Oil falls on China's COVID-19 cases, high crude build | Reuters
Oil prices settled lower on Friday, weighed down by a build in U.S. crude inventories and worries that new pandemic restrictions in China will curb fuel demand in the world’s biggest oil importer.
Brent crude futures fell 69 cents to settle at $55.41 a barrel, for a 0.4% change on the week.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 86 cents, or 1.6%, settling at $52.27, nearly unchanged from the beginning of the week.
Overall U.S. crude inventories surprisingly rose by 4.4 million barrels in the most recent week, versus expectations for a draw of 1.2 million barrels.
Friday, 22 January 2021
As Covid cases spike, #Dubai works to keep its economy open | The Guardian ht @frankkanedubai
As Covid cases spike, Dubai works to keep its economy open | Dubai | The Guardian
As if the Boohoo online fashion company had not generated enough controversy in recent months, its bosses once again found themselves in the headlines last week for hosting a four-day meeting with suppliers in the luxurious surroundings of a Dubai hotel.
The company’s top executives had taken a private jet to the emirate for the get-together with the businessmen and women who supply their fabrics and manufacture their fashions, despite Foreign Office guidance that advises against all but essential travel.
However, like the reality TV “influencers” who have been in Dubai churning out endless beachwear poses, the Boohoo bosses were able to travel because the outing was classed as a work trip and, the company explained, all those present adhered to all Covid safety protocols.
Dubai is still hard at work, trying to carry on, even with its current spike in Covid infections.
During working hours, like other financial hubs around the world, the Dubai International Financial Centre is still the domain of suits and pencil skirts. By night, it becomes the swanky playground of the emirate’s glitterati, where chic restaurants and cocktail bars pull in the well-heeled movers and shakers of the Dubai business scene. The car park valets handle a steady stream of Rolls-Royces and Ferraris.
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| Evening view of the Dubai International Financial Centre in the emirate’s bustling financial and business district. Photograph: Urbanmyth/Alamy |
The company’s top executives had taken a private jet to the emirate for the get-together with the businessmen and women who supply their fabrics and manufacture their fashions, despite Foreign Office guidance that advises against all but essential travel.
However, like the reality TV “influencers” who have been in Dubai churning out endless beachwear poses, the Boohoo bosses were able to travel because the outing was classed as a work trip and, the company explained, all those present adhered to all Covid safety protocols.
Dubai is still hard at work, trying to carry on, even with its current spike in Covid infections.
During working hours, like other financial hubs around the world, the Dubai International Financial Centre is still the domain of suits and pencil skirts. By night, it becomes the swanky playground of the emirate’s glitterati, where chic restaurants and cocktail bars pull in the well-heeled movers and shakers of the Dubai business scene. The car park valets handle a steady stream of Rolls-Royces and Ferraris.
Kuaishou Is Said to Draw BlackRock, #AbuDhabi to $6 Billion IPO - Bloomberg
Kuaishou Is Said to Draw BlackRock, Abu Dhabi to $6 Billion IPO - Bloomberg
Kuaishou Technology, the Chinese short-video startup, has attracted BlackRock Inc. and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as cornerstone investors in its Hong Kong initial public offering, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Capital Group Cos. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board also committed to buy stock in the offering, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Kuaishou is targeting to raise as much as $6 billion from the share sale, which is set to start taking orders as soon as Monday, the people said.
The company plans to set aside nearly $2.5 billion of IPO stock for about 10 cornerstone investors, the people said. Fidelity, Chinese buyout firm Boyu Capital and Morgan Stanley Investment Management also agreed to purchase shares, they said. Singapore state investment firms GIC Pte and Temasek Holdings Pte separately plan to participate in the offering, according to the people.
Kuaishou is attempting the world’s biggest internet IPO since Uber Technologies Inc.’s $8.1 billion share sale in May 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Chinese company, whose name means “fast hand,” is the main domestic rival to TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd.
