Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 09 December 2021

Thu Dec 9 10:43:10 CAT 2021

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 09 December 2021 

 <https://www.nedbank.co.zw/> 

ü  Evergrande: China property developer debt default fears grow

ü  Japanese billionaire blasts off to International Space Station

ü  Chinese social media giant Weibo's shares fall in Hong Kong debut

ü  TikTok jumps on online shopping bandwagon

ü  Bitcoin 'founder' wins right to keep billions of dollars

ü  Amazon services down for thousands of users

ü  Super-rich increase their share of world's income

ü  Covid travel: Omicron hitting holiday bookings, says Tui

ü  Renault Zoe goes from hero to zero in European safety agency rating

ü  World stocks in third day of gains as Omicron fears ease

ü  Deutsche Post names Tobias Meyer CEO from 2023

ü  Tesla sold 52,859 China-made vehicles in November -CPCA

ü  Visa launches crypto advisory service for financial institutions, merchants

ü  Weibo shares close down 7.2% in Hong Kong debut

ü  Euro zone inflation will take longer to fall back to 2%, says ECB

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Evergrande: China property developer debt default fears grow

Concerns are growing over potential multi-million dollar debt defaults by two of China's biggest property companies.

Investors are waiting for news about tens of millions of dollars of overdue interest payments owed by crisis-hit industry giant Evergrande.

The firm has not yet made the payments to bond holders, the BBC understands.

Evergrande's shares closed at a new record low on Wednesday after falling by 5.5% in Hong Kong trade.

The company was due to make $82.5m (£62m) of interest payments on Monday after a 30-day grace period expired.

If, as the BBC understands, Evergrande did fail to make these payments on time, the stage could be set for a massive default by the world's most indebted property developer.

It could trigger a so-called "cross default" on Evergrande's roughly $19bn of international bonds, putting it at risk of becoming China's biggest defaulter.

A cross default is a provision in a bond or loan agreement that puts a borrower in default if they default on another obligation.

What is Evergrande and is it too big to fail?

Evergrande shares slump on renewed default fears

Fears about Evergrande's future and the impact of its potential collapse have been looming over the world's second-largest economy for months.

Also on Wednesday, trading in shares of embattled property developer Kaisa was suspended in Hong Kong.

In an announcement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Kaisa did not give a reason for the halt in trading.

However, it came after reports that Kaisa was unlikely to be able to meet a $400m offshore debt deadline on Tuesday.

Kaisa is China's biggest holder of offshore debt among developers after Evergrande.

Failure to make the payment could push it into technical default, triggering cross defaults on its offshore bonds totalling nearly $12bn.

Evergrande expanded aggressively to become one of China's biggest companies by borrowing more than $300bn.

Last year, Beijing brought in new rules to control the amount owed by big real estate developers.

The new measures led Evergrande to offer its properties at major discounts to ensure money was coming in to keep the business afloat.

Now, it is struggling to meet the interest payments on its debts.

This uncertainty has seen Evergrande's share price tumble by almost 90% over the past year.

2px presentational grey line

Evergrande was once China's biggest property developer, with more than 1,300 real estate projects.

With around $300bn of liabilities, it is now at the centre of a property crisis in China.

The Chinese government has repeatedly said Evergrande's problems can be contained.

Beijing has taken steps to boost liquidity in the banking sector, while the company is said to be pushing ahead with plans to restructure its overseas debt.

Last week, the provincial government of Guandong, where Evergrande is based, stepped in to help manage the fallout, further reinforcing the view among some investors that its failure could be managed. -BBC

Japanese billionaire blasts off to International Space Station

Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa has blasted off on a trip to the International Space Station (ISS), joining the growing list of billionaires who have made it to space.

He plans to carry out 100 tasks in space, including playing golf.

Mr Maezawa made his fortune through e-commerce companies including Zozotown.

He was once a drummer in a punk rock band, and last year launched a show in search of a new girlfriend to join him in space, but later cancelled it.

A Russian rocket carrying Mr Maezawa took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

He is expected to spend 12 days at the ISS, and is the first space tourist to visit the station in recent years.

It is a precursor to Mr Maezawa's much-publicised trip to the Moon in 2023.

