SYDNEY Asian shares hustled to one-month highs on Thursday after Wall Street strode to another record, while bonds rallied on wagers the European Central Bank would extend its stimulus campaign at a policy meeting later in the session. Risk appetite got an extra boost when China reported upbeat trade figures with exports and imports both beating forecasts. Resource imports were very strong, a major reason prices for […]
US stocks hit fresh highs on Tuesday led by transportation, as investors solidified their bets on an improving economy under the Trump administration. The benchmark S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite each clinched their best daily performances since the day before the US election, with the first two also setting new records. Stock markets have been invigorated by the possibility of a wave of […]
Thursday 02.10 GMT Overview Major bourses across Asia latched on to record closes for key Wall Street indices as US stock markets continued to rally one month on from the presidential election. But investors were also turning their attention to the European Central Bank and whether it will at its policy meeting later on Thursday extend the deadline for its asset stimulus programme. Hot topic On Wednesday […]
MOSCOW — The Russian government announced Wednesday that it will sell nearly 20 percent of its state oil company, Rosneft, to the Swiss commodity trading firm Glencore and the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar. The deal defies expectations that no investor would dare buy a share in the Russian asset, given Western sanctions against the government of President Vladimir V. Putin. But the emergence of foreign money […]
A group of investors will pay $1.12 billion for Saudi Oger’s stake in Jordan’s Arab Bank and expects to complete the deal by mid-January, a member of the consortium told Al Arabiya TV on Wednesday. Saudi Arabian conglomerate Astra Group was part of the consortium, led by Arab Bank Group Chairman Sabih al-Masri, that was buying the 20 percent stake, Ghassan Akeel, chief executive for Saudi Arabia […]
Blackrock’s chief multi-asset strategist summed up tomorrow’s anxiously awaited ECB meeting best by noting that “what’s priced into markets is a fully fledged extension of the [bond-buying] program,” but warns that, thanks to a muted reaction to the Italy vote and recent encouraging data, “there’s a significant chance the ECB disappoints markets.” As bond traders bet on a six-month QE extension, Citi warns, anything less will be […]
By Richard Cowan | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday picked a fossil fuel industry defender as his top environmental official, another retired general as homeland security chief and Iowa’s governor as U.S. ambassador to China in choices at odds with some of his recent pronouncements. Trump, continuing to build his Cabinet as he prepares to take office on Jan. 20, said Oklahoma Attorney General Scott […]
The UK investigation into October’s “flash crash” in sterling has focused heavily on the Japanese trading operations of Citigroup, which fired off repeated sell orders that exacerbated the pound’s fall, according to bankers and officials involved in the inquiry. Citi’s traders are not believed to have started the slide in the currency in thin Asia trading but its Tokyo desk played a key role in sending the […]
Fresh from touting a deal to save hundreds of jobs at the Carrier plant in Indiana as proof he would hold to his election pledge to protect American workers, it appears to have escaped Donald Trump that his attack on Boeing’s contract to replace Air Force One would endanger the employment of thousands of highly skilled aerospace workers. After claiming this week that the “$4 billion” cost […]
Kuwait will request that an OPEC committee responsible for monitoring compliance with a global oil output reduction agreement meet in February or March next year, acting oil minister Anas al-Saleh said on Tuesday. “In my capacity… as head of the committee… I will call for a meeting of the first Monitoring Committee to take place in February or March 2017, ” Saleh said in a statement. “We […]
Softbank president Masayoshi Son walked out of President-Elect Trump’s office with a big grin on his face this yesterday, which can only signify one thing for me: a Sprint/T-Mobile merger is a done deal. Actual news stories don’t want to say this, because Trump and Son didn’t say it explicitly. According to the New York Times, Son “is projected” to spend half of his $100 […]
German and French stocks are closing in on a 20 per cent gain from their post-Brexit low, as a weaker euro and a thawing in sentiment towards banks raise the prospect that markets which disappointed investors for much of 2016 end it in positive territory. While the rebounds of the the two largest equity markets on the continent have been overshadowed by the run of new record […]
