LONDON (Reuters) – Empty offices globally should be converted to apartments to address a growing housing crisis in many countries, property executives told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday. Commercial real estate values are sliding as an economic downturn reduces demand for space among cost-conscious companies, whose employees have been spending fewer days…
By Holger Hansen BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany is expected to narrowly avoid recession this year with price-adjusted growth of 0.2%, a source said on Wednesday, citing estimates from a draft of the government’s annual economic report. This is to be followed by 1.8% growth in gross domestic product next year, according to the draft report, the…
(Corrects company headquarters in paragraph 4 to Woodcliff Lake, not Rockaway; the error appeared in a previous version of the story as well) (Reuters) -Party City Holdco Inc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, becoming the latest casualty among U.S. retailers in the aftermath of the pandemic, as it struggled with low demand…
By Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan on Wednesday maintained ultra-low interest rates, including a bond yield cap it was struggling to defend, defying market expectations it would phase out its massive stimulus programme amid mounting inflationary pressure. The surprise decision sent the yen skidding against other currencies and…
ZURICH (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in Zurich on Wednesday that the world’s two largest economies share a responsibility to manage their differences and prevent their competition from turning into a conflict. Yellen, in her first in-person meeting with Liu, said there was a “pressing need” for…
By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese government bond yields tumbled, falling the most in two decades at one point on Wednesday, retreating sharply from the central bank’s 0.5% ceiling after policymakers decided to keep yield curve controls in place. The 10-year yield plunged as much as 14 basis points to 0.36% at its lowest…
PARIS (Reuters) – BNP Paribas, France’s biggest listed bank, said on Wednesday that it had received all the necessary regulatory approvals to complete its previously-announced sale of Bank of the West to Bank of Montreal. BNP Paribas added that this transaction was expected to close on Feb 1. Bank of Montreal had said in December…
By Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan on Wednesday maintained ultra-low interest rates, including a bond yield cap it was struggling to defend, defying market expectations it would phase out its massive stimulus programme in the wake of rising inflationary pressure. The surprise decision sent the yen skidding against…
By Stella Qiu SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday while the Japanese yen tumbled and Japanese yields retreated sharply after the Bank of Japan unanimously decided to keep its yield curve controls in place. Speculation in the bond market that the BOJ would tweak its yield curve control (YCC) settings at the…
(Reuters) – Apple Inc has postponed the launch of its lightweight augmented-reality glasses indefinitely due to technical challenges, but is still planning to unveil its first mixed-reality headset this year, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. The iPhone maker’s mixed-reality headset – which combines both augmented and virtual reality – is set to launch in this…