Wednesday's launch saw Mr Maezawa accompanied by Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and video producer Yozo Hirano, who is documenting the voyage for the billionaire's YouTube channel.

Mr Maezawa underwent a rigorous training programme prior to the launch, which included sleeping on an inclined bed, being spun around in a chair and playing long periods of badminton - all of which he has documented on social media.

In an earlier press conference Mr Maezawa said the trip was a "dream come true".

"People can have hopes and dreams (by seeing that) a regular person like me can go into such an unknown world," said the billionaire.

He has promised to perform 100 tasks while on the ISS, culled from a list of suggestions contributed by the public.

It ranges from the expected, such as introducing his fellow astronauts and showing viewers what life is like on the ISS; to the more whimsical such as playing golf, blowing bubbles, and throwing a paper aeroplane.

Mr Maezawa's voyage, which is reportedly costing him $88m (£66m), follows fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos' short journey to space and Richard Branson's trip to the edge of space earlier this year, in rockets built by their private companies.

Who is Yusaku Maezawa?

The Japanese entrepreneur is known for his eclectic background. The former drummer of a punk rock band founded a company called Start Today in 1998 selling rare CDs and records.

He later pivoted to fashion with e-retailer Zozotown in 2004, and became a billionaire by the time he was in his mid-30s.

Forbes magazine lists him as Japan's 30th richest man, with an estimated personal wealth of $1.9bn (£1.43bn).

Mr Maezawa's passion for space travel has been well-documented in recent years.

He made international news in 2019 when he was revealed to be the first private passenger slated to be flown around the Moon by SpaceX, the company owned by fellow billionaire Elon Musk.

That flight, called dearMoon, is scheduled to happen in 2023. Mr Maezawa announced in March that he would bring eight members of the public along with him and foot the cost of the entire journey.

Last year, he also launched a documentary search for a new girlfriend to join him on the trip, before cancelling due to "mixed feelings".

He has also attracted controversy for holding multiple cash giveaways on Twitter, and in 2019 one of his posts became the most retweeted tweet at that time after promising financial incentives. Mr Maezawa has said he will conduct another giveaway from space on his latest trip.

On Wednesday Mr Maezawa travelled to space in a Russian Soyuz rocket, and is the first self-funded space tourist to travel to the ISS in more than a decade.

For many years the only way to reach the ISS was to travel on a Soyuz capsule, and Russia has a track record of sending space tourists to the station in the 2000s including US millionaire Dennis Tito, the first non-astronaut to go into space.

It suspended its private space programme in 2010.

But with the idea of space tourism gaining pace, in part stoked by companies such as SpaceX, it has started allowing paying customers like Mr Maezawa on its launches again.

Russia also sent film director Klim Shipenko and actor Yulia Peresild to the station in October, who filmed scenes for an upcoming movie.

In the West the likes of Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have been working on developing a separate sector of space exploration which is purely for entertainment of rich clients,

But Russia has not worked out a way of separating the tourists from the professional cosmonauts. When a tourist goes into space on a Russian ticket, they have to be physically and, to some extent, technically, as well prepared as professional astronauts, and go up as a team with space crew.

This requires much more time, money and other resources. It has left the system open to criticism that the tourists are taking up valuable space which should be reserved for the professionals only.

Yet, what Russia is offering to tourists is arguably a much realer space experience.

Western commercial space flights are barely breaking the line between the Earth atmosphere and outer space, known as the Karman line, at the altitude of 100 km above sea level. These trips allow the crew to experience zero gravity, enjoy impressive views, then quickly return to Earth. A trip lasts 10-15 minutes and does not require complicated training.

In Russia, the system is much more rigid - if a tourist goes into space, they have to stay for a minimum of one week. They also must be in excellent health and they spend weeks preparing for the trip at the Baikonur launch pad - as Mr Maezawa has.-BBC

Chinese social media giant Weibo's shares fall in Hong Kong debut

Social media giant Weibo has made its Hong Kong stock market debut as Chinese technology firms come under intense pressure at home and abroad.

Weibo's shares lost more than 7% in the first day of trading.

The firm joins other major Chinese technology companies, including Alibaba and JD.com, which are listed in both the US and Hong Kong.

