Business

Euro hits 2.5-month high as US Treasury ramps up bond buybacks

The euro climbed to a 2.5-month high against the dollar on Wednesday, gaining more than 0.8% as the U.S. Treasury's announcement of expanded bond buyback operations overshadowed hawkish Federal Reserve minutes. EUR/USD pushed toward the 1.17 level, driven by falling…

Eurozone bond yields ease after U.S. Treasury steps in

European sovereign debt markets are flashing warning signals as bond yields across the continent have surged to levels not seen in over a decade, driven by persistent inflation fueled by the Middle East conflict and expectations of further European Central…

Shein pushes Hong Kong IPO to September amid investor pushback

Shein Global Holdings is lining up major institutional backers for its planned Hong Kong initial public offering, even as the fast-fashion giant pushes its market debut to September following delays in the investor order process.

Toyota, Honda shares rally on U.S.-Canada auto tariff deal reports

Shares of Toyota Motor and Honda Motor rose in Tokyo trading on Thursday after reports that the Trump administration is moving to cut tariffs on vehicles imported from Canada to 15% from the current 25%, easing pressure on automakers with…

Chinese refiners snap up Saudi, Iraqi crude amid Hormuz crisis

Chinese refiners are ramping up crude oil purchases from Gulf producers through multiple channels, as the ongoing Strait of Hormuz crisis and Red Sea disruptions force buyers and sellers to adapt to fractured supply routes across the Middle East.

Samsung plans $72B shareholder return as SK Hynix launches record buyback

Samsung Electronics is preparing to announce a shareholder return plan worth more than 100 trillion won ($72 billion), according to a report by South Korean financial news site MoneyToday on Thursday, as the world's two largest memory chipmakers move to…

Alibaba shares dip as AI spending drives earnings miss

Alibaba Group on Thursday reported a 9% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue to RMB268.95 billion (US$39.6 billion) for the quarter ended June 30, beating Wall Street estimates, as surging demand for artificial intelligence services powered accelerating growth in its cloud…

Evergrande founder sentenced to life in prison by Chinese court

A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced Hui Ka Yan, the founder of China Evergrande Group, to life in prison for large-scale financial crimes, bringing a definitive legal conclusion to the collapse of the world's most heavily indebted property developer.

Unitree surges in Shanghai debut after report ties its robot dogs to US military research

China's Unitree Robotics based the designs for its most successful robot dogs on innovations funded by the U.S. military, according to a Reuters investigation published on the same day the company made a blockbuster debut on Shanghai's STAR Market.

AI memory chip shortage set to push car prices toward $60,000

The insatiable appetite of artificial intelligence has created what the tech world now calls "RAMageddon" — a global memory chip shortage that is pushing up prices on everything from laptops and gaming consoles to automobiles and television panels, with no…

Asian stocks rally after U.S. Treasury bond buyback eases yield pressure

Asian equities rallied on Thursday, August 20, after the U.S. Treasury announced plans to expand buybacks of longer-dated government debt, pulling 30-year yields back from multi-decade highs and offering relief to markets still reeling from the prior session's brutal selloff.

Oil settles at 4-week high as UAE suspends Iran trade

Crude oil prices settled at nearly four-week highs on Wednesday as escalating Middle East tensions — including the United Arab Emirates' suspension of all trade with Iran and continued uncertainty over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — kept supply…

Europe’s heat and drought drive shift to climate-resilient farming

Europe's summer of extreme heat and drought is exacting a heavy economic toll, with crop failures, stalled freight traffic on major rivers, and disrupted nuclear power generation combining to threaten growth across the continent. Economists now warn the damage could…

YouTube offers creators millions to not post on Netflix

YouTube Alphabet Inc. is offering millions of dollars to popular creators if they agree to upload their videos exclusively to the platform for a set period, marking a sharp escalation in the streaming industry's battle over creator talent. The move…

Bezos-backed consortium acquired 38% of Liverpool, not the third initially reported

A consortium including Amazon Amazon.com, Inc. founder Jeff Bezos has acquired approximately 38 percent of Liverpool Football Club from Fenway Sports Group, marking the billionaire's first foray into professional sports ownership and one of the largest deals in football history.

