News

September 17, 2021 1/CENTRALLY FOCUSED    Several central banking big-hitters meet in coming days, with the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Sept. 21-22 meeting topping the must-watch list. The timing of the Fed’s U.S. tapering plans remains the key question and recent data suggests caution may be warranted: the U.S. economy created the fewest jobs in seven months […]

September 17, 2021 By Joyce Lee and Jihoon Lee SEOUL (Reuters) -Hyundai Heavy Industries’ shares closed 86% above their initial public offering (IPO) price on their trading debut in South Korea on Friday. The shipbuilder, one of the largest in the world, raised $935 million from its IPO, with much of the proceeds set to […]

September 17, 2021 BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday that China’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is totally unrelated to a recently formed Indo-Pacific security alliance. In an arrangement dubbed AUKUS, the United States and Britain will provide Australia with the technology and capability […]

September 17, 2021 By Andrea Shalal and David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) – World Bank leaders, including then-Chief Executive Kristalina Georgieva, applied “undue pressure” on staff to boost China’s ranking in the bank’s “Doing Business 2018” report, according to an independent investigation released Thursday. The report, prepared by law firm WilmerHale at the request of the […]

September 17, 2021 ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s largest carrier Aegean Airlines on Friday reported a lower loss in the second quarter compared to the same period a year earlier as passenger traffic recovered from the pandemic travel restrictions. Aegean said its net loss came to 33.9 million euros ($39.91 million) in April-to-June compared to a […]

September 17, 2021 JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s central bank is expected to keep its key interest rate steady next week as the economy gradually reopens after a recent devastating COVID-19 wave, while a record high trade surplus should provide underlying support to the local currency. All 25 analysts surveyed by Reuters expected Bank Indonesia (BI) […]

September 17, 2021 By Issam Abdallah AL-AIN, Lebanon (Reuters) -Hezbollah began bringing Iranian fuel into Lebanon via Syria on Thursday, a move the Shi’ite Muslim group says should ease a crippling energy crisis but which opponents say risks provoking U.S. sanctions. Dozens of truck carrying Iranian fuel oil entered northeastern Lebanon near the village of […]

September 17, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund sold 57 million shares in South Korean e-retailer Coupang Inc for about $1.69 billion, according to a U.S. regulatory filing. Vision Fund sold 57 million Coupang shares at $29.685 each, and holds 568.2 million shares of the e-commerce firm following the sale, the filing showed […]

September 17, 2021 By Makiko Yamazaki, Kaori Kaneko and Ritsuko Shimizu TOKYO (Reuters) – Any merger of Japanese chipmaker Kioxia Holdings and U.S. rival Western Digital Corp should ensure critical operations are split equally between the two countries, a senior member of Japan’s ruling party told Reuters. The comments from Akira Amari, a former economy […]

September 17, 2021 A look at the day ahead from Tommy Wilkes. The troubles of over-indebted property giant China Evergrande may have been brewing for a long time but the muted reaction in markets internationally to the dramatic downturn in its fortunes has surprised some. Investors, for now at least, seem to believe the fallout […]

September 17, 2021 NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Opener Rohit Sharma has demonstrated his leadership qualities in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and is an obvious choice to succeed Virat Kohli as India’s Twenty20 captain, according to several former players. Kohli, who has led India across formats, has decided to relinquish Twenty20 captaincy after the 20-overs […]

September 17, 2021 (Reuters) -London-based real estate agent Foxtons Group said on Friday industry veteran Nigel Rich will replace Ian Barlow as its chairman, effective Oct. 1. Rich, a former chairman of estate agent Hamptons International and warehouse operator Segro, is taking over the role at Foxtons after Barlow said earlier this year he would […]

September 17, 2021 (Reuters) -Candidates to become Japan’s next prime minister officially launched their campaigns on Friday, with popular vaccine minister Taro Kono expected to be the top contender to replace Yoshihide Suga. Below are key economic policy stances of the candidates running in the ruling party’s leadership race: TARO KONO Having served as minister […]

September 17, 2021 KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s Top Glove Corp Bhd posted on Friday a 48% drop in its fourth-quarter earnings as the steady rollout of vaccines worldwide pulled down the demand for gloves. The world’s largest medical glove maker recorded a net profit of 607.9 million ringgit ($145.88 million) during June-August, compared with […]

September 17, 2021 (Corrects typographical error in paragraph 8) TOKYO (Reuters) – Business confidence among Japan’s large manufacturers likely slipped in the third quarter as the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant hit corporate and consumer activity, the central bank’s closely watched Tankan survey is expected to show. Other data is expected to show nationwide core […]

September 17, 2021 By Ludwig Burger and Patricia Weiss FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European companies playing key supporting roles in COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing are working to move production and supply chains closer to their customers to guard against trade restrictions that have interrupted supplies during the pandemic. Germany’s Merck KGaA, whose Life Science unit is one […]

September 17, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) -Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital has struck a deal to buy Zemoga, a technology services company that provides a new route for the rapidly growing digital advertising group to win work from multinational clients. Sorrell, the founder of WPP, has turned S4 into a $6 billion company in the three years […]

September 17, 2021 By Sanjeev Miglani NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India has told China that their bilateral relations will only develop when both countries pull their troops back from a confrontation on their disputed Himalayan border, the Indian foreign minister said. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar discussed the possibility of both sides when he met his Chinese counterpart, Wang […]

September 17, 2021 MOSCOW (Reuters) – Alphabet’s Google and Apple have removed jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s tactical voting app from their stores, his team said on Friday, after Russia accused the U.S. tech firms of meddling in its internal affairs. Russia goes to the polls on Friday to elect a new parliament in a […]

September 17, 2021 SYDNEY (Reuters) – Qantas Airways Ltd said on Friday it was considering new ways to structure pay to ensure it could retain key executives as it enters the third financial year affected by the pandemic-driven slowdown in travel. Qantas Chairman Richard Goyder said executives had faced a high workload with no annual […]