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Oil hits 3-month high as trade hopes, UK election lift sentiment Oil rose on Friday to its highest in nearly three months as progress in resolving the U.S.-China trade dispute and Britain's general election result appeared to lift two clouds that have been dampening investor appetite for risk. U.S. sources said on Thursday that Washington has set its terms for a trade deal with Beijing, offering to suspend some tariffs on goods and cut others in exchange for Chinese purchases of more American farm goods. Brent crude, the global benchmark, climbed to US$64.95 a barrel, the highest since Sept. 23, and as of 1000 GMT was up 71 cents at US$64.91. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 52 cents to US$59.70. The 18-month trade war has been a dampener for oil prices, while uncertainty around Brexit has also weighed. Britain's ruling Conservative Party won a large majority in Thursday's general election, giving it the power to take the country out of the European Union. A drop in the U.S. dollar against the backdrop of a strong pound helped boost commodities. The pound surged more than 2% on Thursday supported by the election result. Brent has rallied by almost 21 percent in 2019, supported by efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia to cut production.– Nampa/ReutersItalian prosecutor presents bankruptcy request against CHL An Italian prosecutor has presented a bankruptcy request against information technology and e-commerce group CHL, the company said, adding it was notified on Dec. 9. The board has met to decide how to protect the company against the Florence prosecutor's action, which it considers "groundless", CHL said late on Thursday in a statement. Under Italian civil law a judge will now assess the prosecutor's request and decide whether to launch a bankruptcy procedure against the company. Italy's market watchdog Consob last week temporarily suspended trading in CHL shares after finding alleged irregularities and possible market abuse. Consob said the alleged irregularities related to information about the company's economic and financial situation that CHL's top management had provided to investors. Listed in 2000 just before the dot-com bubble burst, CHL is a relative minnow on the Milan bourse, with a market capitalisation of just 6.8 million euros (US$7.5 million). CHL said on Thursday it would press ahead with plans to buy Polish-based Airtime Sp.Zo.o, Romanian-based Prime Exchange Technologies and Irish-based Rubelite, though it added it was negotiating changes to the initial agreements with its counterparts. A shareholder meeting is scheduled for Dec. 20 to approve a 6.7 million euro capital increase to complete the acquisitions. – Nampa/ReutersEDF to invest 100 mln euros to boost labour training in nuclear industry EDF said on Friday it plans to invest 100 million euros (US$110 million) to set up a training college and boost welding and other skills in the French nuclear sector in a bid to correct problems that have mired the industry. The action plan, known as Excell, was demanded by the French government in October to tackle skills shortages and other shortcomings that have damaged the industry's reputation and led to over a decade of delay and major cost overruns on the construction of the new-generation Flamanville 3 EPR nuclear reactor. EDF did not say where it would open the college or give other details of its planned training schemes. EDF's plan, and the completion of the Flamanville project is a prerequisite for a French government decision on new nuclear projects in France. "The Excell plan must create the conditions to regain confidence in the French nuclear sector," EDF Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy told a news conference, adding that the nuclear sector has not been able to maintain the same industry standards as other sectors such as the aeronautic sector. – Nampa/ReutersJapan's Hoya to launch US$1.4 bln counter-bid for Toshiba unit NuFlare Japan's Hoya Corp said on Friday it would make a US$1.4 billion counter-bid for NuFlare Technology Inc in what could become a hostile offer for the Toshiba Corp unit, which the electronics conglomerate plans to buy out. Hoya's interest in the manufacturer of chip-making equipment further complicates a deal already being challenged by Japanese activist investor Yoshiaki Murakami, which has amassed a 6.2% stake. With Hoya offering a sweeter deal, it could also become another test case for Japan's corporate governance when it comes to seeking higher returns for shareholders. Hoya is offering 12,900 yen - or 1,000 yen more than Toshiba - valuing NuFlare at 147.7 billion yen (US$1.4 billion). NuFlare said Hoya's offer was made without prior negotiation or consultation with NuFlare's management. Toshiba, which owns 52.4% of NuFlare, said last month it would launch a tender offer to buy the rest of the firm as part of efforts to overhaul its vast asset portfolio. – Nampa/ReutersNorway's Telenor picks Ericsson for 5G, abandoning HuaweiTelenor has picked Sweden's Ericsson as the key technology provider for its fifth-generation (5G) telecoms network in Norway, it said on Friday, gradually removing China's Huawei after a decade of collaboration over 4G. Fearing high-tech espionage, and battling with China over trade, the United States has pushed NATO allies such as Norway to exclude Huawei from lucrative 5G deals, and Norwegian security services also warned against the firm. "The 5G era is here. This will be the one technology that will most transform our society in the next decade," Telenor Chief Executive Sigve Brekke tweeted as he announced that Ericsson will build the 5G radio access network (RAN). He said Telenor had carried out an "extensive" security evaluation as well as considering factors such as technical quality, innovation and modernisation of the network. A spokeswoman for Ericsson said the company was "very proud" to be chosen as a partner by Telenor but declined to comment further. State-controlled Telenor is Norway's biggest telecoms provider, and is active in the rest of the Nordic region as well as five Asian countries, serving some 183 million customers. The use of Huawei network components in Norway will be phased out over a 4-5 year modernisation period, the head of Telenor Norway, Petter-Boerre Furberg, told Reuters. Huawei has rejected claims that its 5G networks could be used as spy tools, and China has accused Washington of using security arguments to further politicise a conflict that is fundamentally about trade. – Nampa/ReutersECB says larger banks in euro zone should consolidate transnationallyLarger banks in the euro zone should consolidate transnationally, while for smaller lenders domestic-level mergers are a reasonable way to reduce costs, the European Central Bank's Vice-president Luis de Guindos said on Friday. Guindos also said that Spain's state-owned Bankia should end up being privatised. The Spanish government has until 2021 to offload its roughly 60% stake in Bankia. – Nampa/ReutersSoftBank-backed Paytm to allot 2.6 mln shares in fundraisingSoftBank-backed Indian digital payments startup Paytm's parent is set to allot about 2.6 million shares to investors, according to a latest filing by the company. According to the filing, the amount raised is 47.24 billion rupees (US$658.21 million). A source familiar with the matter said the allotment by One 97 Communications Ltd was part of last month's US$1 billion fundraise, which valued Paytm at US$16 billion. Alibaba's Alipay, SoftBank's SVF Panther (Cayman) and funds managed by T Rowe Price were among the investors, financial data accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler dated Dec. 12 showed. – Nampa/Reuters

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