Centrica To Sell King’s Lynn Gas Fired Power Station In £105 Mln Deal

Centrica plc (CNA.L) announced Monday that it has agreed to sell its 382 MW King’s Lynn combined cycle gas turbine or CCGT power station to RWE Generation for 105 million pounds.

The transaction is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2020.

Centrica said the sale is part of the non-core asset disposal programme announced in February this year. It is also consistent with the company’s strategy to reposition towards the customer.

The new King’s Lynn CCGT was commissioned on November 18, 2019 following a major replant by Siemens, including the installation of a new gas turbine. The power station is designed for maximum efficiency and flexibility, supporting the transition to a low carbon energy system which is increasingly reliant on intermittent renewables.

The power station has a 15-year Capacity Market agreement which starts in October 2020. It is capable of producing enough power to meet the needs of 400,000 households, almost all the homes in Norfolk.

Fresenius Helios’ Unit To Buy Private Hospital In Colombia For €300 Mln

Spanish hospital group Quirónsalud, part of Fresenius Helios, a unit of Fresenius SE & Co. KgaA (FSNUF.PK,FSNPF.PK), Monday said it has signed an agreement to acquire Centro Médico Imbanaco or CMI in Cali, Colombia. The total consideration amounts to approximately 300 million euros.

CMI offers a comprehensive range of medical specialties and services. The hospital has about 350 beds, 17 operating rooms and 250 consultation rooms. It generated sales of about 130 million euros in 2018.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020, pending anti-trust clearance.

Fresenius expects CMI to be accretive to Group net income in fiscal year 2020.

Quirónsalud in early November acquired CediMed, a medical diagnostics group based in Colombia. The total investment is about 40 million euros.

Gold prices soar ₹187, silver also jumps ₹495

Gold prices rise ₹187 to ₹39,053 per 10 gram; Silver jumps ₹495 to ₹46,499 per kg

Gold prices soared ₹187 to ₹39,053 per 10 gram in the national capital on December 23 following a rally in international prices and rupee depreciation, according to HDFC Securities.

On Saturday, the precious metal had closed at ₹38,866 per 10 gram.

Spot gold for 24 Karat in Delhi was trading higher by ₹187 with rally in international prices and rupee depreciation, HDFC Securities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel said.

The rupee was trading around 5 paise weaker against the dollar during the day, he added.

Silver also jumped ₹495 to ₹46,499 per kg compared to the previous close of ₹46,004 per kg.

In the international market, gold was trading higher at $1,484 per ounce, while silver was quoting at $17.36 per ounce.

“Gold prices traded higher as investors rushed for safer assets against prevailing market uncertainty ahead of Christmas holidays,” Mr. Patel added.

Gold Prices Inch Higher In Pre-holiday Trade

Gold prices inched higher on Monday even as the dollar stood near two-week highs after the release of encouraging U.S. economic data released on Friday.

Both spot gold and U.S. gold futures were up around half a percent at $1,484.79 per ounce and $1,488.45 per ounce, respectively. Trading volumes remain thin ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said the United States and China would “very shortly” sign their so-called Phase One trade pact.

Trump also said that China already started large scale purchases of Ü.S. farm goods and that the talks with the country were productive.

However, he didn’t give a date for when the so-called “phase one” agreement will actually be signed.

Meanwhile, China’s Xinhua news agency said President Xi Jinping told Trump that China is deeply concerned about “the negative words and deeds” of the U.S. on issues related to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.

“These actions have interfered in China’s internal affairs, harmed China’s interests and undermined mutual trust and cooperation between the two sides,” Xinhua said.

Uzbekistan polls close: Observers criticise lack of choice

Beyond veil of authoritarianism, Uzbek voters are hoping for change, but human rights groups are raising concerns.

Votes are being counted in Uzbekistan’s parliamentary election, in which observers say there were no genuine opposition choices.

All five parties running are seen as loyal to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

But, it is being hailed as a step away from years of authoritarian rule.

Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports from Tashkent.

SEBI signs pact with AFSA for mutual co-operation, technical assistance

The SEBI press release said the pact will facilitate mutual assistance, contribute towards efficient performance of the supervisory functions, and enable effective enforcement of laws and regulations governing the securities markets

Markets regulator SEBI on Monday said it has signed a pact with Kazakhstan’s Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) for mutual co-operation and technical assistance.

The objective of the bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) is to strengthen cross border co-operation in the area of securities regulation, SEBI said in a press release.

“This will facilitate mutual assistance, contribute towards efficient performance of the supervisory functions, and enable effective enforcement of laws and regulations governing the securities markets,” it added.

The MoU was signed by Chairman of SEBI Ajay Tyagi and the acting chief executive officer of AFSA Mukhtar Bubeyev.

The markets watchdog has signed bilateral MoUs with securities regulators of a number of jurisdictions and is also a signatory to the multilateral MoU of International Organisation of Securities Commissions, Securities and Exchange Board of India said.