The app established its popularity among users in smaller cities and the countryside, with people streaming slices of everyday life from harvesting corn to slurping noodles. Kuaishou has since expanded to audiences in bigger metropolitan areas, hosting content ranging from people playing video games to teenagers lip-syncing pop songs.
Kuaishou Technology, the Chinese short-video startup, has attracted BlackRock Inc. and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as cornerstone investors in its Hong Kong initial public offering, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Capital Group Cos. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board also committed to buy stock in the offering, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Kuaishou is targeting to raise as much as $6 billion from the share sale, which is set to start taking orders as soon as Monday, the people said.
The company plans to set aside nearly $2.5 billion of IPO stock for about 10 cornerstone investors, the people said. Fidelity, Chinese buyout firm Boyu Capital and Morgan Stanley Investment Management also agreed to purchase shares, they said. Singapore state investment firms GIC Pte and Temasek Holdings Pte separately plan to participate in the offering, according to the people.
Kuaishou is attempting the world’s biggest internet IPO since Uber Technologies Inc.’s $8.1 billion share sale in May 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Chinese company, whose name means “fast hand,” is the main domestic rival to TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd.
The app established its popularity among users in smaller cities and the countryside, with people streaming slices of everyday life from harvesting corn to slurping noodles. Kuaishou has since expanded to audiences in bigger metropolitan areas, hosting content ranging from people playing video games to teenagers lip-syncing pop songs.
Iran Says It’s Reviving Oil Output to Pre-Sanctions Levels - Bloomberg
Iran Says It’s Reviving Oil Output to Pre-Sanctions Levels - Bloomberg
Iran has started ramping up its oil production and expects to reach pre-sanctions levels in one to two months, Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia said.
The oil market will be able to accommodate Iran’s maximum oil output of around 3.9 million to 4 million barrels a day, Zamaninia told reporters on the sidelines of an oil conference in Tehran on Friday. Subject to punitive U.S. sanctions, the country is barely pumping around half that amount currently, according to Bloomberg data.
Iran has been subject to tough U.S. sanctions since 2018, when the administration of then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from an international deal that restricted the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear activities.
Iran has started ramping up its oil production and expects to reach pre-sanctions levels in one to two months, Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia said.
The oil market will be able to accommodate Iran’s maximum oil output of around 3.9 million to 4 million barrels a day, Zamaninia told reporters on the sidelines of an oil conference in Tehran on Friday. Subject to punitive U.S. sanctions, the country is barely pumping around half that amount currently, according to Bloomberg data.
Iran has been subject to tough U.S. sanctions since 2018, when the administration of then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from an international deal that restricted the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear activities.
#Saudi reactions to Biden’s inauguration - ht @RiyadhBureau @ahmed
Saudi reactions to Biden’s inauguration - Riyadh Bureau
The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States was featured on the front pages of all Saudi newspapers Thursday, with commentary ranging from sadness over Trump’s departure to cautiously welcoming the new administration and hoping that it would maintain the close ties forged in recent years. Here is a selection of linked articles and translated passages from the Saudi press in recent days:
Abdulrahman al-Rashed, former editor of Asharq al-Awsat who generally reflects the official mood in Riyadh, had a warm farewell message for Trump on Twitter. He described him as a “brave and honourable man who stood like a mountain against Iran, extremist groups in the region, and other haters inside the United States”. We should be grateful to Trump and “we will long remember him as the man who sought to change our region for the better”, he added.
In his latest column published Thursday, al-Rashed said Trump’s impact would long outlast him but quickly pivoted to the forthcoming Biden era:
The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States was featured on the front pages of all Saudi newspapers Thursday, with commentary ranging from sadness over Trump’s departure to cautiously welcoming the new administration and hoping that it would maintain the close ties forged in recent years. Here is a selection of linked articles and translated passages from the Saudi press in recent days:
Abdulrahman al-Rashed, former editor of Asharq al-Awsat who generally reflects the official mood in Riyadh, had a warm farewell message for Trump on Twitter. He described him as a “brave and honourable man who stood like a mountain against Iran, extremist groups in the region, and other haters inside the United States”. We should be grateful to Trump and “we will long remember him as the man who sought to change our region for the better”, he added.
