Daily Archives: August 9, 2010

Brazilian banks join forces for African venture

August 9, 2010 10:26 pm by Vincent Bevins

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Banco do Brasil and private competitor Bradesco will form a partnership with Portugal’s Banco Espirito Santo to expand activities into Africa, the companies announced today. Banco Espirito Santo, which already has activities on the continent, will form a holding company, BES Africa, and the three banks will be its main shareholders.

Finance minister Guido Mantega said the move would allow the banks to attend to Brazilian businesses and citizens in Africa, as well as expand into a growing and welcome market. “There is a great amount of affinity and receptivity for Brazil in Africa,” he said. Continue reading »

Posted in Africa, Brazil | Permalink

Americas markets wrap: Stocks close lower but currencies firm against dollar

August 9, 2010 10:13 pm by Shannon Bond

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Brazilian and Mexican stocks pared early gains to close lower today as global markets waited to see what the Federal Reserve will do in its Tuesday meeting. But regional currencies were firmer against the dollar as investors pared expectations for higher interest rates.

In Brazil, economists cut their predictions for further rate hikes for the third week, reducing their year-end forecast to 11 percent from 11.5 percent.

In Mexico, inflation dipped again in July to 3.6 per cent, which Neil Shearing of Capital Economics said “reinforc[es] our long-held belief that policymakers are unlikely to begin raising interest rates until well into 2011.” Continue reading »

Posted in Global, LatAm | Permalink

Is Venezuela’s debt worth the risk?

August 9, 2010 9:02 pm by Benedict Mander

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Why would anyone in their right minds invest in Venezuelan debt, which is considered the riskiest sovereign debt on the planet? It’s a question quite a few people may be asking themselves right now, given the announcement on Sunday by finance minister Jorge Giordani that a $3bn issue is on its way after all (despite a number of recent denials).

Ok, so it’s considered to be mighty risky – but is that altogether fair? Venezuela may happen to be run by a rather temperamental president who assures us that he is trying to turn his country into a socialist paradise, but it’s also true that Hugo Chávez has never defaulted on any debt, or even threatened to do so; and for now at least there is no particular reason why Venezuela should need, or even want to. Continue reading »

Tags: bonds Posted in Venezuela | Permalink

Will Gel Boy vanquish Mexico City’s transport troubles?

August 9, 2010 7:34 pm by beyondbrics

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By Ronald Buchanan in Mexico City

The travails of Mexicana are not the only headaches facing Mexico’s transport authorities. The Mexico City suburban railway, the suburbano, was hailed just over two years ago as the first of three lines to ease traffic in the Mexican megalopolis.

But even at fares of less than 70p for a 10-mile trip, the average number of passengers is about 125,000 passengers a day, down from the 280,000 forecast. Spain’s CAF, the railway’s constructor and operator which has spent about $1bn on the concession, could be looking for a solution. Continue reading »

Tags: transport Posted in Mexico | Permalink

Deal of the day: Brazil’s Hypermarcas keeps shopping

August 9, 2010 6:30 pm by beyondbrics

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By Mintoi Chessa-Florea of mergermarket

Brazil accounts for over half of all Latin American retail sales, and the emerging middle classes are heading for the checkouts.

Behind the scenes, Hypermarcas, the country’s largest maker of disposable consumer products, is working through its own shopping list. Continue reading »

Tags: consumption, M&A, mergermarket Posted in Brazil | Permalink

CEE markets wrap: Micex leads resilient equities

August 9, 2010 6:00 pm by Henry Mance

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Central and eastern European stock markets were broadly positive on Monday, showing resilience to poor US jobs data on Friday.

In Russia, the ongoing wheat crisis failed to drag down the country’s equities, with the Micex Index seeing its biggest rise in a week. The Micex closed afternoon trading up 1.2 per cent at 1,419.20, although the emergency scenario in Moscow did mean the volume of deals hit a month-long low. Continue reading »

Posted in Europe, Global | Permalink

The EM bond boom: follow the money

August 9, 2010 5:40 pm by Josh Noble

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Emerging market bonds are booming. Fund inflows so far this year have already hit an all-time high, standing at $21.6bn at the end of July, compared to just $8.2bn in 2009. But where’s the money going? Data from EPFR helps shine a light.

Unsurprisingly, Indonesia has seen a lot of interest. The county’s economy is growing at breakneck speed, and its equity market the world’s best performer this year – up 21.6 per cent. On the fixed income side, appetite has been equally strong. Continue reading »

Tags: bonds Posted in Global | Permalink

Murdoch and China: end of the affair

August 9, 2010 5:02 pm by Kathrin Hille

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In a way, News Corporation’s decision to give up on building a broadcasting business in China on its own is a sign of the times. The feelings of Western business towards China in general have cooled, and rarely a week passes without a new protest over discriminatory policies or arrogant attitudes from Beijing. But while these complaints are reactions to a relatively new and surprising trend, News Corp’s move was long overdue.

