Americas markets snapshot: Rising commodities lift stocks
Latin American stocks finished an already strong week even higher as optimism over Chinese manufacturing data lifted global spirits. Brazil’s Bovespa posted its best weekly gain since July and Mexico’s IPC hit a five-month high as commodities prices gained. Continue reading »
Siam Gas warms to idea of more LPG assets in China
By Mintoi Chessa-Florea of mergermarket
Asia has proven to be a lucrative region for companies in the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector. As groups like South Korea’s KNOC and China’s Sinopec scramble to snaffle up energy resources globally, Bangkok-based Siam Gas and Petrochemicals looks well positioned to profit from rising demand for energy.
Thailand’s restrictions on LPG pricing has meant the company has had to look to neighbouring countries for growth. With LPG platforms in Singapore, Vietnam and China, it’s acquisition of BP’s Zhuhai LPG terminal in Guangdong province this week for close to $101m appears to be a logical step for Siam Gas’ regional expansion. Continue reading »
CEE markets wrap: Russia’s stocks hit 5-mth high, WTO bid moves forward
Russian stocks rose to a five-month high on Friday, as the price of oil climbed past $81 a barrel. The region’s other indices were mixed.
The Hungarian forint gained around 2 per cent against the Swiss franc and the dollar (see chart), ahead of Sunday’s municipal elections, which are expected to strengthened prime minister Viktor Orban. Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs predicted Poland will be the fastest-growing country in the eurozone next year. Continue reading »
Sinopec’s $7.1bn investment in Brazil, via Repsol, may well not be its last. Brazil’s oil reserves are, by some measures, larger than Russia’s or Kuwait’s, and the country’s oil provinces need massive amounts of foreign capital to develop. That’s without even thinking about the famous “pre-salt” reservoirs, buried under thousands of metres of seawater, rock and salt.
Take OGX, the energy company founded by billionaire Brazilian entrepreneur Eike Batista just three years ago – but already with a market cap of around $42.5bn. Continue reading »
Over the last few years Poland has had a knack for surprising on the upside, and the release of today’s PMI numbers are no exception. They show unexpectedly positive sentiment among Polish business, which presages a stronger-than-expected recovery.
In data released today, the headline manufacturing PMI for Poland rose to 54.7 in September, up from 53.8 a month earlier, its highest level in four years (the consensus among analysts was for a PMI of 53). Any level above 50 means that the economy is expanding. The numbers also show that new orders are up, as is hiring. Continue reading »
Asia markets wrap: Indian stocks lead gains; Foxconn raises salaries
Asian stocks continued their gains on Friday, as foreign investors bet on the region’s growth prospects. India’s Sensex was up nearly 2 per cent, despite a manufacturing survery suggesting that production was growing at its slowest rate for ten months.
South Korean car sales also slowed, with analysts pointing to recent public holidays. Elsewhere, Foxconn – whose Chinese factories saw several worker suicides earlier this year – said it will raise salaries again. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* Sinopec invests $7bn in Brazil oil alliance with Repsol
* Zain faces Saudi Arabia sell-off
* Overcapacity, technology issues plague Chinese LED sector
* Washington pins hopes on India fighter deal
* Wal-Mart’s Africa ambitions may spark S African takeover spree Continue reading »
Brazil’s election: one round or two?
Brazil’s presidential election on Sunday has suddenly taken on new life, with a real chance it will go to a second round on October 31. Of course, barring a monumental upset, the eventual result will be the same: Dilma Rousseff, the candidate of the leftwing Workers’ party and the chosen successor of President Lula da Silva, is set to win comfortably. Does it matter whether her victory takes one round or two? It may well do, for better or worse. Continue reading »
Sinopec invests $7bn in Brazil oil alliance with Repsol
China is putting down roots in the backyard of Petrobras, the newly-crowned share issue king of world stock markets, with the announcement of a $7.1bn oil alliance in Brazil between Sinopec and Repsol.
In the latest step in China’s global hunt for oil – and one of the more expensive – Sinopec, a state-owned oil and gas company, is to take a minority stake in the Spanish energy group’s Brazilian subsidiary in order to exploit its oil deposits in the country. Continue reading »
Further reading: cheap cars and Porsches for EM, Brazilian dreams, China’s stingy rich
From the FT,
From elsewhere,
Fears that the bitter, often bloody, religious rivalry in India between Hindus and Muslims could once again flare up, have moved Indian business groups to speak up.
They are normally reticent about publicly commenting on sensitive political issues, but the potential threat to the global focus on the country’s growth story has changed that. In the hours after Thursday’s verdict in the decades-old dispute over a holy site in the northern town of Ayodhya, India’s two major business groups joined politicians, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in issuing forceful appeals for calm. Continue reading »
[Bric Food File] Turkish controls distort meat prices
At the Turkish feast of sacrifice, kurban bayram, all good Muslims who can afford to do so offer an animal – and haggling over the price is almost as much a part of the ritual as the sacrifice itself.
But this year red meat prices are so high that lamb and beef products – ranging from döner kebab to sheep’s trotters – are becoming something of a luxury. The government would like to bring prices down in time for the November feast, but it is struggling to do so: one example of the anomalies caused by Turkey’s protection of its food sector. Continue reading »
Russia: the quandaries facing Medvedev
Russia’s efforts to modernise its economy and diversify from its dependence on raw materials sectors are examined in a special report on investing in Russia that the FT publishes on Friday. It hones in on the quandaries facing Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, as he seeks to make good on pledges to stimulate innovation in the economy and battle a bloated bureaucracy.
The report raises interesting questions over whether Medvedev can carve a line independent of his predecessor, Vladimir Putin, and pursue the liberal political reforms some critics argue are necessary to root out corruption and free business for innovative projects. Continue reading »
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