It comes just days after Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi said it will move its listing to Hong Kong from the US.

Weibo raised $385m (£290m) from the secondary share listing in Hong Kong.

The company's US-listed shares have lost around a third of their value in the last six months.

Why is Weibo listing in Hong Kong?

Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing that heightened significantly during the Trump administration show little sign of easing under President Biden.

Chinese companies that have their shares listed in the US have found themselves caught in the middle of the ongoing spat between the world's two biggest economies.

In recent months, Beijing has increased its oversight of China's biggest businesses with the technology industry coming under particular scrutiny.

Meanwhile, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has finalised rules that would mean US-listed foreign companies can be delisted if their auditors do not comply with requests for information from regulators.

Some Chinese firms are now looking for alternative sources of funding in case they have to take their shares off US stock markets.

"It will be disastrous if all Chinese companies are forced to delist from US exchanges. Despite the intense competition between the two countries, they need, must, and have to be interdependent financially, economically, technologically, socially, and culturally," Nina Xiang, managing director of China Money Network in Hong Kong said.

Last week, ride-hailing giant Didi Global said it it would take its shares off the New York Stock Exchange and move its listing to Hong Kong.

It raised $4.4bn from its US market debut at the end of June, but within days China's internet regulator ordered online stores not to offer Didi's app, saying it illegally collected users' personal data.

Didi's announcement that it was planning to delist in the US came just hours after the SEC announcement that it was moving ahead with its efforts to remove Chinese firms from US stock exchanges for not complying with new accounting rules.

Didi's shares have fallen by more than 50% in the five months since they started trading in New York.

Ms Xiang believes Weibo should be safe, for now: "Much depends on if Chinese and American regulators can work through their differences to reach a solution on access to auditing documents."

What is Weibo?

Weibo is the Chinese word for microblog and the firm is known as the country's version of Twitter.

It launched in 2009 and now has more than 570m monthly users, compared to Twitter's 211m users per month.

The company is China's second biggest social media platform, after technology giant Tencent's WeChat.

China is the world's biggest social media market, with more than 900m users.

Major US platforms like Twitter and Facebook are blocked in China, meaning the country offers huge growth potential for domestic social media firms like Weibo.-BBC

TikTok jumps on online shopping bandwagon

The social media platform TikTok is making a big push into shopping.

The video sharing app is famous for its short lip sync videos, dance routines and humour.

And its popularity has soared during the pandemic.

TikTok is now producing its first live shopping and entertainment event on Wednesday where people can buy products directly on the platform, tapping into the rise of "social shopping".

"We think it's a really significant moment. E-commerce is a big opportunity for TikTok and it's something we're investing in significantly," said Rich Waterworth, TikTok General Manager, UK and EU.

Whether it's sportswear or make up, consumers are increasingly browsing, discovering and buying items on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. TikTok, which launched in the UK in 2018, is now aiming to catch up.

The pandemic has accelerated this shift. As stores closed during lockdowns, retailers raced to get more of their products online. Social media apps also really upped their game to help businesses and brands sell directly to shoppers.

According to an Insider Intelligence report, from 2019 to 2020 the number of US social e-commerce shoppers grew 25% to 80m, a number which is forecast to grow to more than 100m by 2023.

Now TikTok has chosen the UK to make its first major move into this online retail space, hoping a blend of entertainment and creative content can win it a slice of festive spending.

It's already held some livestream shopping with brands over the Black Friday weekend but now it's producing and hosting its own two-day event anchored by Rylan Clark-Neal, with influencers, music and a quiz.

Mr Waterworth believes his business can create a new type of shopping experience with a TikTok twist.

"People who have a shared interest or a shared love for a creator or a product area, these communities come together and make the experience of finding and enjoying those products more interesting," Mr Waterworth explains.

"So when you bring these two things together, the power of the TikTok community and the brands ... it's really exciting," he adds.

Livestream shopping is still in its infancy, but a host of retailers and brands are experimenting with the format, which allows viewers to watch online content and shop at the same time, usually with a direct purchasing feature.

Social media platforms are getting in on the act, too. Like other apps, TikTok gets a cut from sales that are made through the site.

It already has more than a billion monthly global users and says its internal data shows that one in four of them either research a product or make a purchase after watching a TikTok video.

