The London property market is witnessing soaring buying activity for rental apartments ahead of new tax on home coming into effect from April 2016. The latest rush for buying is also pushing prices up.
Corporations
Brazil's Usiminas hires Credit Suisse for unit sale
Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA, a Brazilian steel producer, is in the process of offloading its manufacturing unit. Usiminas has already hired Credit Suisse SA as its financial advisor for the unit sale. The sluggish global economy and China's economy slowdown are impacting the Brazilian steel industry in more negative way.
Foreign investors take US small biz route
The market volatility, rising dollar and sluggish global economy are forcing foreign investors towards the US small business credit market for growth opportunities. Foreign investors generally prefer to invest in US treasury bonds. But the prevailing global conditions are propelling them to park their funds in small business credit market.
Vodafone to forge ties with Liberty Global for Dutch market
UK-based Vodafone and US cable group firm Liberty Global are combining their operations in Netherlands market to float a joint venture. The combined JV is expected to be operational by end of 2016. Vodafone has agreed to pay €1 billion (£770 million) after excluding Ziggo's net debt of €7.3 billion.
R-Squared investment firm ups position in Russian ruble
R-Square Macro Management is increasing its exposure to Russian currency Ruble. It's hoping on rebound in Ruble as it fell 37 percent from the recent high in 2015. Some asset managers scaled back their wagers on Ruble amid high volatility in the Russian currency.
Latest News
The UK stocks, after suffering losses for three sessions in a row, rebounded. Barclays and other financial companies led the gains. After suspension of trading for a day, the trading in Barclays stock resume on Monday. The FTSE 100 index dropped 9.2 percent in 2016 so far.
The British company formed a partnership worth $7.6 million to develop hydrogen fuel cell technology for smartphones. The technology would create a need to modify the hardware of the smartphone to manage the chemical reaction waste. Intelligent Energy stated that if all goes well, the new technology could hit the market in two years.
Reeling under pressure, the hedge fund segment is facing talent crunch to render its services more qualitatively. Considering the need of the hour, billionaire Steve Cohen-owned hedge fund Point72 Asset Management is investing in grooming the talent pool. It's offering two programs to train young graduates.
The bonds are gaining momentum amid sluggish financial markets and uncertainty about the global economy. Majority of hedge funds are betting on the $4.5 trillion market as the safest for US corporate debt. Some hedge funds forecast the concerns may go beyond energy and junk bonds.
The company announced that it had broken even in India and six other foreign countries, making the Indian e-commerce the first to achieve that milestone. Zomato, valued at over $1 billion, is going to start another funding round before becoming profitable by mid-2016.
Contrary to earlier bullish predictions for 2016, several Wall Street strategists have started lowering their forecasts on S&P 500 stocks. The Chinese economy slowdown, volatile oil prices and interest rates are the major reasons for drop in forecast. The gap between highest and lowest forecast has been widening.
The Los Angeles-based fashion retailer Nasty Gal is reducing the number of employees by 10 percent as part of its strategic restructuring. The increasing market competition and uncertainty in financing aspects are forcing the company to reduce the costs. Several former employees moved court against Nasty Gal against layoffs.
The east African nation Ethiopia is poised to grow at 8.1 percent in 2016 from 8.7 percent growth in 2015. This makes Ethiopia a fastest growing nation in the world. The government spending on infrastructure projects is mainly driving the economy growth.
The UK house prices rose for the consecutive second month in January 2016. The UK property market demand is growing in the wake of lower interest rates and encouraging job growth rate. The average cost of a house in the UK was up 1.7 percent in January.
