Russian gold and foreign currency holdings have risen by over $9 billion in one week. The international funds came closer to the previous peak at the end of last month, as they climbed to the highest point in 12 years to $591.8 billion, according to the latest figures from the Russian Central Bank. The data released on Friday shows that the holdings rose by $9.1 billion. The regulator said that the increase was driven by “positive revaluation” and gold’s rally. Source RT
General Motors will keep two of its assembly plants shuttered until at least mid-April, another until the end of March and will idle a fourth, all due to a severe shortage of semiconductor chips used in various vehicle parts. Source Detroit Free Press
Germany’s national carrier Lufthansa has announced billions of euros worth of losses for 2020. Coronavirus disruption has catapulted the airline into an unprecedented crisis. The German airline Lufthansa on Thursday announced a record loss of €6.7 billion ($8 billion) in the COVID-19-stricken year of 2020. That compared with a profit of €1.2 billion for 2019. Source DW
Investors flocked to Italy’s inaugural environment-focused government bond offering on Wednesday, allowing the country to raise more than €8bn. The banks running the issuance chalked up around €80bn in orders for €8.5bn of debt. It was the biggest debut sovereign green bond from a European issuer to date, according to Intesa Sanpaolo, which worked on the deal. Source FT
