BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s coal output hit a record high in November as Beijing urged miners to ramp up production to ensure sufficient energy supplies in the winter heating season. China, the world’s biggest coal miner and consumer, produced 370.84 million tonnes of the dirty fossil fuel last month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics …
China coal output hits record in Nov to ensure winter supply Read More »
By Julie Gordon and David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada on Tuesday cut its deficit forecast for this fiscal year and pledged new funds to fight the Omicron coronavirus variant, while spending promised in this year’s election campaign would likely be put in a full budget early next year. In a fiscal update, the finance …
Canada sees smaller budget deficit, pushes promised spending to budget Read More »
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand will return to budget surplus sooner than expected and will take on lesser debt as the economy has been more resilient than previously forecasted, the government said on Wednesday. The treasury department forecasted that deficit will widen to NZ$20.8 billion ($14.01 billion) in the current year but the books will …
New Zealand forecasts quicker return to surplus, lower net debt Read More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – A measure of Australian consumer sentiment took a step back in December as an outbreak of the Omicron variant clouded the outlook for the economy and spending over the Christmas period. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer sentiment released on Wednesday fell 1.0% in December, wiping out November’s 0.6% gain. The index …
Australian consumer cheer chilled by Omicron outbreak Read More »
By John Revill ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss National Bank should convert its massive pile of foreign stocks and bonds into a sovereign wealth fund like Norway’s to support government spending, a group of economists said. The SNB has made $1 trillion in foreign currency investments, including shares in Amazon, Google-owner Alphabet and Starbucks, during …
Economists call for Swiss National Bank to create $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund Read More »
OTTAWA, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Canada’s Liberal government on Tuesday cut its forecast budget deficit for the 2021/22 fiscal year, citing higher tax revenues and less emergency aid spending, while earmarking new funds to fight the Omicron variant. In a fiscal update, the finance ministry said the deficit would be C$144.5 billion ($112.4 billion), down …
Canada cuts 2021/22 budget deficit forecast, cites strong economy Read More »
By David Randall NEW YORK (Reuters) – Star stock picker Cathie Wood of Ark Invest struck a defiant tone in a webinar Tuesday in which she repeated her warning that deflation, rather than inflation, will be the largest risk for financial markets and the economy in the year ahead. Concerns about rising prices and expectations …
Ark’s Cathie Wood remains concerned about deflation, not inflation Read More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bank of America Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said on Tuesday that the bank hadn’t seen any impact on consumer spending from the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, and credit quality among borrowers remained strong. “We haven’t seen any impact in December at all from the virus,” he said …
Bank of America CEO says credit quality strong; no impact from Omicron variant Read More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Axel Springer’s chief financial officer Julian Deutz sees big things ahead for the German media group, especially in the key U.S. market, as the company had not been impacted by the pandemic as seriously as it had expected, he told Reuters. “We expect double-digit growth in sales in 2021, which is one …
Axel Springer CFO expects double-digit sales growth in 2021 despite pandemic Read More »
By Gwladys Fouche OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has conducted a risk-based screening of 442 companies this year, concluding that it would refrain from investing in nine of those firms, it said on Tuesday. “Our pre-screening builds on and strengthens our long-standing work with risk-based divestments. It’s about …
Norway wealth fund ‘weeds out’ nine firms over ESG risks Read More »