In his latest column published Thursday, al-Rashed said Trump’s impact would long outlast him but quickly pivoted to the forthcoming Biden era:
It is not possible to be certain about the next steps, but the fear may be exaggerated, as well as considering Biden an extension of Obama’s policy. Indeed, many of the faces nominated have worked in the Obama administration. But their presence does not mean the policy would be identical. Obama failed during his presidency in marketing his policy, particularly forcing Gulf states and Israel to deal with Iran. Then Trump came and besieged Iran’s arms, destroying its financial and economic capabilities. Thus, going back to the same point where Obama left off is nearly impossible, and there are new realities in the past four years: the Russians entering the conflict in Syria, the Iranian incursion into Iraq against American interests, Iran’s threat to oil shipping routes, the Israeli-Gulf alliance against Iran, as well as Tehran’s continuing sabotage activities in Yemen and Lebanon.
Statements by President Biden and his men and women during their presence in the opposition, and then on the campaign trail, have caused concern but in the past few days they offer reasons for optimism. The nominated Secretary of Defense endorsed and praised the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, a position that must have come as a shock to the Iranians. Likewise, the nominated Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has blamed the Houthis and held them responsible for what is happening in Yemen. We should not forget that he was the Deputy Secretary when the war broke out after the Houthis seized power, and he said at the time in 2015: “What Saudi Arabia and its allies have done is a matter of great importance. Saudi Arabia has sent a strong message to the Houthis and their allies, that they cannot overrun Yemen by force, and that they have no other choice but to return to the political transition process that they obstructed”. The important new development is that he pledged the day before yesterday at Congress to include the Gulf states and Israel in any nuclear negotiations with Iran, and this is a completely different position from the policy of Obama who was keen to exclude them and manage them in secret.
Oil drops 1% as China's surging COVID-19 cases trigger clampdowns | Reuters
Oil drops 1% as China's surging COVID-19 cases trigger clampdowns | Reuters
Oil prices fell on Friday, retreating further from 11-month highs hit last week, weighed down by worries that new pandemic restrictions in China will curb fuel demand in the world’s biggest oil importer.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 65 cents, or 1.2%, to $52.48 a barrel at 0740 GMT, after slipping 18 cents on Thursday.
Brent crude futures fell 58 cents, or 1.03%, to $55.52 a barrel, erasing a 2 cent gain on Thursday.
“In line with the more cautious tone displayed by financial markets today in Asia, both contracts have retreated,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.
Oil prices fell on Friday, retreating further from 11-month highs hit last week, weighed down by worries that new pandemic restrictions in China will curb fuel demand in the world’s biggest oil importer.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 65 cents, or 1.2%, to $52.48 a barrel at 0740 GMT, after slipping 18 cents on Thursday.
Brent crude futures fell 58 cents, or 1.03%, to $55.52 a barrel, erasing a 2 cent gain on Thursday.
“In line with the more cautious tone displayed by financial markets today in Asia, both contracts have retreated,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.
Mediclinic says Q3 revenue up on "unseasonably high" inpatient activity | Reuters
Mediclinic says Q3 revenue up on "unseasonably high" inpatient activity | Reuters:
Hospital operator Mediclinic International posted a 2.5% rise in third-quarter revenue on Friday, citing “unseasonably high” inpatient activity in December in southern Africa and the Middle East.
The company, the owner of a chain of private hospitals in southern Africa, the Middle East and Switzerland, said no restrictions on elective procedures and outpatient activity, unlike during the first coronavirus wave, helped revenue grow.
Hospital operator Mediclinic International posted a 2.5% rise in third-quarter revenue on Friday, citing “unseasonably high” inpatient activity in December in southern Africa and the Middle East.
The company, the owner of a chain of private hospitals in southern Africa, the Middle East and Switzerland, said no restrictions on elective procedures and outpatient activity, unlike during the first coronavirus wave, helped revenue grow.