Social shopping, says Mr Waterworth, is going to be a "big prize" for the business.

TikTok certainly has the power to get huge numbers of people talking about an idea or a product.

#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, where users post what they've bought thanks to recommendations about products on the site, has been used 7bn times.

Retail expert, Kate Hardcastle, specialises in consumer insight and says shopping on social media is now a force to be reckoned with which will cause significant disruption for the retail industry as well as chip away at traditional high street sales.

"It's so incredibly quick, easy and seamless. It takes away the barriers," she says.

"You don't really think of it as shopping it's part of a conversation with someone, which is something you're getting less experience of on the shop floor these days".

"I absolutely think if you're a retailer and not going into these huge growth areas that are relevant to your target market then more fool you."

-BBC

Bitcoin 'founder' wins right to keep billions of dollars

A computer scientist who claims he invented Bitcoin has won a court case allowing him to keep a cache of the cryptocurrency worth billions of dollars.

A jury rejected claims that Craig Wright's former business partner was due half of the assets.

As a result Mr Wright will retain 1.1m Bitcoin, worth $54bn (£40bn).

However he will pay $100m to the family of Dave Kleiman for intellectual property infringement.

The family of Mr Kleiman, a computer security expert who died in 2013, said that the two men had worked together to create and mine the first Bitcoin in existence, and that Mr Wright had stolen it.

The invention of the cryptocurrency in 2008 was described in a white paper published under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.

Since 2016, Mr Wright has claimed that he is Nakamoto, though that claim has been disputed.

Has Craig Wright proved he is Satoshi?

The Miami jury in the civil lawsuit cleared Mr Wright on nearly all issues brought by the family of Mr Kleiman.

In a statement, lawyers for W&K and Kleiman's estate said they were "immensely gratified" that the jury awarded the $100m in intellectual property rights, and help give the Kleimans "their fair share of what Dave helped create."

Mr Wright said the legal ruling confirmed he was the creator of the revolutionary digital asset.

"The jury has obviously found that I am because there would have been no award otherwise," he said.

"This has been a remarkable good outcome and I feel completely vindicated," Mr Wright said.-BBC

Amazon services down for thousands of users

Amazon and some other services including Prime Video and Alexa have been hit by computer problems.

Thousands of users in the United States have been reporting problems on the outage tracking website Downdetector.

The Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing arm, which provides services to governments, companies and universities, is also affected.

Amazon said it had identified the cause and has "seen some signs of recovery", but gave no timescale for a solution.

The company added that not all regions of the world had experienced problems. There are reports the biggest disruption for customers is being seen on the US east coast.

On the Amazon shopping website, many users reported just a slow loading of pages rather than an inability to use the service.

However, services including Amazon's Ring security cameras, mobile banking app Chime and robot vacuum cleaner maker iRobot were also facing issues according to their social media pages and Twitter.

"A major Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage is currently impacting our iRobot Home App," iRobot wrote on its website.

Ring also said it was working to solve the issues.

It is the third outage for Amazon this year. In June users experienced a brief outage on Amazon platforms, including Alexa and Prime Video.

That incident also hit several other companies, including Shopify, PayPal and the news group CNN.

In July the e-commerce giant experienced disruption of its online stores service, which lasted for nearly two hours and affected almost 40,000 users.

The latest problems come as Amazon customers ramp up their Christmas purchases.

But outage problems at AWS, the biggest cloud computing company in the world, could be more serious because of the large number of corporate customers.

There are reports in the US that users of McDonald's, Netflix, Disney, and several other AWS clients, are having problems.-BBC

Super-rich increase their share of world's income

The share of wealth owned by the world's richest people soared during the Covid pandemic, a major study on inequality has found.

The World Inequality Report said that 2020 saw the steepest increase in billionaires' wealth on record.

Meanwhile, 100 million people sank into extreme poverty, the report from the Paris-based World Inequality Lab said.

The richest 10% of the population now takes 52% of global income and the poorest half just 8%, it said.

The 228-page report, whose authors are part of a group founded by renowned economist Thomas Piketty, also said that since 1995, billionaires' wealth had risen from 1% to 3%.

