(Reuters) -Standard Chartered is starting to lay off employees across Singapore, London, and Hong Kong hubs as part of an existing plan to cut costs by more than $1 billion through 2024, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. The British bank had previously said that it aims savings of $1.3 billion under a cost-efficiency program. The…
(Reuters) -ByteDance-owned TikTok hopes to more than quadruple the size of its worldwide e-commerce operations to as much as $20 billion in merchandise sales this year, relying on growth in Southeast Asia, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The increase compares to last year’s $4.4 billion in gross merchandise value,…
By Nelson Renteria SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) -El Salvador’s president signed into law an electoral reform on Wednesday that reduces the size of Congress by nearly a third, a move the ruling party says will reduce spending and critics say consolidates power ahead of elections. The reform, announced last week by President Nayib Bukele in an…
By Jeslyn Lerh SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices were little changed in early Asia trade on Thursday as investors weighed demand concerns over a global economic slowdown against an expected fall in supply from Saudi output cuts. Brent crude futures dipped 1 cent at $76.94 a barrel at 0110 GMT, while the U.S. West Texas…
By Tim Reid (Reuters) -Former Vice President Mike Pence, who loyally served Donald Trump for four years, on Wednesday blasted his former boss for the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol as he launched his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Pence issued his most forceful condemnation to date of Trump’s role in the…
By Kylie Madry and David Shepardson MEXICO CITY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to Mexico on Wednesday to meet with the country’s president and cabinet members to discuss transportation, as Mexico awaits U.S. approval to regain a coveted air safety rating. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said talks would center on his…
By Takaya Yamaguchi and Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan is committed to putting economic growth before fiscal reform, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government said in its draft mid-year policy framework, while signalling an end to crisis-mode stimulus spending to return to one in “peacetime”. The draft plan, which was presented at Kishida’s top economic…
By Joe Cash BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s exports shrank much faster than expected in May while imports extended declines with a grim outlook for global demand, especially from developed markets, raising doubts about the fragile economic recovery. The world’s second-largest economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter thanks to robust services consumption and a…
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan posted a current account surplus for the third month in April as the trade deficit narrowed and income gains from overseas investment grew, government data showed, easing worries about declines in the country’s balance of payments. The current account stood at 1.9 trillion yen ($13.58 billion) surplus in April, Ministry of…
By Jamie McGeever ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) -If the Federal Reserve ‘skips’ raising interest rates next week only to tighten monetary policy again a month later, which is what some U.S. central bank officials are indicating and markets are pricing, it will be the shortest pause in the modern era. Since Alan Greenspan began his 19-year…