Raphael Domjan (right) and Thierry Plojoux in front of SolarStratos on December 7, 2016 in Payerne, Switzerland Just months after two Swiss pilots completed a historic round-the-world trip in a Sun-powered plane, another Swiss adventurer on Wednesday unveiled a solar plane aimed at reaching the stratosphere. The SolarStratos, a sleek, white two-seater aircraft with long wings covered with 22 square metres (237 square feet) of solar panels, […]
By Lewis Krauskopf and Bill Berkrot | NEW YORK NEW YORK President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday took aim at drugmakers, promising in a magazine interview that “I’m going to bring down drug prices,” and shares of U.S. pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies fell. In a cover story for Time magazine, which named him its Person of the Year, Trump said that “I don’t like what has happened with […]
Image: Pebble Despite a rather rough third quarter, Fitbit continues to lead the wearables market. Its dominance of the market will continue with the purchase of Pebble’s software assets. Read this The History of Wearable Technology: A timeline Humans have always adorned their bodies with gadgetry — be it for show, for utility, or both. Our timeline documents examples such as body armour, spectacles, wearable calculating aids, […]
This is part of a series on the global rise of exchange traded funds Have we reached Peak ETF? And are we therefore at last in a “stockpicker’s market” where active fund managers skilled in bottom-up stock selection can feast on the mispricings and anomalies that the herd of exchange traded funds have left in their wake? It is beguiling to think that this could have happened. […]
Trafigura, one of the world’s largest commodity traders, has announced a 12 per cent decline in annual profits as challenging market conditions curbed money-making opportunities and it was forced to write down the value of port and rail assets. In the year to September, net profit was $975m, down from just over $1.1bn in 2015 which was a record year for trading the Geneva-based company. In spite […]
Almost a third of smartwatches and fitness trackers, 29 and 30 percent respectively, are abandoned by their owners, according to a new study by analyst firm Gartner. More than 9,500 consumers from Australia, the United Kingdom, and United States, were surveyed between June to August about their attitudes towards wearables as well as their purchasing behaviours around smartwatches, fitness trackers, and virtual reality glasses. Those who abandoned […]
Wednesday 06:00 GMT Overview Bourses across Asia were higher, taking their cue from Wall Street’s return to near record highs and rally in Europe led by Italian banks. European bourses are expected to open firmer, with spreadbetters predicting the UK’s FTSE 100 will add 30 points to 6,810 and Germany’s Dax to gain 60 points to 10,835. US index futures suggest the S&P 500 will shed 1 […]
By Beth Pinsker | NEW YORK NEW YORK Want to save a few quick bucks on your holiday shopping? Your credit card may offer some little-known perks that could save you money both upfront and after the purchase. Of the 100 most popular credit cards, 81 offered some kind of extended warranty, according to a study released on Wednesday from Creditcards.com, a card rating website run by […]
Abu Dhabi // Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid led the UAE delegation to the two-day GCC Summit on Tuesday, which is also being attended by UK prime minister Theresa May as she looks to expand trade ties ahead of Britain’s exit from the European Union. The 37th annual talks among the six Gulf member states in Manama were expected to focus on security within the GCC, economic integration […]
As its ADSL business is replaced by the NBN and the cost of offering services to consumers moves from AU$15 to AU$40, thanks to the NBN’s connectivity virtual circuit charge, Australian telco TPG will look to increase its number of on-net users to make up the margin shortfall. Speaking at its annual general meeting on Wednesday, TPG chief financial officer Stephen Banfield said the company had a […]
AMBERNATH, India—Saturdays are typically busy at the sales office of Patel’s Planet, one of the many new apartment developments in the suburbs surrounding Mumbai where India’s fledgling middle class has been flocking in recent years. But last Saturday, it was virtually deserted. Prateek Patel, the cousin of the developer, complained that he hasn’t sold an apartment since early November, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shocked the country by announcing an unprecedented […]
Picture it: rumours of a renminbi devaluation keep growing. Residents rush to open accounts offshore as experts warn Beijing will get off on the wrong foot with a relatively new US administration if a big depreciation happens. Official denials are made regularly — until a devaluation of about 50 per cent follows in short order. That was China in 1994. Today the idea of a similarly brutal, […]
