(Reuters) – China’s Ant Group has announced a surprise share buyback that values the fintech giant at $78.5 billion, well below the $315 billion touted in an abandoned IPO in 2020, in a move that may let some investors exit. The announcement came after China’s financial regulator on Friday fined the Alibaba Group affiliate $984…
By Joe Cash BEIJING (Reuters) – China on Monday called on the U.S. to take “practical action” in response to its “major concerns” about sanctions on Chinese firms, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrapped up more than 10 hours of meetings with senior officials in Beijing. Yellen came to Beijing seeking to ease tensions…
By Yoruk Bahceli and Dhara Ranasinghe (Reuters) – Government bond markets from Europe to the United States and Australia are in a tailspin as the prospect of higher interest rates sparks a rout in longer-dated bonds, hurting investors seeking higher returns after a lacklustre first half. German and British two-year borrowing costs touched their highest…
By Leigh Thomas and Mathieu Rosemain AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France (Reuters) -An unusually long lag in the time interest rate hikes are taking to feed through to the economy has left corporate leaders guessing whether to prepare for a hard or soft landing. Although central banks in the United States and Europe have raised interest rates at…
(Reuters) -Gucci-owner Kering paid 3.5 billion euros ($3.83 billion) for acquiring high-end French fragrance label Creed in June, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The French luxury group made the acquisition since flagging intentions earlier in the year to create an in-house cosmetics business. The all-cash deal to acquire…
BEIJING (Reuters) – China should shift the focus of its stimulus from investment to consumption and further loosen urban residency curbs to boost migrant workers’ spending power, a central bank policy adviser said. “The target of our stimulus should shift from investment to consumption, which can more directly correspond to our actual economic bottlenecks and…
(This July 7 story has been corrected to clarify that FAA said the engine fire extinguishers were activated after landing, in paragraph 4) By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Friday it is investigating an engine fire last week on a Boeing 737-900 MAX plane operated by United…
(Reuters) – Heavy rainstorms poured over parts of New York and Pennsylvania on Sunday, with first responders rescuing people stuck in vehicles along flooded roadways and with more wet weather on the way for the U.S. Northeast. U.S. Representative Mike Lawler, who represents New York’s Hudson Valley area north of New York City, posted several…
SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) -More than a dozen major mutual fund companies in China cut fees in roughly 1,500 fund products on Monday as regulators started reforming fee practices in the $3.7 trillion industry in an effort to reduce costs to investors. The money managers, including China Asset Management Co and Bank of Communications Schroder Fund Management…
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s current account surplus more than doubled year-on-year in May, in a fourth straight month of gains, as the country’s trade deficit narrowed and income gains from its overseas investment expanded, Ministry of Finance data showed on Monday. The current account surplus reached 1.86 trillion yen ($13.08 billion) in May, compared with 773…
