and Yahya Kirdi). But today it’s the turn of north-west neighbour, and rather less glamourous, Blackburn Rovers, who the Daily Telegraph reports have had an offer from Indian tycoon Ahasan Ali Syed. Continue reading »
Taiwan’s regulator opens the floodgates to Chinese investment
It’s never been easy for Taiwan’s insurers to generate meaningful returns, a reality that has earned the industry the dubious reputation of having the lowest average profitability in the industry globally.
There are plenty of reasons: Taiwan’s insurance market is saturated, local competition is intense, and a low interest rate environment over the last two years has held insurers back from greater investment opportunities.
So a decision by Taiwan’s financial regulator this week to open the gates for Taiwanese insurers to invest in previously restricted Chinese stocks and bonds was met with a sigh of relief from the industry. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* Indonesia catches eye of S Korean firms
* China seeks to widen gold market, gold futures rise
* Universal in Indian 3G music deal with Reliance
* Buenos Aires readies bond sale as borrowing costs tumble
* Adani buys Linc coal assets for $2.72bn Continue reading »
Asia markets wrap: exporters wary; Indonesia holds rates
Chinese and Indian stocks gained modestly on Wednesday, but other Asian indices were subdued, as investors weighed up poor US data and the weakening dollar’s impact on exports.
The Bombay Sensex was among the strongest performers: rising 0.6 per cent to 18,217.44 in late trading, 13.6 per cent above its May low. Continue reading »
Philippine Airlines: when help isn’t helpful
It began as pilot trouble. From Saturday, Philippine Airlines (PAL), the country’s flag carrier, cancelled or rescheduled close to 40 domestic flights after 25 pilots quit their posts on short notice for better paying jobs with Middle Eastern airlines. At least one flight from Hong Kong was cancelled.
By the middle of the week, it had grown into a full-blown national crisis at the top of the agenda of the five-week old government of Philippine president Benigno Aquino III. Continue reading »
For a UK-listed bank so engrained into Hong Kong’s financial system that it issues HK$ banknotes, Mumbai may not have seemed the obvious place to present an earnings statement.
But perhaps that decision, and the bank’s listing on the Indian stock exchange in May should have been a forecast of the numbers. Continue reading »
Indian air travel: Soaring
India’s aviation industry has recently flown through a turbulent patch. As soaring fuel prices were followed by the global downturn, India’s airline struggled with rocketing costs, and a sharp drop in passenger numbers, as Indians sharply pared back air travel.
But that was last year. Continue reading »
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