Tuesday 30 December 2014

Only reforms can help Ukraine cope with financial crisis – Gontareva

Only reforms can help Ukraine cope with financial crisis – Gontareva:



"Ukraine can only cope with the financial crisis by conducting reforms, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Valeriya Gontareva has said.



"There is a full-scale financial crisis in the country, and we can cope with it only by conducting very swift, I'd say, extreme reforms," she said at a press conference on the results of the year in Kyiv on Tuesday.



According to her, the NBU has drastically changed its approach to refinancing banks, and the regulator continues "clearing up" the banking sector by withdrawing insolvent banks and money-laundering banks from the market, and that the Central Bank itself is undergoing reformation."



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Oil Drops to Lowest Since ’09 With Stockpiles at Year-End Record - Bloomberg

Oil Drops to Lowest Since ’09 With Stockpiles at Year-End Record - Bloomberg:



"Oil fell to the lowest since 2009 in New York and London amid speculation that U.S. crude inventories will stay at the highest for the time of year in at least three decades.



Futures dropped as much as 1.7 percent in New York. U.S. stockpiles are projected to remain at 387.2 million barrels last week, the highest for the period in data going back to 1982, a Bloomberg News survey shows before government statistics tomorrow. U.S. oil drillers idled the most rigs since 2012, Baker Hughes Inc. said on its website yesterday.



Oil has slumped 46 percent this year, set for the biggest annual decline since 2008, as the highest U.S. production in more than three decades contributed to a global surplus estimated by Qatar at 2 million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia, which is steering the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to resist cutting output, has said it’s confident that prices will rebound as economic growth boosts demand."



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NBU predicts 7.5% fall in GDP by this year : UNIAN news

NBU predicts 7.5% fall in GDP by this year : UNIAN news:



""The fall in GDP of Ukraine in 2014 will amount to 7.5%, amid the halving of the value of the national currency," Gontareva said.



Gontareva also said the NBU provided state oil and gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy with $8.6 billion from reserves in 2014, and she predicted a rise in inflation due to higher bills for gas.



"Inflation may be at 17-18% next year, as tariffs will be driven up to a market level," she said."



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Kellaway and Skapinker review 2014

Dec 30, 2014 : What has a year in the workplace taught us? From egg freezing in Silicon Valley to 3-day working weeks (with a detour through the mind of Russell Brand) FT columnists Lucy Kellaway and Michael Skapinker discuss their highs and lows of 2014.

A new paradigm for oil?


A kingdom fit for an oil price ordeal - FT.com

A kingdom fit for an oil price ordeal - FT.com:



"A
new battle is breaking out in the Middle East as 2014 draws to a close. Thankfully, no blood will be spilled in its name, and no widows and orphans will be left in its wake. It won’t involve lost territory or stranded refugees. And it won’t be fought over religion or ideology.



More than a conventional war, though, it represents a fundamental struggle for the future of the Middle East, and for its place in the world.



I’m referring to the tussle over oil, the resource that provides the region with its strategic underpinning. There might be more than oil in geopolitical considerations of this troubled region — but there is nothing more important than oil."



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Charts for Christmas: bear case for US equities - YouTube

Charts for Christmas: bear case for US equities - YouTube: ""



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Charts for Christmas: emerging markets - YouTube

Charts for Christmas: emerging markets - YouTube: ""



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UAE federal budget not swayed by oil drop | The National

UAE federal budget not swayed by oil drop | The National:



"Declining oil prices will not affect the federal budget, Younis Al Khouri, an undersecretary at the Ministry of Finance, said on Monday.



Mr Al Khouri said that there was no change in the “volume and value” of approved expenditures in the 2015 federal budget, according to The National’s sister newspaper Al Ittihad.



The decline in oil prices in the world market has “no effect on public expenditure”, Mr Al Khouri said."



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Russian ADRs Drop on First GDP Contraction Since 2009 - Bloomberg

Russian ADRs Drop on First GDP Contraction Since 2009 - Bloomberg:



"Russian stocks traded in New York fell to the lowest level in a week as the economy shrank for the first time in five years and a court hastened the scheduled reading of a verdict in the case against opposition leader Alexey Navalny.



The Bloomberg Russia-US Equity Index dropped 4.5 percent to 50.41 in New York. The Market Vectors Russia ETF, the biggest exchange-traded fund tracking the country’s stocks, sank percent 8.7 percent to $14.61. The ruble tumbled 7.4 percent against the dollar.



Stocks slid and the ruble weakened after the government said gross domestic product shrank 0.5 percent in November. The economy is contracting as oil, the country’s top export, is trading at the lowest level in five years and sanctions linked to the Ukraine conflict stoke the country’s worst currency crisis in 16 years. A Moscow district court said it will hand down a verdict in Navalny’s case Tuesday, two weeks earlier than originally scheduled, as his supporters planned protests."



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Dubai Shares Drop Most in World as Gulf Markets Slump on Oil - Bloomberg

Dubai Shares Drop Most in World as Gulf Markets Slump on Oil - Bloomberg:



"Dubai’s index declined the most in two weeks, leading a regional equity rout, as oil headed for its longest monthly losing streak since 2008.



The DFM General Index (DFMGI) tumbled 5 percent, the biggest retreat since Dec. 16, to 3,742.04 at 12:07 p.m. local time. It’s the worst performer among more than 90 indexes tracked globally by Bloomberg. The Tadawul All Share Index (SASEIDX) in Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, sank as much as 3.4 percent. Oil has fallen 19 percent so far in December, poised for its sixth straight monthly loss.



“Oil still remains the fundamental reason for the equity markets to move here” and the drop in crude prices is “affecting sentiment in regional markets,” Hisham Khairy, the Dubai-based head of institutional trade at Mena Corp. Financial Services LLC, said by telephone. If oil prices fall further, “we can see another ugly scenario,” he said."



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Oil Drops From 5-Year Low as U.S. Stockpiles Seen Adding to Glut - Bloomberg

Oil Drops From 5-Year Low as U.S. Stockpiles Seen Adding to Glut - Bloomberg:



"Oil fell for a fourth day, extending losses from a five-year low amid speculation that U.S. crude inventories will stay at the highest level since June, offering no relief from a global glut.



Futures dropped as much as 1.2 percent in New York. Stockpiles in the U.S., the world’s largest oil consumer, are projected to remain at 387.2 million barrels last week, a Bloomberg News survey shows before government data tomorrow. Hedge funds pared bullish bets on Brent crude for the first time since before OPEC’s decision last month to maintain output quotas accelerated the market’s collapse. 




Oil has slumped 46 percent this year, set for the biggest annual decline since 2008, as the highest U.S. production in more than three decades contributed to a global surplus estimated by Qatar at 2 million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia, which is steering the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to resist cutting output, has said it’s confident that prices will rebound as economic growth boosts demand."



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