The hope of Rupert Murdoch, the group’s founder and chairman, that he could charm the Chinese government into letting him broadcast to the homes of the average Chinese in their local language was a pipe dream all along. Continue reading »

Posted in China | Permalink

Guest post: Africa needs a bond market

August 9, 2010 3:36 pm by beyondbrics

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By Jan Dehn of Ashmore Investment Management

Sub-Saharan Africa is the last great region of the world that remains almost exclusively dependent on western donor money for financing government deficits. Only a small number of countries have access to global capital markets.

The consensus has been that African countries should not source non-concessional finance. But changing financial conditions among donor countries now call this consensus into question. This presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Continue reading »

Tags: guest post Posted in Africa, Global | Permalink

Drought to hit Russian wallets

August 9, 2010 12:15 pm by Courtney Weaver

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Moscow’s surprise decision last week to ban grain exports sent shockwaves through global commodities markets, as concerns mounted that traders would horde their stockpiles and markets would see a revival of the 2007-08 global food crisis.

Despite the Kremlin’s attempts to regain control over domestic food prices, the inflation outlook is starting to look testing. And with drought and fires continuing to wreak havoc on at least a fifth of the season’s grain plantings – there’s no sign of any relief yet. Continue reading »

Posted in Russia | Permalink

Asia markets wrap: equities hit multi-month highs

August 9, 2010 11:58 am by Henry Mance

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Hopes for strong Asian earnings and looser US monetary policy pushed Asian markets to multi-month highs on Monday. Banks and commodity stocks led indices, as they continued last week’s gains, ahead of the Fed’s rate decision on Tuesday.

The Bombay Sensex reached a new 30-month high: up around 0.8 per cent in late trading to 18,276.93. Hero Honda was up around 1.7 per cent, as July auto sales hit record highs and domestic demand for automobiles expected to remain robust; Tata Motors hit its highest level since January 2007, rising 2.8 per cent before tomorrow’s earnings figures. Continue reading »

Posted in Asia, Global | Permalink

New York headlines

August 9, 2010 11:56 am by beyondbrics

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* News Corp sells controlling stake in China TV channels

* Ecuador renegotiates with foreign oil firms

* Plastic Logic in sale talks with Rusnano

* BRICs losing to Turkey in stocks as Indonesia swaps beat Russia

* Wheat surge gives way to bout of profit taking

Posted in Global | Permalink

Taiwan: no time for slowdown as hi-tech exports speed up

August 9, 2010 11:22 am by Robin Kwong

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Slowdown? What slowdown? Despite manufacturing data that suggests a slowdown in expansion in Taiwan and across Asia, the island’s hi-tech exporters continued to ship electronic goods to the rest of the world at a furious pace in July.

Taiwan’s exports of electronic goods hit a historic high in July with $6.7bn, according to government data released Monday. This helped power overall exports to grow to $23.9bn, a 5.2 per cent rise from last month and 38.5 per cent higher than a year ago. Continue reading »

Tags: manufacturing Posted in Taiwan | Permalink

Is Infosys a ‘chop shop’?

August 9, 2010 10:38 am by James Fontanella-Khan

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The debate on protectionism in the US took an ugly turn last week when Charles Schumer, a New York Senator, likened India’s Infosys, an IT giant, to a ‘chop shop’.

What was the Democratic Senator trying to say? A chop shop is a place where stolen cars are dismantled so their parts can be resold. As a description of one of India’s most well-respected companies, the best you can say is that Schumer’s comment was misguided. Continue reading »

Tags: outsourcing, protectionism Posted in India, Thailand | Permalink

beyondbrics

Daily Archives: August 9, 2010

Brazilian banks join forces for African venture

Americas markets wrap: Stocks close lower but currencies firm against dollar

Is Venezuela’s debt worth the risk?

Will Gel Boy vanquish Mexico City’s transport troubles?

Deal of the day: Brazil’s Hypermarcas keeps shopping

CEE markets wrap: Micex leads resilient equities

The EM bond boom: follow the money

Murdoch and China: end of the affair

Guest post: Africa needs a bond market

Drought to hit Russian wallets

Asia markets wrap: equities hit multi-month highs

New York headlines

Taiwan: no time for slowdown as hi-tech exports speed up

Is Infosys a ‘chop shop’?

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