Red Sea and Hormuz disruptions create ‘double whammy’ for global shippers

The world's two most critical maritime chokepoints — the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz — are simultaneously compromised, creating compounding disruptions that have eliminated the fallback options global shippers once relied upon. The convergence marks an unprecedented period…

Vortexa warns crude oil markets face supply crunch as exports hit record lows

Maritime intelligence firm Vortexa warned on August 18 that crude oil markets are "underpricing an impending supply tightness," driven by a simultaneous collapse in exports from Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United States that has pushed combined shipments from…

Cook’s Apple legacy under scrutiny with CEO handoff days away

With less than two weeks until Tim Cook formally hands Apple to his successor, debate over the outgoing CEO's legacy has intensified — fueled by a fresh endorsement from CNBC's Jim Cramer and growing questions about whether supply chain vulnerabilities…

UBS urges investors into short-term bonds as 30-year yields hit 19-year high

UBS analysts are urging investors to load up on short- and medium-maturity bonds, arguing that the front end of the yield curve offers a compelling income buffer even as long-dated government debt suffers its worst selloff in nearly two decades.

Fractile seeks $6.5B valuation after Anthropic chip deal

British AI chip startup Fractile is in advanced talks to raise approximately $600 million at a pre-money valuation of $6.5 billion, according to Bloomberg, representing a more than sixfold increase from the roughly $1 billion valuation it secured just three…

China taps $1.6T housing fund to combat deepening slowdown

China is opening up its 10.9 trillion yuan ($1.6 trillion) housing provident fund for a broader range of uses, marking Beijing's first concrete policy response after July economic data revealed a deepening slowdown across consumption, investment, and industrial output.

Lagarde warns China competes in 40% of eurozone’s key sectors

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned on Wednesday that China now directly competes with the eurozone in close to 40% of the sectors where Europe holds a comparative advantage, up from around 25% in the early 2000s, as she…

Goldman Sachs says AI is already slowing hiring across developed economies

Artificial intelligence is already leaving a measurable mark on hiring across the world's largest economies, with call centers, software publishing, and management consulting among the hardest-hit industries, according to a Goldman Sachs research report published Wednesday.

Swiss franc emerges as carry trade alternative after US-Japan yen intervention

The Swiss franc is emerging as a leading alternative funding currency in global carry trades after the rare joint intervention by the United States and Japan to prop up the yen earlier this month sent ripples through foreign exchange markets.

U.S. eyes cutting metal, auto tariffs in Canada deal

The United States is considering reducing tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, and automobiles as part of a trade agreement taking shape between the two countries, according to people familiar with the discussions, even as the auto sector remains a major…

SoftBank plans record ¥1 trillion retail bond as AI credit stress mounts

SoftBank Group is preparing to issue approximately ¥1 trillion ($6.26 billion) in seven-year corporate bonds targeting Japanese retail investors, a deal that would be the largest retail corporate bond offering ever by a Japanese company, according to a Nikkei report…

Treasury buyback move calms global bond selloff

The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield surged to 5.34% on Tuesday, its highest level since 2007, as a sweeping global bond selloff driven by inflation fears, ballooning fiscal deficits, and geopolitical turmoil sent long-term borrowing costs soaring across major economies.

Dollar hits multi-month low after Treasury doubles bond buybacks

The U.S. dollar fell sharply on Wednesday after the Treasury Department surprised markets by at least doubling the maximum size of its long-dated bond buyback operations, a move that pushed yields lower and eroded the greenback's interest-rate advantage against major…

Saudi Aramco grants full September oil supply to European refiners

Saudi Aramco has notified at least three European oil refiners that it will deliver their full contractual crude volumes in September, according to Bloomberg, easing concerns about supply to the continent as the kingdom's principal export routes remain under pressure…

Asian markets tumble as global AI stock selloff deepens

Wall Street slid further from its all-time high on Tuesday as artificial-intelligence stocks resumed their decline, dragging the major indexes lower for a third straight session. The S&P 500 fell 0.7%, closing at 7,691.76, after setting its record last Thursday.…