When Jack Ma criticised Hong Kong last month for having outdated stock market listing practices, the Alibaba founder hit the city where it hurts. Hong Kong’s rivalry with New York has only heightened since the billionaire chose the US for his ecommerce group’s initial public offering two years ago. And next year, the battle between the world’s two largest listing centres will only become more heated, as three […]
Post-Millennials in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia call for more investment in clean energy – mirroring actions being undertaken as part of Government’s Vision 2030 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, December 28, 2016 Ambitious plans set out by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the deployment of renewable energy are strongly aligned with the hopes and ambitions of the country’s young people, according to global research […]
When the direct trading link between stock markets in Shenzhen and Hong Kong opened this month, local dignitaries were easy to spot at the launch events. Less conspicuous were international investors ready to take advantage of what was billed as a big opportunity to buy into Chinese equities. The link offers foreign investors greater access to shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, home to some of China’s up […]
By Makiko Yamazaki | TOKYO TOKYO A looming writedown at Japanese conglomerate Toshiba Corp has wiped almost $5 billion off its value in two days and prompted a credit rating downgrade on Wednesday, as the company grapples to plug a potential multi-billion dollar hole. Toshiba said late on Tuesday that cost overruns at a U.S. nuclear business it bought from Chicago Bridge & Iron last year, CB&I […]
Nearly half of all new mobile device and app activations across the United States during the week leading up to Christmas and the beginning of Chanukah were for the Apple iPhone, according to analyst firm Flurry. Flurry reported that during the week, 44 percent of all new phone and tablet activations involved Apple devices, while just 21 percent were across Samsung smartphones and tablets, with the latter […]
By Shinichi Saoshiro | TOKYO TOKYO Asia stocks followed Wall Street higher on Wednesday, while the dollar firmed against the yen following the release of upbeat U.S. economic data overnight. Crude oil prices held large gains on expectations of supply tightening once oil-producing nations implement a scheduled output cut. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.4 percent. Australian stocks rode a rise in […]
Shares in Toshiba sank by their daily limit of 20 per cent on Wednesday morning as investors scrambled to reassess the company’s financial stability and questioned the future of one of Japan’s most celebrated industrial names. The stock plunge followed Toshiba’s warning to the market the previous evening that it could book multibillion-dollar impairment losses on part of its Westinghouse nuclear business in the US – a […]
TAIPEI China’s sole aircraft carrier the Liaoning has arrived at a naval base on the southern Chinese province of Hainan, a senior Taiwanese military officer said on Wednesday, after drills that took it around the island China claims as its own. China has given few details of what the Soviet-built Liaoning is up to, save that it is on a routine exercise. Taiwan has said the aircraft […]
By Thomas Wilson and Saeed Azhar | TOKYO/SINGAPORE TOKYO/SINGAPORE Japan Inc may become a more important force in dealmaking next year as its cashed-up companies seek to buy growth prospects elsewhere in the world and as Beijing’s crackdown on capital outflows prevents some Chinese companies from making foreign acquisitions, bankers and lawyers said. Facing tepid prospects at home after decades of stagnation amid a shrinking population, Japanese […]
Obama says Japanese leader’s Pearl Harbor visit shows power of reconciliation | Reuters ‘+Reuters.inlinevideo.title+’ ‘+Reuters.inlinevideo.length+’ ‘); } PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to the site of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor showed the power of reconciliation. “This historic gesture speaks to the power of reconciliation. … A reminder that even the deepest wounds of […]
By Jeff Mason | PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe joined U.S. President Barack Obama for a symbolic joint visit to Pearl Harbor on Tuesday, commemorating World War Two dead and pledging that Japan would never wage war again. The visit, just weeks before Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office, was meant to highlight the strength of the U.S.-Japan alliance in the […]
By Diane Bartz | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Healthcare company Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N) has won U.S. antitrust approval for its proposed $25 billion acquisition of medical device maker St. Jude Medical Inc (STJ.N), the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday. Abbott agreed to divest two medical devices used in cardiovascular procedures to resolve FTC concerns the acquisition would stifle competition, the commission said in a statement. The company […]
