Market

Free lunch! Bosses lure bankers back where they can see them amid COVID-19
30Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, USA, World

Free lunch! Bosses lure bankers back where they can see them amid COVID-19

LONDON: Investment banks in London are trying to tempt more staff members into the office, laying on free food, Friday night drinks and other perks to lure bankers back where they can pass skills to others - and compliance departments can keep a closer eye on them. Mass remote-working has been largely successful for many financial firms, improving communications and sparing staff from long commutes during a near-global COVID-19 lockdown. But some firms are keen to reunite teams after the hiatus. In public, they tend to cite the importance of building teams, boosting morale and mentoring junior staff. "Relationship building and developing a knowledge base are important for new associates and others, and that's easier in the office," said Ram Nayak, Deutsche Bank's global head of fixe...
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Billionaire Fredriksen names Svelland head of holding firm Seatankers
30Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, World

Billionaire Fredriksen names Svelland head of holding firm Seatankers

Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen appointed a hedge fund manager on Friday as next head of his family's key holding company, which controls assets ranging from oil tankers and rigs to real estate, fish farming and finance. OSLO: Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen appointed a hedge fund manager on Friday as next head of his family's key holding company, which controls assets ranging from oil tankers and rigs to real estate, fish farming and finance. Fredriksen, 76, said Tor Andre Svelland, 53, will become chief executive of Seatankers Group, top shareholder of world number one salmon producer Mowi , tanker firm Frontline and offshore driller Seadrill . Seatankers also controls dry bulk shipper Golden Ocean and real estate firm Norwegian Property , as well as Fredriks...
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In China, fears of financial Iron Curtain as US tensions rise
29Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, Market, Singapore, World

In China, fears of financial Iron Curtain as US tensions rise

SHANGHAI: A sharp escalation in tensions with the United States has stoked fears in China of a deepening financial war that could result in it being shut out of the global dollar system: A devastating prospect once considered far-fetched but now not impossible. Chinese officials and economists have in recent months been unusually public in discussing worst-case scenarios under which China is blocked from dollar settlements, or Washington freezes or confiscates a portion of China's huge US debt holdings. Those concerns have galvanised some in Beijing to revive calls to bolster the yuan's global clout as it looks to decrease reliance on the greenback. Some economists even float the idea of settling exports of China-made COVID-19 vaccines in yuan, and are looking to bypass dollar settl...
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US weekly jobless claims edge down to 1.19 million
29Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, World

US weekly jobless claims edge down to 1.19 million

WASHINGTON: The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week, but remained significantly high, suggesting the labour market was stalling as the country battles a resurgence in new COVID-19 cases that is threatening a budding economic recovery. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits totalled a seasonally adjusted 1.186 million for the week ended Aug 1, compared to 1.435 million in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 1.415 million applications in the latest week. Coronavirus cases soared across the country last month, forcing authorities in some of the hard-hit areas in the West and South to either shut down businesses again or pause reopenings, sending workers back home again. Though infections ha...
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Sericulture in J&K to get boost with new silk weaving factory
28Aug By Mike TrudellNo Comments
Asia, Market, USA

Sericulture in J&K to get boost with new silk weaving factory

In order to give sericulture in Jammu and Kashmir a boost, the government of India has installed new silk weaving and silk filatures factories at Bari Brahmana area of Samba district.Equipped with modern machinery and equipment, the new facilities have been established with project cost of Rs 16.80 crore and Rs 6.64 crore respectively in a record time of two years.The Principal Secretary of Industries and Commerce, Jammu & Kashmir, Manoj Dwivedi said that with the establishment of these units, work ranging from the treatment of cocoons to the production of silk and designing of finished fabrics like sarees, everything can be done at one place from now onwards.The silk filatures and silk weaving factory has already produced 4,60,000 meters of silk fabric and it is estimated that in futu...
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Mitsubishi Motors hits all-time low as ASEAN sales dive raise recovery doubts
28Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, World

