Daily Archives: October 15, 2010

Americas markets wrap: Stocks fall after Bernanke speech

October 15, 2010 10:11 pm by Shannon Bond
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Brazil's BovespaLatin American markets moved mostly lower on Friday after US Fed chief Ben Bernanke said more monetary stimulus may be necessary to battle high unemployment and the prospect of deflation in one of Latin America’s lead trading partners. Indices fell in Mexico and Chile, while Brazil pared losses to close slightly higher, and regional currencies weakened against the dollar. But the region’s major indices finished slightly higher for the week, boosted by Wednesday’s strong rally. Continue reading »

Posted in Global, LatAm |

Venezuela heats up Russian affair

October 15, 2010 8:19 pm by Benedict Mander
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (R) and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez speak during a signing ceremony in the Kremlin in MoscowIt is hard to say who gains more from the burgeoning relationship between Russia and Venezuela. But it is clear who loses: the US.

News today that Russia is to build a nuclear power station in Venezuela will only rile Washington even more, but it follows a string of events that have been consistently noted with disquiet on Capitol Hill. Continue reading »

Posted in Russia, Venezuela |

Currency peaks test Andean exporters

October 15, 2010 6:35 pm by Naomi Mapstone
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How can you tell when a plane full of Brits lands at Sydney airport? The whining continues after the engines shut down.

That old joke adapts well to Colombia. The country has the Andean region’s busiest cargo airport – but these days the whining comes not just from the planes, but from exporters upset by the inexorable rise of the Colombian peso. For policymakers, the whining sound is a direct route to a headache. Continue reading »

Posted in Colombia, Peru |

Russia: is Walmart still shopping?

October 15, 2010 6:30 pm by Courtney Weaver
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Walmart doesn’t shirk challenges. The company has successfully weathered a hate-documentary by Michael Moore, mitigated union conflicts in the US, and broken into markets ranging from Brazil to China to India.

The world’s largest retailer now operates in 15 different countries. So why, despite nearly a decade of effort, isn’t Russia one of them? Continue reading »

Posted in Russia |

Infosys brings currency quarrel to India

October 15, 2010 6:08 pm by Barney Jopson
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India has steered clear of the verbal jousting, capital controls and forex sales associated with the nascent ‘currency war’, but now one of its corporate icons, Infosys, has waded in on the country’s behalf.

The IT company’s chief financial officer said on Friday that the strengthening rupee “will kill” the whole export industry. “The RBI [central bank] has no choice but to intervene at some point in time, like every other country,” V. Balakrishnan said. Continue reading »

Tags: Posted in India |

CEE markets wrap: Turkish stocks recover

October 15, 2010 5:42 pm by Henry Mance
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Stocks in emerging Europe had a subdued end to the week, although Turkish equities did recover some of Thursday’s losses. Russia’s largest oil producer, Rosneft, underperformed, after announcing that it was paying $1.6bn for Venezuela’s state oil company’s stake in a German refinery. In Poland, analysts said that the Warsaw Stock Exchange may receive close to the maximum price in its long-awaited IPO. Meanwhile, the dollar rose against the region’s currencies following a speech by the US Federal Reserve chairman. Continue reading »

Posted in Global |

S Africa: who needs HSBC anyway?

October 15, 2010 3:56 pm by Simon Mundy
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Two months ago, when HSBC was chasing an $8bn swoop for South Africa’s Nedbank, local analysts greeted it as a vote of confidence in the domestic banking sector. Now that the British bank has abandoned the chase, a stoical attitude prevails.

People close to HSBC told the FT that due diligence on Nedbank had proved unexpectedly tricky – and that may explain Friday’s announcement that HSBC was terminating negotiations to buy the majority stake currently owned by Old Mutual. Continue reading »

Tags: , Posted in South Africa |

Brazil security: there’s more work to do

October 15, 2010 3:07 pm by Vincent Bevins
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Many Brazilians have been glad to see their country’s emergence as a vibrant economic power begin to eclipse yesterday’s national stereotypes: football, sex, and violence.

But last week, the world was given a grim reminder of the less attractive aspects of the old Brazil, when Google Street View reportedly captured images of dead bodies strewn throughout the streets of Rio and other cities. This made a small splash in the foreign press, but not so much locally, where the images were unfortunately less surprising. Continue reading »

Tags: Posted in Brazil |

Hungary: chilling times for business

October 15, 2010 1:45 pm by Stefan Wagstyl
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Investors seem to have taken in their stride the radical taxes proposed by Viktor Orban, Hungary’s maverick prime minister. The currency and the stock market, which suffered earlier this year on Orban’s dubious commitment to austerity, have actually risen slightly since the taxes were announced on Wednesday (see charts below).

There is some relief that new taxes – which would apply to telecoms, energy and retail companies – will plug budget gaps in 2010 and 2011. But it is hard to see how Orban can build a credible long-term programme on the basis of such arbitrary actions. Continue reading »

Tags: Posted in Hungary |

Gas relief for Peru’s government

October 15, 2010 1:10 pm by Naomi Mapstone
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Peru’s government has struggled to convince voters that the country has sufficient natural gas for both domestic needs and exports. So recent news is most welcome.

Brazil’s Petrobras has discovered 1.7 trillion cubic feet of gas in south-east Peru. That will secure domestic supply in Peru’s south for the next 20 years, says the country’s president Alan García. Meanwhile, García’s government has awarded 14 new exploration lots to international companies. Continue reading »

Tags: Posted in Peru |

The Philippines: Shell in tax probe

October 15, 2010 12:45 pm by Roel Landingin
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The Philippine unit of Royal Dutch Shell probably never expected to be called “a sacred cow” even though it is one of the country’s best-known companies. But neither did Pilipinas Shell Petroleum think that it might be accused of tax dodging or “technical” smuggling.

But that’s what’s happened. The company has become the first multinational to be hit by President Benigno Aquino III’s high-profile campaign against alleged tax-dodgers. And it may not be the last. Continue reading »

Tags: Posted in Philippines |

New York headlines

October 15, 2010 11:57 am by beyondbrics
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* Russia’s Monocrystal shelves IPO plans

* Eateries thrive but Asia’s recovery on knife edge

* Argentine president vetoes pension increase law

* Andhra Pradesh to curb India microfinance

* Chinese bankers jittery about property market Continue reading »

Posted in Global |

Asia markets wrap: Shanghai jumps; Infosys calls for currency move

October 15, 2010 11:48 am by Henry Mance
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Chinese stocks jumped over 3 per cent on Thursday, extending their five-month high. However, India’s Sensex lagged for a second day, in spite of good corporate news.

Asian currencies were largely flat today ahead of a speech by the US Federal Reserve chairman. An executive at Infosys, India’s second-largest software services exporter, said exchange rate volatility “will kill [India's] whole export industry”, and called for the Indian central bank to intervene. The rupee has strengthened nearly 8 per cent since a May low (see chart). Continue reading »

Posted in Global |

Further reading: what’s wrong with Basel, Reliance and China

October 15, 2010 11:30 am by beyondbrics
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From the FT:

From elsewhere:

Posted in Global |

China: Go long property by shorting your marriage

October 15, 2010 11:10 am by Jamil Anderlini
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The Chinese government has introduced all sorts of measures to rein in overheated property prices and throttle speculation in the sector but it is finding that Chinese investors will go to extraordinary lengths to evade the rules.

According to anecdotal reports and Chinese state media, couples in large cities like Shanghai are faking their own divorces in order to get around new regulations that limit the number of properties each household can buy. Continue reading »

Tags: Posted in China |
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