"This increase was exacerbated during the Covid pandemic. In fact, 2020 marked the steepest increase in global billionaires' share of wealth on record," the report said.

The world's richest 1% has taken more than a third of all additional wealth accumulated since 1995, while the bottom 50% captured just 2%.

"After more than 18 months of Covid-19, the world is even more polarised," Lucas Chancel, co-director of the World Inequality Lab, based at the Paris School of Economics, told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

"While the wealth of billionaires rose by more than €3.6tn (£3tn), 100 million more people joined the ranks of extreme poverty," said Mr Chancel, noting that extreme poverty had been previously falling for 25 years.

The report concluded that:

An average adult individual earned €16,700 per year in 2021 and the average adult owns €72,900

On average, an individual from the top 10% of the global income distribution earns €87,200 per year

An individual from the poorest half of the global income distribution makes just €2,800

The poorest half of the global population barely owns any wealth, possessing just 2% of the total

The richest 10% of the global population own 76% of all wealth.

The researchers found that the world's 52 richest individuals saw the value of their wealth grow by 9.2% per year for the past 25 years, well above less wealthy social groups.

Women's share of total global income from work was less than 35%, up from near 30% in 1990 but still short of parity with men.

Tax the rich

Europe was the world's most equal region, with the richest 10% taking 36% of the income share. The Middle East and North Africa was the most unequal, with the wealthiest 10% taking 58% of income.

During the pandemic, state intervention by more prosperous nations, such as furlough and benefits payments, was vital to keep more people from sinking into poverty. The report notes that poorer countries did not have the resources to prop up income and save jobs.

To help redress the imbalance, the economists call for a "modest progressive wealth tax on global multi-millionaires" in order to redistribute wealth. They also call for tougher action on tax evasion.

"Given the large volume of wealth concentration, modest progressive taxes can generate significant revenues for governments," the report said.

Covid travel: Omicron hitting holiday bookings, says Tui

The pace of holiday bookings is slowing down after the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant, holiday giant Tui has said.

Reports of higher infection rates are also putting a dampener on bookings, especially for this winter, Tui said.

Despite this, it expects bookings for next summer to be close to pre-pandemic levels.

New UK travel rules to try to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant came into effect on Tuesday.

The changes include include pre-departure tests for people arriving in the UK, while 11 African countries have been put on the red list for travel.

The travel industry warned on Monday that the new rules would be a "hammer blow" and that livelihoods would be "devastated".

Tui said it had 4.1 million bookings for its next winter and summer seasons, with 1.4 million bookings since 3 October.

However, it said: "The increased media coverage of rising incident rates and the emergence of new Omicron variant has weakened this positive momentum, particularly for winter."

Winter bookings were returning to pre-pandemic levels before "recent news coverage" of the pandemic, Tui said.

Over the past week, a quarter of Tui holidays booked for December had been postponed to a later date, it told the BBC.

The holiday firm narrowed its loss before tax to €71m (£60.5m) in the fourth quarter of the year to 30 September, compared with a loss in the same period last year of €836m.

It didn't say how much it expected to make next year.

After such a tumultuous couple of years for the travel industry, businesses are pinning their hopes on a strong 2022 summer season. There's been some optimism in the air.

However, the uncertainty around Omicron has prompted fears of a hit to consumer confidence, especially as a result of the re-introduction of temporary rules around international travel - with the UK bringing back the red list and extra Covid testing requirements.

So far it's short-term bookings being affected.

The real problem will arise if people who might normally make their summer holiday booking after Christmas or in January decide not to.

The industry will be crossing its fingers that the bumper summer it needs does still come to pass.

Tui chief executive Friedrich Joussen said that uncertainty over travel restrictions was "annoying".

"Overnight you get new rules," he said. "You have gone on vacation thinking nothing can happen, then tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people have new rules and that is difficult."

He called on the government to give the travel industry more notice about upcoming rule changes.

Mr Joussen added that Tui partially subsidises the costs of PCR tests, which has some financial impact on the business.-BBC

Renault Zoe goes from hero to zero in European safety agency rating

(Reuters) - French carmaker Renault (RENA.PA) on Wednesday received a blow for its popular Zoe electric model, as the European New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) gave it a zero-star safety rating in tests that are standards for Europe.

