A look at the day ahead in markets from Sujata Rao. The ink is barely dry on global growth forecast downgrades from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, but banks are rushing out their own gloomy assessments. “Prepare for a hard landing,” Deutsche Bank shrilled in a Wednesday report. Flagging the possibility of a…
BERLIN (AP) — The World Health Organization says that the number of reported new COVID-19 cases worldwide decreased by nearly a quarter last week, continuing a decline since the end of March. The Geneva-based U.N. health agency said in a weekly report that nearly 5.59 million cases were reported between April 11 and 17, 24%…
BEIJING (AP) — China’s credit card processor has refused to work with banks in Russia for fear of being targeted by sanctions over its war on Ukraine, cutting off a possible alternative after Visa and Mastercard stopped serving them, according to the Russian news outlet RBC. UnionPay’s decision affects Sberbank, Russia’s biggest commercial bank, and…
TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares fell Friday, tracking losses on Wall Street after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated increases in interest rates must be faster to fight inflation. Major indexes cascaded downward in Asia, with the drop pronounced at nearly 2% in Tokyo. Japan’s consumer price index data showed an increase for the seventh…
By Mohi Narayan and Sonali Paul (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Thursday as concerns about supply due to a potential European Union (EU) ban on Russian oil came to the fore, days after diminished supplies from Libya rocked the market. Brent crude futures rose $1.32, or 1.24%, to $108.12 a barrel at 0636 GMT….
BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar officials sought Thursday to counter worries over sanctions, energy shortages and currency controls that are adding to the military-led government’s challenges in managing the economy. Two ministers of Myanmar’s army-installed government said in an online briefing that approved foreign investors, embassies, United Nations agencies and non-government organizations are exempt from recently…
By Indranil Sarkar (Reuters) – Bearish bets on most Asian currencies firmed, a Reuters poll found on Thursday, as several regional central banks trail the U.S. Federal Reserve in tightening their monetary policies to fight red-hot inflation. Analysts turned short on the Chinese yuan for the first time since early-October due to worries of an…
(Reuters) – Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs reported rival Morgan Stanley to Hong Kong’s financial regulator over a series of block trades, or large sales of shares, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Goldman alerted the territory’s Securities and Futures Commission three years ago as part of an “informal”…
By Heekyong Yang SEOUL (Reuters) – Hyundai Motor Co is likely to report a 4% bump in first-quarter profit thanks to a sharply weaker won boosting the value of its exports and offsetting a prolonged chip shortage, a sales slump in Russia and rising raw material costs. For the quarter ended March 31, the South…
BOAO, China (Reuters) – A prolonged slowdown in China would have substantial global spillovers, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday, but added that Beijing has room to adjust policy to provide support. The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its growth forecast for China this year to 4.4%, well below Beijing’s target of…
