BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s new home prices rose for the first time since September on a monthly basis, official data for January showed on Monday, as efforts to soften the blow from tough regulatory curbs on property supported buyer sentiment, particularly in big cities. Average new home prices in China’s 70 major cities climbed 0.1% from…
By Samia Nakhoul and Timour Azhari BEIRUT (Reuters) – For more than a decade, Lebanon’s central bank charged commercial banks in the country commissions when they bought government securities without making clear that the bulk of those commissions went to a company controlled by the brother of the central bank’s governor, according to documents seen…
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares fell sharply in Asia on Tuesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine, suggesting a long-feared invasion was possibly underway. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 2.2% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 3.2% in early trading Tuesday. Oil prices jumped, with U.S. crude…
By Alexandra Alper and Karen Freifeld WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s administration has prepared an initial package of sanctions against Russia that includes barring U.S. financial institutions from processing transactions for major Russian banks, three people familiar with the matter said. The measures, which would only be implemented if Russia invades Ukraine, aim…
(Reuters) – Australian payments firm Zip Co on Monday forecast a bigger half-year loss than analysts’ expectation, citing lower consumer spending in the United States as fiscal stimulus money dries up. The downbeat forecast sent the stock of Australia’s biggest standalone buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) company down nearly 7% to its lowest since May 2020. The BNPL…
By Orathai Sriring and Kitiphong Thaichareon BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s economy returned to growth in the fourth quarter, rebounding more quickly than expected, on robust exports and a recovery in domestic activity following an easing of coronavirus curbs and as borders reopened to foreign visitors. The government maintained its economic growth outlook at 3.5%-4.5%, counting…
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s largest electricity generator, AGL Energy, has rejected an 8 billion Australian dollar ($5.8 billion) takeover bid from tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canadian investment firm Brookfield, who want to accelerate the company’s transition away from coal-fired power. The Australian founder of software company Atlassian and Brookfield made the preliminary and…
By Alun John HONG KONG (Reuters) – Currency markets started the week nervously eying tensions in eastern Europe, with the safe-haven yen not far from a two-week high while the euro was on edge given the energy security and economic implications for Europe of a war in Ukraine. “Russia-Ukraine tensions are starting to dominate risk…
By Shashwat Awasthi and Harish Sridharan (Reuters) -Australia’s biggest power producer AGL Energy Ltd on Monday rejected a surprise $3.54 billion takeover approach from billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management in favour of a plan to split in two this year. AGL said the A$7.50 apiece proposal from the Canadian group and Cannon-Brookes,…
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s manufacturing activity expanded at the slowest pace in five months in February as output contracted, underscoring the prolonged impact that global supply chain disruptions are having on the world’s third-largest economy. Activity in the services sector shrank at the fastest rate since May 2020 as demand weakened after the country saw…
