Headlines

Ulster Bank swung into an operating profit of €13 million in the Republic in the first quarter of the year as it freed up money that was previously set aside to cover bad loans, while its U.K. parent said that plans to wind down the unit over the coming years remain “on track,” the Irish Times reported. The Dublin-based lender’s loan book dipped by €200 million to €19.8 billion during the first three months of the year, as loan repayment outpaced new lending, while deposits dipped by €100 million to €100 million to €21.7 billion, driven by a reduction in commercial balances.

Global shares extended gains after the Federal Reserve said it was too early to consider rolling back emergency support for the economy, and U.S. President Joe Biden proposed a $1.8 trillion stimulus package, Reuters reported. The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 49 countries, was 0.2% higher, on course for its best month since November. The pan-European STOXX 600 opened 0.4% firmer, while E-mini futures for the S&P 500 index rose 0.4% and Nasdaq futures advanced 0.6%. U.S.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being investigated by the country’s electoral watchdog following allegations that he failed to declare who funded an upgrade of his residence at 11 Downing Street, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Electoral Commission, which regulates political donations, said that it had been in contact with Johnson’s Conservative Party after concluding there “are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offense or offenses may have occurred,” amid allegations that undisclosed donors provide funds for a refit of his official residence.

World shares advanced Thursday ahead of the release of U.S. economic growth data and following a speech by President Joe Biden outlining ambitious plans for beefing up early education and other family oriented policies, the Associated Press reported. London’s FTSE 100 jumped 0.7% to 7,013.40. In Paris, the CAC40 climbed 0.6% to 6,344.17. Germany’s DAX slipped 0.2% to 15,262.39 as a report showed weakening consumer confidence. The future for the Dow industrials rose 0.4% and that for the S&P 500 surged 0.6%. U.S.

Fears of a selloff in China’s sovereign bond market have proved wrong, with traders now bracing for the pressure to build through May, Bloomberg reported. Instead of surging higher this month, benchmark 10-year yields are comfortably below their half-year average and little changed from late March, thanks to a slowdown in debt issuance by municipal authorities. Traders had been bracing for a seasonal increase in local bonds at a time when China’s commercial banks — the biggest buyers in the market — typically funnel funds to clients to meet tax payments.

Heathrow, Britain’s biggest airport, said a first quarter loss of 329 million pounds ($459 million) took total losses since the start of the pandemic to nearly 2.4 billion pounds as travel continues to be hammered, Reuters reported. It said only 1.7 million passengers traveled through the London airport in the three months to March 31, down 91% compared to the first quarter of 2019.

The emergence of China as an economic and financial powerhouse has been much quicker than often anticipated, according to an opinion in Nikkei Asia. Whether in terms of technological advances, industrial development, global trade or involvement in the capital markets, China's rise has been rapid and highly disruptive. There is, however, one glaring omission from this panoramic picture of strength: the internationalization of its currency, which has been far slower than earlier anticipated.

The proportion of businesses in the Republic availing of COVID-related income supports or wage subsidies peaked at 57 percent last April, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and reported by The Irish Times. It fell to a pandemic low of 30 percent in September before rising again to 45.6 percent or 113,000 in January this year.

Saudi Arabia is talking with unnamed foreign investors about selling stakes in Aramco, with options that include a 1% acquisition by a leading global energy company, according to the kingdom’s crown prince, the Wall Street Journal reported. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler and chairman of Saudi Arabian Oil Co., as Aramco is officially known, said that an announcement would come in the next year or two.

Deutsche Bank saw its strongest quarterly profits in seven years as the bank’s long-running restructuring achieved lower costs and as the bank suffered fewer loan losses in an economy that is rebounding from the worst of the pandemic recession, the Associated Press reported.