Australia to reveal huge budget rebound, pledge restraint in response

By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s Labor government is set to reveal a vast improvement in the budget bottom line next week as its coffers bulge with tax windfalls, yet the outlook will be a sober one as fiscal challenges loom large. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has spent weeks using “restraint” and “responsible” to describe…

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North Korea blasts U.S.-South Korea summit deal for escalating tension

By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea criticised a recent U.S-South Korea agreement to bolster the deployment of American strategic assets in the region for escalating tension to the “brink of a nuclear war,” state media KCNA said on Monday. U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held a summit…

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Biden, India’s Modi to meet Pacific island leaders, Papua New Guinea PM says

By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, will join Pacific Islands leaders next month for a “historic” future-oriented meeting, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said on Sunday. “This is a historic first and at the same time a ‘going forward’ futuristic meeting of global…

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Tesla Models S, X unavailable in some Asia-Pacific countries, website shows

(Reuters) – Tesla’s Model S and Model X were not available for order in some Asia-Pacific countries, including Australia, Thailand, Singapore and New Zealand, the automaker’s website showed on Sunday. Other Tesla Inc models, such as Model 3 and Model Y were available in these countries, according to the website. It was not immediately clear…

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Wall St ends higher, posts weekly, monthly gains on solid earnings, Fed pause hopes

By Stephen Culp NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rallied to a higher close on Friday and benchmark Treasury yields dipped at the end of a week marked by strong earnings, wrapping up a solid month with data confirming inflation is cooling, which could allow the Federal Reserve to pause after next week’s expected rate…

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US dollar firms as inflation data backs Fed hike; yen plunges

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar rose on Friday after data showed inflation grew in March, though at a slower pace, keeping the Federal Reserve still firmly on track to raise interest rates at next week’s monetary policy meeting. The yen, meanwhile, fell across the board, after the Bank of Japan…

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TIM to seek new round of higher bids for landline grid – sources

MILAN (Reuters) – Telecom Italia (TIM)’s CEO Pietro Labriola is expected to propose to directors to seek further improvements of multi-billion bids for the company’s landline grid at a board meeting on May 4, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. Rival suitors KKR and a consortium comprising Italian state lender CDP and…

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Wall Street ends sharply lower, Treasury yields slide as recession fears mount

(This April 25 story has been corrected to rectify the name of the firm to Morgan Stanley Investment Management, not Morgan Stanley Asset Management, in paragraph 14) By Stephen Culp NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks sold off, closing deep in negative territory, and Treasury yields dropped on Tuesday as disappointing earnings and soft economic…

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