Global debt sales reached a record in 2016, led by companies gorging on cheap borrowing costs that are now threatened by Donald Trump’s pledge to fire up the US economy. The bond rally that dominated the first half of the year helped entice borrowers that issued debt via banks to take on just over $6.6tn, according to data provider Dealogic, breaking the previous annual record set in […]
The low-for-long era is over. Central banks, fiscal activism and populism pricked the bond bubble in 2016. Next year will be a lot worse for bond investors, and the aftershocks of the burst will spread across many other assets. Since the crisis, investors have been buying bonds for capital gains and equities for yield, trusting in the holding hand of easy monetary policy. However, today the central […]
By Patrick Graham | LONDON LONDON Share prices inched higher on Tuesday as trading in some of the world’s major financial markets resumed after a Christmas break, with oil and the dollar also rising marginally. Concerns about Italian banks, Chinese growth and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s protectionist bent look set to keep investors on edge into the start of 2017. But expectations the new administration will splash […]
Gravity plays a crucial part in the growth of plants, especially in the early phase. This was amply demonstrated in the seedlings of cucumber analyzed for gravity-related changes in growth. Plants carry specialized cells that perceive gravity and distribute the growth hormone auxin to develop their vital features. Japanese researchers examined cucumber seedlings germinated at the International Space Station, where microgravity conditions prevailed. The results of the study were […]
Toshiba warned the market that it could book an impairment loss of “several billion dollars” at its troubled US nuclear division and reconsider its presence in that industry as accounting issues returned to blight one of Japan’s biggest industrial names. With Toshiba’s financial position becoming more clouded by the announcement, its chief executive, Satoshi Tsunakawa, told a press conference on Tuesday night in Tokyo that the company […]
TOKYO Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) is gauging demand for its first bond offering since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear calamity, with some market participants expecting a sale as early as February, people familiar with the plans said. Once-sceptical investors are now more comfortable with the utility’s outlook after government moves to reassess decommissioning and compensation costs, bankers and investors who asked not to be identified told Thomson Reuters […]
TAIPEI A group of Chinese warships led by the country’s sole aircraft carrier is heading towards China’s southern island province of Hainan through the South China Sea, Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, in what Beijing describes as a routine drill. The carrier group has already rounded Taiwan, passing first between the southern Japanese islands of Miyako and Okinawa and then skirting southern Taiwan via the Bashi […]
By Makiko Yamazaki | TOKYO TOKYO Toshiba Corp (6502.T) said on Tuesday it was considering booking a goodwill impairment loss of several hundreds of billion yen on a U.S. nuclear power acquisition made by its Westinghouse division, sending its stock plunging 10 percent. The loss would deal a yet another heavy blow to a sprawling conglomerate hoping to recover from a $1.3 billion accounting scandal last year. […]
Stacie Overton Johnson and Adam Workman pick their favourite restaurants of the year, based on great decor and ambience as well as fabulous food. • Reviewed meals are paid for by The National and conducted incognito. Contact the restaurants as prices may have changed since our original reviews newslide Abu Dhabi Butcher & Still Very few of us will ever be cool enough to recreate the Al […]
Over the past year, technology and ‘sharing economy’ start-ups have continued their disruption of traditional industries — from Uber and other ride hailers’ shake-up of the taxi market to Airbnb’s myriad alternatives to conventional hotel stays. But which will be the next businesses to be challenged by further digitisation and automation? FT correspondents have looked ahead five to 10 years to identify those industry sectors and companies […]
TAIPEI A group of Chinese warships lead by the country’s sole aircraft carrier has passed through waters south of Taiwan and is heading southwest, Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Monday of what China has termed a routine exercise. The ministry said the aircraft carrier the Liaoning, accompanied by five other vessels, had passed 90 nautical miles south of Taiwan’s southernmost point on Monday morning via the Bashi […]
The UAE will host the FIFA Club World Cup tournament in 2017 and 2018, it has been confirmed following the 2016 final which saw Real Madrid crowned world champions. The FIFA Club World Cup 2016 final, played in Yokohama International Stadium, saw the Spanish giants beat Japan’s Kashima Antlers, thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick. The UAE was previously host to the tournament in 2009 and 2010. […]
