China’s Midea is gunning for German industrial robot maker Kuka with one of the largest ever unsolicited approaches of a foreign company by a Chinese buyer May 18, 2016 Chinese home-appliance maker Midea is plotting a takeover attempt of German industrial robot maker Kuka, in a deal that values the German company at $5bn (£3.4bn). If it goes ahead it would be one of the largest unsolicited approaches of a foreign company by a Chinese buyer. The deal is the latest in a round of recent tie-ups and investments in [...]
China vows to support steel exports as trade war escalates May 18, 2016 China has vowed to push ahead with a controversial tax rebate for its steel sector, after the US said it would slap Chinese imports with a five-fold tax hike, in what's been described as an escalating trade war. China's finance ministry said today it would "continue to implement a tax rebate policy of steel exports" [...]
Warren Buffett gives Apple a much needed bump, disclosing billion dollar stake via Berkshire Hathaway May 16, 2016 Warren Buffett has snapped up millions of shares in Apple, giving the tech firm a much needed bump after a tough quarter for iPhone sales. The sage of Omaha has disclosed he had 9.81m shares in the firm as of 31 March in a regulatory filing for his investment firm Berkshire Hathaway on Monday. Share in [...]
Barclays loses its metal as it sells London gold, silver, platinum and palladium vault to ICBC Standard Bank May 16, 2016 Barclays has signed an agreement to sell its precious metals storage business in the UK to ICBC Standard Bank. ICBC Standard Bank, which is a union of Chinese ICBC and the Standard Bank Group, will acquire the precious metals vaulting business for an undisclosed sum to expand its commodities capabilities in metals clearing and storage services. [...]
China asks Britain for help to create financial super-regulator May 16, 2016 Britain has been advising China as it plans to create a new super-regulator to control its financial markets, according to reports. Chinese officials are looking to head off the stock market volatility that plagued its exchanges last year. Shares lost a third of their value in just one month having increased 150 per cent [...]
EU launches investigation into Chinese steel exports May 13, 2016 The European Union has launched an investigation into a slew of Chinese steel which is flooding global markets and crippling the industry. This was one of the reason given by Tata behind the decision to sell its UK business, puttings thousands of jobs at risk. Read more: Brexit would spell the end to UK manufacturing The EU's [...]
Apple just ploughed $1bn into this Chinese taxi startup May 13, 2016 So now we've found out exactly what Apple was planning to do with (some of) the vast amount of cash it has sloshing around its bank account. Overnight Didi Chuxing, a Chinese rival to Uber, which describes itself as "the world's leading one-stop mobile transportation platform", issued a rather gleeful statement overnight saying it had made [...]
London is still the world’s most luxurious property market while Auckland is the “hottest” city according to Christie’s International Real Estate May 12, 2016 This may come as little surprise, but London has retained its title as the world's most luxurious property market for the fourth year in a row, according to Christie's International Real Estate. The capital topped the list of 100 cities surveyed, beating Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles and Singapore to the real estate top [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open May 11, 2016 US stocks are set to open down after pulling in strong rises yesterday. The S&P is down by 0.12 per cent in the pre-market, the Nasdaq is 0.1 per cent lower, while the Dow is 0.2 per cent off. It's been a poor showing so far from European markets, coming off the back of a disappointing trading [...]
China’s drowning in debt, defaults are rising and investors have turned bearish as corporates must pay back billions this year May 10, 2016 China's massive debt levels have started to spook investors. The country’s corporate borrowers face a record $571bn of debt that’s due to mature this year, according to figures from Bloomberg. That’s cash they’ll either have to pay back or refinance. Too bad, then, that sentiment towards local debt has begun to sour. There has been a [...]