The carmaker, which is cutting costs and working to turn around its performance after overstretching itself over years of ambitious global expansion, also received a one-star rating for its lower-cost electric Dacia Spring model.

"Renault was once synonymous with safety," Euro NCAP secretary general Michiel van Ratingen said in a statement. "But these disappointing results for the ZOE and the Dacia Spring show that safety has now become collateral damage in the group's transition to electric cars."

Renault said in a statement the Zoe was a safe vehicle, which met all regulatory safety standards.

"These standards are constantly evolving and are becoming more and more strict in all areas, especially in terms of security," the company added. "Renault is therefore continually improving its offer in order to comply with the regulations applicable where its vehicles are sold."

The Euro NCAP ratings are not binding as it does not certify vehicles for road use. But European consumers do pay attention to Euro NCAP's tests and carmakers aggressively market good ratings.

This is only the third time Euro NCAP has given a car a zero-star rating and if it hurts sales of the Zoe it could pressure Renault into a swift upgrade or accelerate the launch of the next version of the car.

Euro NCAP said the latest Zoe had a worse seat-mounted side airbag than earlier versions. Euro NCAP noted the Renault Laguna had been the first car ever to receive a five-star rating in 2001.

Renault did not address the airbag issue in its statement.

In the year through October, the Zoe was the third top-selling fully-electric car in Europe, behind Tesla's (TSLA.O) Model 3 in top place and Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) ID.3.

The Dacia brand said the Spring goes above and beyond European safety regulations, but does not add advanced features that customers will not pay for.

In a press release titled "Hero to Zero," UK insurance group Thatcham Research noted the Zoe had initially received a five-star rating back in 2013.

"It's a shame to see Renault threaten a safety pedigree built from the inception of the rating," said Matthew Avery, Thatcham's chief research strategy officer and a Euro NCAP board member.

Eleven cars received ratings in Euro NCAP's final round of tests for 2021, which did not include Tesla models.

A number of other vehicles received five-star ratings, including BMW's (BMWG.DE) electric iX, Daimler's (DAIGn.DE) electric Mercedes-Benz EQS, Nissan's (7201.T) Qashqai and Volkswagen's VW Caddy.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

World stocks in third day of gains as Omicron fears ease

(Reuters) - A rebound in market sentiment continued in early European trading on Wednesday, with world shares set for their biggest two-day jump since November last year as investors became less concerned about the Omicron variant.

World shares plunged at the end of last month when the discovery of a new COVID-19 variant spooked investors. But sentiment has rebounded sharply this week in the absence of indications that the variant would derail the economic recovery.

The STOXX 600 had its biggest daily jump since November 2020 on Tuesday and, despite European stock index futures initially being in the red on Wednesday, at 0901 GMT the STOXX 600 was up 0.4%, set for its third consecutive day of gains (.STOXX).

The MSCI world equity index (.MIWD00000PUS), which tracks shares in 50 countries, was up 0.2% - its highest since Nov. 26, when Omicron fears first hit markets.

"To be honest, it was more the absence of bad news rather than any concrete good news helping to drive sentiment," wrote Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid in a note to clients.

"Every day that passes without a wave of severe cases driven by Omicron is offering more hope that this won't be the curveball to throw the recovery off course."

British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L) said on Tuesday its antibody-based COVID-19 therapy with U.S. partner Vir Biotechnology was effective against all mutations of Omicron. read more

But a study in South Africa suggested that the Pfizer vaccine may only partly protect against Omicron. read more

"Clearly in the very short term uncertainty has risen over the Omicron virus... but overall at this stage we do not believe it will derail the macro picture in the medium-term," said Jeremy Gatto, multi-asset portfolio manager at Unigestion.

OUTLOOK FOR RATES

Oil prices eased as investors waited for more information about the extent to which the variant would impact demand. At 0911 GMT, Brent crude futures were down 0.4% and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 0.5% on the day . read more

The dollar index was steady around 96.233 , while the euro was up 0.1% at $1.1283 .

