World

NEW YORK :Crude prices edged up about 1 per cent on Thursday after dropping to a seven-month low in the prior session as some technical traders bought the dip and Russia threatened to halt oil and gas exports to some buyers. That price increase came despite a surprise build in U.S. crude inventories, news that the United States was weighing the need for more crude releases from strategic reserves and concerns China's COVID-19 lockdown extensions and rising global interest rates would slow economic activity and hit fuel demand. U.S. crude stockpiles surged by nearly 9 million barrels last week due to a combination of increased imports and ongoing releases from government emergency reserves, the Energy Information Administration said. [EIA/S] The hefty build compares with the 250,000-barr...

Things sure look different from Italia! Yes, I do take vacations. And yes, they almost always lead to dramatic declines that have me called back or called in. Not this time. This time it was a rout. An oversold rout as, once again, the S & P Short Range Oscillator got it right: We were at the outer limits of a very oversold market. My favorite market indicator was at minus 7.82% on Friday after a wicked few weeks. (Anything below a minus 4% is flashing an oversold signal.) The excellent news here? We are still oversold at minus 5.78%, which is usually the sign of a powerful rally with more room to run, rather than one that is running out of gas. That's rather amazing given the proximity of the Federal Reserve's next rate-hike decision in two weeks, and a couple days from the next Consumer ...

TOKYO : Japan's efforts to stop the yen's sharp falls through unilateral market intervention would only have a limited impact, a senior member of the country's ruling party warned, as data showed the currency's recent tumble blowing the trade gap out to a record. The Japanese yen held above 24-year lows against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, a day after authorities issued their clearest signal yet that they were not comfortable with recent sharp declines in the currency and were preparing for intervention. The yen last traded around 143.62 per dollar, down about 0.3 per cent, having shot up against the greenback on Wednesday on news of the possible intervention. Satsuki Katayama, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) head of a research commission on financial affairs, said Tokyo lac...

DHAKA : Bangladesh is finalising deals with Vietnam and India to import a total of 330,000 tonnes of rice as it races to replenish reserves and cool domestic prices, two officials with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday. Soaring prices of the staple grain for the country's 165 million people pose a problem for the government, which plans to expand cut-price rice sales to help people hard-hit by high costs. The south Asian country will buy 100,000 tonnes of parboiled rice from an Indian public sector firm and 200,000 tonnes of parboiled rice and 30,000 tonnes of white rice from Vietnam, the government officials said. The price for the parboiled rice from Vietnam will be $521 a tonne and white rice $494 a tonne, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the...

Over the past 65 years, the relations between Malaysia and Japan have grown substantially. The implementation of the Look East Policy (LEP) since 1982 has been the main catalyst in consolidating the special bond of friendship between Malaysia and Japan, through strong cooperation, high-level interaction and people-to-people linkages.Indeed, our collaborative relations have led to greater momentum for our progressive bilateral partnership. With shared interests, Malaysia and Japan are partners in many areas on bilateral, regional and multilateral platforms. Benefits have accrued over the years with technology transfers in strategic sectors that have constantly contributed to the overall industrial development of Malaysia. The LEP has succeeded beyond its original objective of fostering hum...

HONG KONG : Hedge fund managers in Asia are bullish on Vietnam's growth prospects and selectively looking to invest in emerging technological opportunities in China. At the annual Sohn investment conference in Hong Kong this week, hedge fund managers spoke about how to profit from Vietnam's fast-growing economy and prospects for a boost in domestic consumption amid the simmering Sino-U.S. tensions. Their other top picks in the region included an Apple supplier and a caller identifying app. Seth Fischer, founder and chief investment officer of activist investor Oasis Management, said he is long Vingroup, Vietnam's largest conglomerate and a proxy for the economy. Fischer’s picks include the exchangeable bonds issued by the group and its hospitality unit Vinpearl as well as Vinhomes stoc...

TOKYO: Japan's economy likely expanded more than initially estimated in April-June thanks to solid business spending, a Reuters poll showed, but growth prospects in the current quarter and beyond may not be strong. Revised real gross domestic product (GDP) data is expected to show the world's third-largest economy grew at an annualised 2.9 per cent rate in the second quarter, according to the poll of 19 economists. The growth figure would be higher than a preliminary reading of expansion at a 2.2 per cent annualised rate. An expected 1.8 per cent increase in capital expenditure, larger than the previously estimated 1.4 per cent rise, would be the main driver of upgrade, analysts said. A Ministry of Finance survey this week showed resilient corporate spending despite headwinds. Changes ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co has reached an agreement to settle a labour dispute at its Malaysian factory with migrant workers who alleged unpaid wages and benefits, the company and five former workers told Reuters. Goodyear, one of the world's largest tire makers, declined to say how much it paid out, but the workers said settlement agreements signed this year ranged from about RM50,000 (US$11,062) to RM200,000 (US$44,248) per worker depending on the length of their employment. The workers, who requested anonymity as they were not authorised to speak about the settlement, said the net compensation they received was less than that because of taxes and lawyer fees. A total of 184 current and former workers from Nepal, India and Myanmar were part of several lawsuits filed again...

TRANSCRIPTS SENT TO MEDIA On Mar 5, 2021, the fifth day of trial, Thuraisingam sought the trial judge's permission to distribute the transcripts of the proceedings, which were in private, to members of the media. He gave an undertaking to the court that any distribution of the transcripts to the media would carry redactions of the woman's identity and a warning about the gag order in place. The trial judge granted Thuraisingam's application on the basis that the lawyer would make the necessary redactions and there would be no breach of the gag order. On Mar 16, 2021, after the team received the transcripts for the first four days of trial, Thuraisingam sent Hadi instructions over email about distributing them to the media. "Pls remember to black out complainant's name and remind the p...

Britain's Cineworld filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States on Wednesday, as the world's second-largest cinema chain operator struggles to rein in its massive debt. The Chapter 11 filing involves Cineworld's U.S., UK and Jersey operations, covering the bulk of its business. Here is a timeline of the company, which operates under the Cinema City, Picturehouse, Regal and Yes Planet brands, and its past and present struggles. 1995 Cineworld founded by Steve Wiener after he left his job as managing director of Warner Bros Europe July 1996 First multiplex opens in Stevenage, England October 2004 Private equity firm Blackstone buys Cineworld from consortium of investors including group's management December 2004 Cineworld buys UGC's cinema operations in Britain and Ireland...