Sunday, June 4

Month: January 2023

UniCredit Hikes Payout Goal By 40% After Record Rofit
31Jan By Administrator_IndiaNo Comments
ECONOMIC NEWS

UniCredit Hikes Payout Goal By 40% After Record Rofit

UniCredit pledged on Tuesday to return 5.25 billion euros ($5.69 billion) to investors based on its 2022 results after posting a record quarterly profit, as CEO Andrea Orcel works to meet his ambitious payout plans. Orcel, who has focused UniCredit on capital light businesses to maximise returns since taking over in April 2021, expressed confidence in receiving the necessary green light from European Central Bank supervisors. Lenders needs ECB approval for share buybacks, which account for almost two thirds of UniCredit's 2022 capital distribution target in addition to cash dividends. "We've had extensive discussions with the regulators over the distributions and we feel very confident that we will get authorisation to execute them," Orcel told a media briefing. Net profit came in at 2.46 ...
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Asia FX Muted, Dollar Steadies As Fed Meeting Looms
31Jan By Administrator_IndiaNo Comments
Asia

Asia FX Muted, Dollar Steadies As Fed Meeting Looms

Most Asian currencies moved little on Tuesday, while the dollar retained recent gains as caution kicked in ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting this week, with any signals on U.S. monetary policy squarely in focus. But most Asian units were set for strong gains in January amid expectations that the Fed will slow its pace of interest rate hikes in the coming months. Risk-heavy Southeast Asian currencies were the best performers through January, with the Thai baht leading gains among its peers with an over 5% jump. The Chinese yuan took little support from data that showed Chinese business activity rebounded in January after the country relaxed most anti-COVID measures. The yuan fell 0.1%, but remained close to a near seven-month high against the dollar, and was set to gain over 2% in January....
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Oil prices Tread Water As Markets Weigh China Recovery, Fed Caution
31Jan By Administrator_IndiaNo Comments
Fuel Price

Oil prices Tread Water As Markets Weigh China Recovery, Fed Caution

Oil prices were muted in early trade on Tuesday as optimism over better-than-expected economic data from China was offset by caution over an upcoming Federal Reserve meeting and an OPEC decision on production. Chinese business activity grew more than expected in January, government data showed, indicating that the country’s economy was clearly on a path of recovery after it relaxed most anti-COVID restrictions earlier in the month. The data helped further the notion that a Chinese economic recovery will help spur increased crude demand in 2023. The International Energy Agency recently forecast that crude demand will rise to record highs in 2023 on the back of a Chinese recovery. But anticipation of a slew of central bank meetings this week and fears of a near-term supply glut limited gains...
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Rising Interest Rates Have a Sting in The Tail For Europe’s Banks
30Jan By Administrator_IndiaNo Comments
ECONOMIC NEWS

Rising Interest Rates Have a Sting in The Tail For Europe’s Banks

Rising borrowing costs are giving a long-awaited lift to Europe's beleaguered banks, but they come with a sting in the tail. Last year central banks ended a decade of rock-bottom interest rates as the U.S. Federal Reserve and then the European Central Bank moved towards tightening. Two of Europe's big corporate and mortgage lenders, Sweden's SEB and Spain's Sabadell, recently unveiled strong profits for 2022 as that trend helped lending lift earnings. But while rising rates are good news for bank profits, they herald a slowdown in an economy hit by war and runaway prices that squeeze borrowers and could prick pricing bubbles, most notably in property. "On the one hand, interest rates are going up, which is good and helps banks," said Jerome Legras of Axiom Alternative Investments. "But the...
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Asian Stocks Sink As Fed Week Begins, China Reopens Strong
30Jan By Administrator_IndiaNo Comments
Asia

Asian Stocks Sink As Fed Week Begins, China Reopens Strong

Most Asian stock markets sank on Monday as caution kicked in ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting and key economic data this week, while Chinese shares rose sharply as they resumed trade after a week-long holiday. China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes rose 1.2% and 0.7%, respectively, with markets betting that the country’s economy was further supported by its first Lunar New Year holiday without COVID restrictions in three years. State media reported that domestic travel and consumption had bounced back sharply in the past week. The Chinese government also reiterated over the weekend that it plans to shore up spending and drive local consumption. A recovery in the Chinese economy bodes well for broader Asian markets, given their reliance on the country as a tradin...
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Chinese Stocks Surge After Week-Long Holiday
30Jan By Administrator_IndiaNo Comments
China

