By Sujata Rao LONDON (Reuters) -World stocks snapped a seven-day rising streak on Thursday as the spread of Omicron worldwide clouded bumper year-to-date gains, dented oil prices and boosted the dollar. Sentiment was supported, however, by signs that governments, despite coronavirus cases hitting record highs, are trying to limit the economic damage by relaxing…
By Florence Tan and Sonali Paul SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices eased on Thursday after the world’s top importer China cut the first batch of crude import allocations for 2022, offsetting the impact of U.S. data showing fuel demand had held up despite soaring Omicron coronavirus infections. Brent crude futures fell 41 cents, or…
(Reuters) – JetBlue Airways Corp is reducing its schedule through Jan. 13 by about 1,280 flights due to a surge in crew members falling sick from the Omicron coronavirus variant, a spokesperson for the airline told Reuters on Thursday. Carriers have been canceling hundreds of flights every day in the United States since Christmas…
LONDON (Reuters) – HSBC said on Thursday it had received regulatory approval in China to take full ownership of its life insurance joint venture in the country, as it continues to expand its non-core banking services. HSBC has got clearance from the Shanghai office of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission to buy…
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s factory activity likely neither grew nor shrunk in December, a Reuters poll showed, amid disruptions from COVID-19 outbreaks and as the economy lost momentum in the fourth quarter. The official manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) is expected to fall to 50 in December, from 50.1 in November, according to the…
BEIJING (Reuters) – Mergers and acquisitions in the Chinese property market will help firms lower their debt, Zou Lan, head of financial markets at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), said on Thursday. “Mergers and acquisitions of projects between real estate companies are the most effective market-oriented means for real estate companies to resolve…
By Scott Murdoch and Kane Wu (Reuters) -SenseTime Group shares surged as much as 23% from their IPO price on Thursday, adding billions of dollars to the artificial intelligence start-up’s market value as it debuted in Hong Kong in the city’s final major float for the year. Some analysts had expected the shares to…
By Florence Tan and Sonali Paul SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices eased on Thursday after the world’s top importer China cut the first batch of crude import allocations for 2022, offsetting the impact of U.S. data showing fuel demand had held up despite soaring Omicron coronavirus infections. Brent crude futures fell 41 cents, or…
HONG KONG (Reuters) – China Evergrande Group said on Thursday in its Wechat account that 91.7% of its national projects have resumed construction after three months of effort. Company Chairman Hui Ka Yan vowed in a meeting on Sunday to deliver 39,000 units of properties in December, compared with fewer than 10,000 in each…
By Tom Wilson and Elizabeth Howcroft LONDON (Reuters) – Bitcoin close to $70,000, “memecoins” worth billions of dollars, a blockbuster Wall Street listing and a sweeping Chinese crackdown: 2021 was the wildest yet for cryptocurrencies, even by the sector’s volatile standards. Digital assets started the year with a stampede of cash from investors large…
