TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese economy contracted in the first quarter, but at a slower pace than earlier estimated, the government said Wednesday. The world’s third-largest economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.5%, according to Cabinet Office data. That was smaller than the 1.0% contraction in the preliminary estimate for Japan’s real gross domestic…
By Selena Li HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asia stocks rose on Wednesday, encouraged by a rally on Wall Street, but gains were kept in check by worries that aggressive central bank policy tightening will stifle global growth and raise the risks of stagflation. The World Bank on Tuesday slashed its global growth forecast by nearly…
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) has no concrete plans for building factories in Europe at present, chairman Mark Liu said on Wednesday, adding customers in that region were fewer than in other parts of the world. The company is continuing to asses expansion plans in various regions, with the primary factor…
(Reuters) – Australia’s competition regulator on Wednesday said it had initiated proceedings against Airbnb Inc in the country’s Federal Court for allegedly misleading consumers on pricing for accommodation in the country. Between January, 2018 and August, 2021, the U.S.-based vacation rental company misled consumers in Australia by displaying prices for accommodation using only the ‘$’…
By Florence Tan SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices edged up on Wednesday ahead of data on U.S. oil inventories, with crude futures supported by tight supplies and recovering fuel demand as China’s top cities relax COVID-19 curbs. Brent crude futures for August rose 22 cents, or 0.2%, to $120.79 a barrel by 0012 GMT after…
By Daniel Leussink TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s economy shrank slightly less than initially reported in the first quarter, as private consumption remained resilient in the face of resurgent COVID-19 infections, offsetting a drop in capital spending. The slower contraction is welcome news for policymakers worried about the world’s third-largest economy’s recovery this quarter amid pressures…
By David Lawder and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told senators on Tuesday that she expected inflation to remain high and the Biden administration would likely increase the 4.7% inflation forecast for this year in its budget proposal. During a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Yellen said that the United States was…
By Stefanno Sulaiman JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi said on Tuesday the government would bring down its combined maximum crude palm oil export and levy rate to $488 per tonne from $575 per tonne to encourage shipments. Indonesia, the world’s biggest palm oil producer, has allowed palm oil exports to resume after…
By Diane Bartz and Leroy Leo (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is looking into how big pharmacy benefit managers like CVS Caremark affect pricing and patients’ access to prescription drugs at a time when costs of some medicines, even older ones like insulin, have skyrocketed, the agency said Tuesday. As part of the probe,…
WASHINGTON (AP) — State officials across the nation have taken on Big Tech companies in the courts and state legislatures, and federal regulators have nipped at Twitter over alleged violations of users’ data privacy. Now, one state attorney general with an outsize personality and edge-skating stance nearly in the league of Elon Musk is striding…