Chinese Stocks Surge After Week-Long Holiday

Chinese stock markets rose sharply on Monday as they resumed trade after the Lunar New Year holiday, while a commitment from the government to boost spending and support economic growth also aided sentiment. The Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index rose 1.3%, while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.6%, with most sectors trading positively. Automobile and industrial stocks were the best performers in early trade, while energy stocks retreated. State media reports suggested that retail travel and spending recovered sharply to near pre-pandemic levels during the holiday, boding well for the Chinese economy. 2023's Lunar New Year celebrations were the first in three years to occur without any anti-COVID restrictions, after the country began scaling back its strict zero-COVID policy in December. ...
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MSCI Seeks Feedback On Adani Group Over Hindenburg Report
28Jan By Administrator_IndiaNo Comments
ECONOMIC NEWS

MSCI Seeks Feedback On Adani Group Over Hindenburg Report

Index provider MSCI said on Saturday it was seeking feedback on Adani Group and associated securities and was aware of a report issued by short-seller Hindenburg Research. Seven listed companies of the Adani conglomerate - controlled by one of the world's richest men Gautam Adani - have lost a combined $48 billion in market value and U.S. bonds of Adani firms have fallen since Hindenburg on Tuesday flagged concerns about debt levels and the use of tax havens. "MSCI is closely monitoring publicly available information regarding the situation and the factors that may impact the eligibility of those relevant securities for the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes," it said in a statement. Adani Group did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. It has dismissed the Hindenburg ...
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Fashion Retailer H&M’s Profit Tumbles As Costs Bite
27Jan By Administrator_IndiaNo Comments
Uncategorized

Fashion Retailer H&M’s Profit Tumbles As Costs Bite

Sweden's H&M reported on Friday a much larger than expected drop in September-November profit, hit by weak consumer confidence and soaring costs that it did not fully pass on to price tags, sending its shares down 7% in early trade. Operating profit in the period, the world's second-biggest fashion retailer's fiscal fourth quarter, was 821 million crowns ($79.7 million) against 6.26 billion a year earlier and a mean forecast of 3.67 billion in a Refinitiv poll of analysts. H&M, which had already reported that sales in the quarter were flat, said on Friday that sales from Dec. 1-Jan. 25 - the start of its fiscal first quarter - were up 5% in local currencies. "The lower profit in the fourth quarter when compared with the same quarter in the previous year is mainly explained by the n...
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Asian Stocks Rise Tracking Positive U.S. GDP, Adani Extends Losses
27Jan By Administrator_IndiaNo Comments
Asia

Asian Stocks Rise Tracking Positive U.S. GDP, Adani Extends Losses

Most Asian stock markets rose on Friday as appetite for risk-driven assets was supported by better-than-expected U.S. economic growth data, while Indian stocks extended their descent as heavyweight Adani remained under pressure from a short seller report. Overnight data showed that the world’s largest economy grew more than expected during the fourth quarter, dispelling some concerns that a recession was imminent. This triggered sharp gains on Wall Street, which in turn spilled over into Asia. South Korea’s KOSPI index was the best performer for the day, rising nearly 1%, while Indonesian stocks led gains across Southeast Asia with a 0.7% jump. Australia’s ASX 200 index also rose 0.5% as data showed some slowing in local producer price index inflation through the fourth quarter, which coul...
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Oil Treads Water Ahead of OPEC+ Panel Meeting, PCE Inflation Data
27Jan By Administrator_IndiaNo Comments
Oil

Oil Treads Water Ahead of OPEC+ Panel Meeting, PCE Inflation Data

Oil prices moved little on Friday and were set to end the week flat amid caution over an upcoming OPEC+ panel meeting, as well as more cues on the U.S. economy from a reading on the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. Ministers from Algeria, Kuwait, Venezuela, Russia and Oman are set to meet virtually next week as part of a panel called the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC). The panel can call for a full meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) and can also decide on crude output from the members of the panel. But Reuters recently reported that the panel is unlikely to alter production levels, given that crude prices recovered sharply in early 2023, and that demand is forecast to surge as the Chinese economy recovers. Brent oil fu...
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