top global news Archives

1. U.S. Futures Drop on Jobless Data, Waning Stimulus Hope

U.S. stock futures slumped after jobless claims posted an unexpected increase amid waning prospects for more stimulus before the November election. Treasuries and the dollar rose. Risk assets also fell as Europe’s biggest cities clamped down to curb the virus, with central bank officials seeing strong reasons to avoid rushing into expanding government aid. Some sectors have done well, like a housing market that’s booming thanks to record-low mortgage. At the same time, the data show the recovery is already slowing. September saw the smallest gain in employment since a jobs rebound began in May.

2. European Stocks Slump With Virus Sparking New Restrictions

Stocks slumped around the world as Europe’s biggest cities clamped down to curb the coronavirus amid waning prospects for more economic stimulus. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 2.4%. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dipped 1.1%. The euro decreased 0.3% to the dollar .West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 3.5%.

3. Hong Kong Stocks Slide Most in 3 Weeks With Tech Firms Leading

Hong Kong stocks fell the most in more than three weeks, with tech shares leading losses. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 2.1% at the close. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. slid 4.3%, the most since July, after reports of the U.S. is seeking to blacklist its affiliate Ant Group. Tencent Holdings and Xiaomi Corp. fell at least 3.4%, among the worst performances. The tech industry has been a focus of tensions between China and the U.S., with Trump seeking to curtail the influence of Chinese apps such as Tencent’s WeChat super app.

4. Hong Kong-Singapore Travel Bubble to Reopen Financial Hub Links

Singapore and Hong Kong will open their borders to one another for the first time in almost seven months, exempting people in both cities from compulsory quarantine in an agreement that will reinstate links between Asia’s two premier financial hubs. Compulsory quarantine will be replaced by coronavirus testing. Hong Kong-listed Cathay Pacific Airways jumped as much as 7.8%, the most in more than seven weeks. Shares of Singapore Airlines rose 0.6%. Both carriers have been hit particularly hard by travel curbs and the drop in demand from the coronavirus pandemic because they don’t have a domestic market to fall back on.

5. London Households Banned from Mixing as Virus Rules Tightened

Londoners will be banned from mixing with other households indoors from this weekend as tighter coronavirus restrictions are imposed in an attempt to curb a rise in cases in the U.K. capital. The change in the rules, which will come into force at 00:01 a.m. on Saturday, was announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock in Parliament on Thursday.

6. Value Stocks Could Shine After U.S. Election, No Matter Who Wins

Next month’s U.S. election could bring in a shift from growth stocks into value, regardless of the outcome. Every presidential vote in at least the last 40 years has sparked a potential rotation from one part of the market to another no matter who is elected. This year, the contest could put value stocks in the limelight after growth shares have surged amid low interest rates and plunging bond yields.

7. Indonesia Now Has the Worst Virus Outbreak in Southeast Asia

Indonesia overtook the Philippines in its number of coronavirus cases, becoming the country with the largest outbreak in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia’s largest economy has been marking fresh records in the daily increase of virus cases every few weeks, while the Philippines have seen its numbers slowly ease. It was only in August that the Philippines overtook Indonesia to have the region’s worst outbreak as it brought back a second lockdown on its capital. Indonesia’s struggle to contain the spread of coronavirus infections is set to tip the economy into its first annual contraction since the Asian financial crisis.

8. Fate of formal and business fashion hangs by a thread

Most people in “white-collar” jobs are working from home, with a newfound love of sweatpants, a trend that some experts expect to outlive the pandemic. This seismic shift in behaviour is having profound repercussions across the supply chain for suits and formal wear. In Australia, the world’s biggest producer of merino wool, prices have been in freefall, hitting decade lows. In northern Italy, the wool mills that buy from the farmers and weave the fabric for high-end suits have seen their own orders from retailers nosedive. In the United States and Europe, several retail chains specialising in business attire such as Men’s Wearhouse, Brooks Brothers and TM Lewin have closed stores or filed for bankruptcy over the past few months.

9. Increased Chinese scrutiny triggers investment risk for ‘Beast’ Ant IPO

As Ant Group was working in August towards its giant IPO, at least two smaller Chinese banks with existing ties to the fintech firm decided to stop sourcing new consumer loans from it. Their moves came after regulators scrutinised banks that used Ant’s technology platform excessively for underwriting consumer loans at a time when concerns about loan defaults and lenders’ asset quality grew in a pandemic-hit economy.For its lending business, Ant originates loan demand from retail consumers and small businesses and passes that on to about 100 banks for underwriting and providing loans, earning fees from the bank and keeping itself free of risk.

10. World Health Organization: European cases rocket, strong limits needed

The exponential surge of coronavirus cases across Europe has warranted the restrictive measures being taken in numerous countries, making them “absolutely necessary,”. WHO warned that even more drastic steps could be taken if the pandemic does not recede. It called for countries to be “uncompromising” in their attempts to control the virus and said most of the COVID-19 spread is happening in homes, indoor spaces and communities not complying with protection measures, hence it is up to the citizens to accept them while they are still relatively easy to follow. The evolving epidemic in Europe raises great concern, but strict steps will be necessary to avoid the same very painful damaging actions seen in the first peak.

