Business

Twitter says finances impacted by ‘bugs;’ stock slides

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Twitter shares skidded Thursday after reporting weak growth in the past quarter resulting from glitches that made it harder to bring in advertising revenue. Profit for the third quarter was $37 million, a sharp drop from last year when Twitter was helped by a large tax benefit. Revenue rose nine percent from a year earlier to $824 million, well below analyst forecasts, impacted by what the company called “revenue product […]

Pound flat, most Asian markets down as Johnson’s Brexit bid fails

  HONG KONG, China (AFP) — The pound clawed back earlier losses Wednesday in Asia after Boris Johnson’s failure to push through his Brexit deal fuelled fresh uncertainty, while regional equities ticked lower as investors took a step back after recent gains. With everything quiet on the China-US trade talks, attention was on Westminster where Britain’s prime minister finally got MPs to agree to his EU divorce pact, but minutes later lost a vote on […]

Nike’s Mark Parker to step aside as CEO next year; remains board chair

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Sporting goods giant Nike announced a new CEO on Tuesday to take over from Mark Parker, who will continue to lead the company’s board of directors. John Donahoe will replace Parker as president and chief executive officer effective January 13, Nike said in a statement. Parker, who has served as CEO since 2006, and as chairman, president, and CEO since 2016, “will become executive chairman and continue to lead […]

Asian markets lifted by China-US trade hopes, pound stands ground

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets mostly rose Tuesday on growing optimism that China and the US will sign a partial trade deal next month, while the pound held firm around five-month highs as dealers bet Britain will leave the EU with a Brexit agreement. Donald Trump reinforced hopes Monday that he and Xi Jinping will be able to put pen to paper on a mini pact, saying China had already begun promised purchases […]

Netflix revs up growth as streaming TV war looms

by Glenn CHAPMAN Agence France Presse San Francisco, United States (AFP) — Netflix shares rallied Wednesday after its latest quarterly update showed robust subscriber growth and better-than-expected profits ahead of a major escalation in the streaming television war. Netflix reported a net income of $665 million in the recently ended quarter, jumping up from $403 million in the same period last year and topping most analyst forecasts. Revenue and subscriber growth, however, came in just […]

Singapore eases monetary policy, avoids recession

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore eased monetary policy for the first time in over three years Monday as the US-China trade war bites, while the export-reliant economy narrowly avoided recession in the third quarter. The financial hub’s central bank joins others around the world, from Europe to the US, in loosening policy as fears mount of a global economic slowdown. The city-state has traditionally been the first among Asia’s export-driven economies to be affected during […]

Global stocks rise on partial US-China trade deal, pound up

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Global stocks rallied Friday as US-China trade negotiations yielded a partial deal, while the British pound surged for a second straight session on signs that London and Brussels could still avert a no-deal Brexit. The US-China agreement, announced in the closing minutes of Friday’s Wall Street session, halts new US tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect next week and includes a Chinese promise to ramp up purchases […]

US to strike EU with $7.5 bn in tariffs over Airbus subsidies

by Heather SCOTT and Ben SIMON in Geneva WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Hours after getting the green light from the World Trade Organization, Washington moved Wednesday to retaliate against the EU over illegal subsidies for Airbus, announcing tariffs on $7.5 billion (6.8 billion euros) worth of European goods starting October 18. The ruling is the largest arbitration award in WTO history and a landmark moment in the longstanding Airbus-Boeing battle, which threatens to intensify […]

Asian markets track Wall St plunge following weak US data

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets sank Wednesday and the dollar struggled to bounce back following a worse-than-expected reading on US factory activity that revived worries about the impact of the trade war on the global economy. Adding to the selling pressure in Hong Kong were long-running concerns about the impact of increasingly violent pro-democracy protests in the city that saw a demonstrator shot and wounded by police on Tuesday. Regional investors took their […]

GM temporarily lays off 6,000 workers in Mexico due to strike

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — General Motors has laid off 6,000 workers in Mexico temporarily due to a US labor strike, which has disrupted production at two plants south of the border manufacturing pickup trucks, the company said Tuesday. The layoffs affect the Silao assembly and transmission plants in central Mexico, where work has been “disrupted as a result of a parts shortage related to the UAW strike,” a GM spokesman said. The Silao […]

Asian markets fall as Trump impeachment saga hits sentiment

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets fell Friday following declines on Wall Street as the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump weighed on sentiment. Political turmoil in Washington following the release of a whistleblower’s complaint overshadowed positive comments from Trump on US-China trade talks and steps towards a new agreement with Japan. The incendiary complaint alleges Trump sought to enlist Ukraine to help his 2020 campaign and then conspired with staff to cover it […]

ADB lowers PHL growth forecast due to slowdown in domestic investment, global economy

  (Eagle News) — Because of the slowdown in the global economy and Philippine domestic investment, Asian Development Bank (ADB) has revised the country’s economic growth this year to 6 percent, down from the previous forecast of 6.4 percent. In an update of its flagship annual economic publication, Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2019, ADB revised its forecast for Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 6.0% in 2019 and 6.2% in 2020, against its previous […]