KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group has filed a lawsuit against the Malaysian government for confiscating rainbow-coloured watches that celebrate LGBT rights, in an act the company says has damaged its reputation. Homosexuality is a crime in Muslim-majority Malaysia, and rights groups have warned of growing intolerance against the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender…
By Xinghui Kok SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Two senior lawmakers from Singapore’s ruling party have resigned over their “inappropriate relationship”, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday, the latest high-profile scandal in a city-state otherwise known for its political stability. Lee said the resignations of house speaker Tan Chuan-Jin and lawmaker, Cheng Li Hui, were…
(Reuters) -A meeting of global finance ministers, earnings from U.S. companies whose market value exceeds that of some nations’ entire economies, and a pulse-check for Chinese growth are in the market spotlight. G20 finance chiefs kicked off a meeting in India over the weekend to discuss loans to developing countries, among other things, while Tesla…
By Stefanno Sulaiman and Gayatri Suroyo JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia recorded a surprisingly large trade surplus of $3.46 billion in June, as imports plunged more than expected and exports also remained weak, official data showed on Monday, adding to the case for possible rate cuts before year-end. A Reuters poll of economists had expected a surplus…
By Yoruk Bahceli (Reuters) – As markets navigate a likely end to the steepest interest rate rises in decades, investors say the Bank of England has been less consistent in its messaging than other major central banks, making positioning in UK assets a particular challenge. Traders, who bet the BoE was nearly done in May,…
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s home prices were flat in June, data showed on Monday, as prices in the capital Seoul city stopped falling for the first time in a year with sentiment improving for some apartment buildings. The nationwide house transaction price index slipped just 0.05% in June, following a 0.22% fall in May,…
By Libby George and Jorgelina do Rosario LONDON (Reuters) -Investors have piled back into bonds in Pakistan and Argentina following cash infusions and optimism over multilateral support, but the two nations have secured only enough help to limp to autumn elections, experts said. The rally in international bonds issued by the two countries has intensified…
A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Wayne Cole It could have been worse, is about the best that can be said of China’s data dump today. The Q2 GDP number of +0.8% q/q just pipped forecasts, but y/y undershot at 6.3% suggesting revisions somewhere to the past. Industrial output…
By Muyu Xu BEIJING/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – China’s average daily coal production rebounded in June from a six-month low the prior month, official data showed on Monday, as miners ramped up output to meet increasing demand from power generators amid a heatwave. China churned out 390.1 million metric tons of coal last month, up 2.5% from…
By Byron Kaye and Himanshi Akhand (Reuters) – Shares of Endeavour Group, Australia’s biggest pub owner, hit a record low on Monday after a surprise state government decision to impose identification checks and gambling limits on poker machine users. Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous state, said at the weekend it would make poker machine users register…