1. U.S. Stocks Advance as Earnings From Big Banks Roll In

Stocks rose as earnings from big banks showed the trend for bad loans has stabilized, tempering concern over dwindling prospects for a pre-election stimulus deal. The S&P 500 extended this week’s rally, led by energy, industrial and technology shares. The KBW Bank Index rebounded after Tuesday’s plunge as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. posted a surge in fixed-income revenue that pushed earnings per share to its highest record. Wells Fargo & Co. slumped after profit plunged 56%, while Bank of America Corp. slid on an increase in trading revenue that was just a fraction of its competitors’ gains. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% as of 9:51 a.m. New York time.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was flat today.

2. Apple launches IPhone 12 with 5G: Wins Praise for Lower Prices & New Sizes

Apple Inc.’s latest iPhones won Wall Street over by dint of lower prices and a major design overhaul, fueling expectations of a new cycle of sales growth for the world’s largest corporation.

At a virtual event on Tuesday, the company showed off the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro models in screen sizes from 5.7” to 6.7”, part of the biggest re-design of Apple’s signature device in three years. Analysts praised a pricing strategy that may entice users with older, smaller iPhones to upgrade, especially drive sales for the iPhone 12 mini. They were also bullish on Apple’s ability to take on rivals like Huawei in China, the world’s largest smartphone arena, where 5G networks are considerably more built-out than in Europe and the U.S.

3. Countries Start Hoarding Food as Prices Rise and Covid Worsens

Countries have been on a shopping spree since the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains. The early purchases reveal how nations are trying to protect themselves on concerns the coronavirus will disrupt port operations and wreak havoc on global trade. The pandemic has already upset domestic farm-to-fork supply chains that provided just enough inventory to meet demand, with empty store shelves across the world leading consumers to change their shopping habits.

4. U.S. Crop Report Signals Worsening Global Food-Insecurity Crisis

Fresh reports from the U.S. government showed that tighter crop supplies could worsen the food-inequality crisis that’s sweeping the globe. In its hotly watched monthly crop report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday said world soybean stockpiles will be smaller than expected, signaled growing competition over global wheat shipments and highlighted dry weather as a threat to crops in parts of South America and Europe. Taken together, the report indicated that global food prices could keep climbing, making adequate nutrition more expensive as millions are thrown out of work and economic woes deepen.

5. Xi Rallies China Behind Shenzhen as Tech Fight Heats Up

President Xi Jinping vowed to press ahead with plans to gain the global lead in technology and other strategic industries, despite expanding efforts from the U.S. and its allies to check China’s rise. The Chinese president reaffirmed his commitment to “opening up and reform” as a strategy for gaining economic advantage in a 50-minute speech Wednesday to mark the 40th anniversary of Shenzhen’s establishment as a Special Economic Zone. Such ambitions are at the center of growing bipartisan support in the U.S. to restrict Chinese access to the strategic technologies it needs to overtake the U.S. as the world’s leading innovation power.

6. U.S. Stimulus Standstill Triggers Rising Tensions With No Deal in Sight

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have dug into their opposite viewpoints on pandemic relief, effectively killing off chances for a pre-election stimulus for the economy. The inability to bring months of negotiations to conclusion has sparked increasing tensions, with each camp seeing internal strains rise as it becomes clear there won’t be a spending bill to take to the public. President Donald Trump tweeted that Congress should “go big or go home”.

7. IMF sees debt soaring but stabilizing at 100% of GDP; if pandemic eases, growth resumes

Massive government spending to battle the coronavirus pandemic will push public debt to a record of nearly 100% of global economic output this year, but this may be a one-off event if economic growth rebounds next year, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. The IMF said there was wide divergence among the fiscal outlooks for member countries, with advanced economies taking on the biggest increase in debt burdens, while poorer developing countries faced a tougher task of recovering from economic damage as more people fall into poverty.

8. Scotland Independence Support Rises to a Record in Divided U.K.

Support in Scotland for breaking away from the rest of the U.K. climbed to a record as the coronavirus pandemic and economic fallout harden political divisions in the country. The prospect of a renewed battle over the future of the U.K. is becoming increasingly likely for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is already juggling the need for tighter restrictions to curb Covid-19 and tense negotiations with the European Union on a trade deal. The pro-independence Scottish National Party is way ahead in the polls ahead of elections to the Scottish parliament in May and has said its victory will reinforce their mandate to push for another independence referendum and is preparing legislation.

9. World Bank approves $12 billion to finance virus vaccines

The World Bank has approved $12 billion (INR 88,000 cr) in financing to help developing countries buy and distribute coronavirus vaccines, tests, and treatments, aiming to support the vaccination of up to 1 billion (100 cr) people. The $12 billion “envelope” is part of a wider World Bank Group package of up to $160 billion to help developing countries fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank said in a statement late Tuesday.

10. Hyundai Motor’s heir takes over from father after 20 years in waiting

Hyundai Motor Group appointed Euisun Chung as group chairman on Wednesday, cementing his succession from his 80+year old father in a move likely to give a boost to the world’s fifth-largest automaker’s push into electric vehicles and flying cars. In the first-generation handover at the South Korean automobile giant in 20 years, Chung, 49, said he hoped to lead change at South Korea’s second-biggest conglomerate as it battles to stay ahead of the pack in a time of rapid technological innovation in the global auto industry. Chung identified autonomous driving, electrification, hydrogen fuel cell, robotics and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) – industry jargon for flying cars – as his initiatives for the future.