Mitsubishi Motors hits all-time low as ASEAN sales dive raise recovery doubts

Shares of Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp plunged more than 10per cent to an all-time low on Tuesday after the automaker posted dismal sales in its key Southeast Asian market and forecast a huge loss for this financial year. TOKYO: Japan's Mitsubishi Motors faced doubts about a quick recovery after posting dismal quarterly sales in its key Southeast Asia market partly due to the coronavirus outbreak, sending its shares down 12per cent to a record low on Tuesday. A day earlier, Mitsubishi Motors, a junior member of the auto alliance of Nissan Motor and Renault SA , reported that sales in Southeast Asian countries, which normally account for a quarter of its global sales, plunged nearly 70per cent to make up just 17per cent of total sales during April-June. The automaker has bet on gro...
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Japan economy shrinks historic 7.8% in second quarter
28Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, World

Japan economy shrinks historic 7.8% in second quarter

TOKYO: Japan's economy shrank 7.8 per cent in the April to June quarter, the worst contraction in the nation's modern history, as the coronavirus deepens the country's economic woes. The contraction from the previous quarter was slightly worse than expectations but is still significantly less severe than declines seen in many other industrial economies. Still, it is the biggest economic contraction for Japan since comparable data became available in 1980, beyond the brutal impact of the 2008 global financial crisis. And some analysts labelled it the worst fall since World War II, though a change in calculation methods in 1980 makes the comparison complicated. The official data compared with the market's expectation of a 7.6 per cent contraction, the median forecast of major economi...
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Saudi Aramco’s profit plunges, sees signs of oil market recovery
27Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, World

Saudi Aramco’s profit plunges, sees signs of oil market recovery

Saudi Arabian state oil group Aramco on Sunday reported a 73.4per cent fall in second-quarter net profit, a steeper drop than analysts had expected, hit by lower crude oil prices and declining refining and chemicals margins, as the coronavirus hit demand. DUBAI: Saudi state oil group Aramco's profit plunged 73per cent in the second quarter of the year, as a slump in energy demand and prices due to the coronavirus crisis hit sales at the world's biggest oil exporter. All major oil companies have taken a hit in the second quarter as lockdowns to contain the coronavirus limited travel, which reduced oil consumption and sent prices tumbling to levels not seen in nearly two decades. Aramco, which listed in Riyadh last year in a record US$29.4 billion flotation, said the rapid spread of C...
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Serbia chooses links with China to develop economy, telecoms despite US warning campaign
27Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, Market, World

Serbia chooses links with China to develop economy, telecoms despite US warning campaign

BELGRE: As US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rallied Central European nations this week to stem Chinese influence by snubbing its advanced digital technology, Chinese surveillance cameras were recording faces and cars in the Serbian capital Belgrade. While Serbia aspires to join the European Union, it has made a big swing towards China, the top economic and geo-political competitor of the EU and United States, to help develop its infrastructure, energy and tech sectors and to buy weaponry. China has provided billions of euros in soft loans for infrastructure and energy development in Serbia. It is also pursuing its plan for a "digital silk road" - telecommunications connectivity - in which Serbia would be a key cog in Europe. On a visit to Slovenia on Thursday, Pompeo said that by r...
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5 things to know before the stock market opens Tuesday
26Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, World

5 things to know before the stock market opens Tuesday

1. S&P 500 to try again to close at a record high On Tuesday's economic calendar, the government reported much better than expected numbers on July housing starts and building permits. Starts surged 22.6% and permits jumped nearly 19%. 2. Walmart, Home Depot deliver strong earnings Shares of Walmart, which logged an all-time high Monday, rose as much as 6% in the premarket after the company blew away expectations with adjusted per-share earnings of $1.56 on a 5.6% total revenue increase to $137.74 billion. Online sales during the pandemic nearly doubled as customers got packages shipped their homes and used curbside pickup at physical stores. The stock has since pulled back. Shares of Home Depot rose 1% in Tuesday's premarket after the home improvement retailer delivered a 23% increase...
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