The euro-dollar pair has struggled to recover from the 2021 lows it reached in November, hurt by expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy more quickly than the dovish European Central Bank. read more

Last week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said it might be time to stop seeing inflation as transitory, suggesting the central bank could speed up tapering. read more

"The market is pricing between two to three hikes next year now. We think that that pricing is too optimistic. We believe that the Fed will actually be slower to deliver on these rate hikes," said Unigestion's Gatto, adding that this would be supportive for equities.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield, which had its biggest weekly drop since June 2020 last week due to a combination of Powell's hawkish comments and fears over Omicron, was a touch lower on Wednesday at 1.4597% .

U.S. inflation data is due on Friday.

Meanwhile, shares in China's Evergrande Group hit a record low, after a missed debt payment deadline put the developer at risk of becoming the country's biggest defaulter - but the news had limited global market impact because it is already "well-priced" by the market, Unigestion's Gatto said. read more

In virtual talks, President Joe Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the West would impose "strong economic and other measures" on Russia if it invaded Ukraine, while Putin demanded guarantees that NATO would not expand farther eastward. read more

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Deutsche Post names Tobias Meyer CEO from 2023

(Reuters) - Deutsche Post (DPWGn.DE) said on Wednesday that Tobias Meyer will take over as new chief executive in May 2023 from long-serving boss Frank Appel, whose contract has been extended until then.

Meyer, who has been the head of the German post and parcel division and a member of the group's management board since March 2019, will lead the global business services unit from July 2022 before becoming the group's CEO in May 2023, it added.

On Monday, Reuters reported, citing sources, that Appel's contract, which expires in 2022, was likely to be extended. read more

"After careful consideration, I have decided not to remain for another full term in office," Appel said in a statement on Wednesday.

Appel is also the favourite to become the next supervisory board chairman of Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), two sources close to the matter told Reuters. read more

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Tesla sold 52,859 China-made vehicles in November -CPCA

(Reuters) - U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) sold 52,859 China-made vehicles in November, including 21,127 for export, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said on Wednesday.

Tesla, which is making Model 3 sedans and Model Y sport-utility vehicles in Shanghai, sold 54,391 China-made vehicles in October, including 40,666 that were exported.

Chinese EV makers Nio Inc (NIO.N) 10,878 cars last month, a monthly record high, and Xpeng Inc (9868.HK) delivered 15,613 vehicles. Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) said it sold over 14,000 ID. series EVs in China in November.

CPCA said passenger car sales in November in China totalled 1.85 million, down 12.5% from a year earlier.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Visa launches crypto advisory service for financial institutions, merchants

(Reuters) - Visa Inc (V.N), the world's largest payment processor, on Wednesday launched a global crypto advisory service for clients such as banks and also merchants, as the adoption of digital currencies gains steam.

The move by Visa comes against the backdrop of unprecedented investor demand for crypto services and the company's latest offering is geared towards financial institutions eager to attract or retain customers with a crypto offering, retailers looking to delve into non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or central banks exploring digital currencies.

Visa's services include educating institutions about cryptocurrencies, allowing clients to use the payment processor's network for digital offerings, and helping manage backend operations.

"We came to Visa to learn more about crypto and stablecoins and the use cases that are most relevant for our retail and commercial business lines," said Uma Wilson, executive vice president at UMB Bank, a regional U.S. lender.

A new global study by Visa showed nearly 40% of crypto owners surveyed would be likely or very likely to switch their primary bank to one that offers crypto-related products in the next 12 months.

Visa currently uses its network to allow buying, selling, and custody of digital currency. It also offers a credit card that lets users earn bitcoin on purchases and also allows the use of USD Coin, a stablecoin cryptocurrency whose value is pegged directly to the U.S. dollar, to settle transactions on its payment network. read more

However, for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin to be used as a medium of exchange, price stability is needed, Visa's Chief Financial Officer Vasant Prabhu told Reuters.

"If the price is going to fluctuate from $60,000 to $50,000 in a few hours, it's a very difficult thing for a merchant to accept (bitcoin) as a currency," Prabhu said.

"I don't know if cryptocurrencies like bitcoin will ever be a medium of exchange. Stablecoins will," he said, adding that Visa would facilitate such transactions when the time was right.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Weibo shares close down 7.2% in Hong Kong debut

(Reuters) - Chinese social media giant Weibo Corp's shares closed 7.2% below their issue price in Hong Kong on Wednesday, as it became the latest U.S.-listed China stock to seek out a secondary listing closer to home.

The Hong Kong debut was in line with a fall in Weibo's primary listing in New York (WB.O) after a torrid week for U.S.-listed China shares, which are facing greater U.S. regulatory scrutiny and also under pressure from Chinese authorities.

Weibo, which raised $385 million for its Hong Kong listing, opened at $256.20 and closed at HK$253.2 after a volatile debut session.

The stock had been priced at HK$272.80 each in its secondary listingin which 11 million shares were sold.

"For Weibo, it's a matter of timing. The Hong Kong market had started to rebound this week and now we are seeing some softness emerging in the market," said Louis Tse, Wealthy Securities director in Hong Kong.

Weibo's fall came as Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (.HSI) closed Wednesday up 0.06% while the Tech Index (.HSTECH) was 0.03% higher.

Some major stocks such as Alibaba Group Holdings (9988.HK), down 4.35%, were off sharply as sentiment towards tech majors remains fragile.

"The listing market in Hong Kong is very lukewarm right now," said Dickie Wong, Kingston Securities executive director.

"Plus, there is regulatory pressure from the (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) on Chinese companies to disclose basically everything within three years.

"So there is a major trend that most of the U.S.-listed Chinese companies will seek secondary or dual primary in Hong Kong so they can exit the U.S. market if they need to."

Ride-hailing giant Didi Global (DIDI.N) decided last week to delist from New York, succumbing to pressure from Chinese regulators concerned about data security and denting sentiment toward Chinese stocks.

Hong Kong and China's mainland STAR Market have attracted $15.2 billion worth of secondary listings from U.S. listed Chinese companies so far this year, according to Refinitiv data.

"The moves are probably based on the increasing recognition that the U.S.-China decoupling will not stop and will proceed steadily," said LightStream Research analyst Mio Kato, who publishes on Smartkarma.

"I would expect a continuous flow of listings from New York to Hong Kong over the next year or two."

The U.S administration is progressing plans to delist Chinese companies if they do not meet the country's auditing rules, which could affect more than 200 companies.

Chinese companies that list on U.S. stock exchanges must disclose whether they are owned or controlled by a government entity, and provide evidence of their auditing inspections, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said last week.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Euro zone inflation will take longer to fall back to 2%, says ECB

(Reuters) - Euro zone inflation will take longer to fall back to target than earlier thought but so far there is no evidence that high prices are becoming embedded in wages, ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Wednesday.

High inflation is challenging the ECB, which has little experience dealing with rapid price growth and complicates a crucial policy decision due on Dec. 16.

While the ECB has maintained that inflation is temporary and will come back under target on its own, a growing number of policymakers are voicing their concern that a less benign outcome is also possible, so the bank should curb stimulus.

While largely repeating the ECB's recent stance, de Guindos acknowledged that inflation risks were "moderately" on the upside and the drop would be slower than once thought.

"We are fully convinced that inflation will start to decline at the beginning of next year and in the second half of next year inflation will start to decelerate even more and will converge with our target of 2%," de Guindos told a conference.

"Perhaps the convergence towards the 2% target will take a little bit longer but no doubt that inflation will decelerate in 2022," he added.

Inflation hit 4.9% last month, a record high, and most private forecasters do not see it back under the ECB's 2% target until very late 2022.

De Guindos also played down the impact of high price growth, arguing that there's no evidence that wages were reacting to temporary price pressures.

"But wage growth is expected to be higher in 2022 than in 2021," he said. "And we have to ... stay vigilant with respect to the evolution of wages and the wage bargaining process."

He also said that while supply chain bottlenecks and pandemic-related restrictions could dent growth in the near term, these factors were unlikely to have an impact further out.

"I do not think that this will derail the euro area recovery," he said. "Growth factors are quite strong in the medium term."

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2021

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

National Unity Day

December 22

Christmas Day

December 25

Boxing Day

December 26

Public Holiday in lieu of Boxing Day falling on a Sunday

December 27

Companies under Cautionary

ART

PPC

Starafrica

Fidelity

Turnall

Medtech

Zimre

Nampak Zimbabwe

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

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