Business

Honda to close UK plant in 2022, risking 3,500 jobs: reports

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Japanese car giant Honda is expected to announce the shutdown of its plant in south west England in 2022, putting 3,500 jobs at risk, media reports said Monday. The carmaker is to announce the closure of its Swindon plant on Tuesday, according to Sky News, but still keep its European headquarters in nearby Bracknell. Nissan and Ford have also warned that jobs could be lost at British plants as Britain […]

Asian markets rally on growing trade deal hopes

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets rallied with oil and high-yielding currencies Monday as investors grow increasingly confident that China and the United States will eventually hammer out a deal to end their long-running trade war. While talks ended Friday in Beijing with no deal, negotiators shift to Washington this week with Donald Trump saying discussions were going “extremely well” and suggesting he could extend a March 1 truce deadline for an agreement to […]

Trade war boogeyman hangs over giant US toy show

by John BIERS Agence France Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The US-China trade war has dealt a glancing blow to American toys, hitting putty and arts and crafts items, while sparing superhero action figures, toy cars and most best-selling offerings. Yet uncertainty about the trading relationship between Beijing and Washington hangs over this weekend’s Toy Fair, dampening the festive mood amidst giant balloon cartoon figures and karaoke cars as some 30,000 industry representatives […]

Tokyo stocks open higher on optimism over trade talks

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday on hopes for progress in US-China trade talks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.55 percent or 324.31 points at 21,224.94 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 1.41 percent or 22.31 points at 1,599.60. “Risk sentiment was kicked off Friday by the (US) President averting another government shutdown… He was then briefed on Saturday by his key economic and trade […]

Global stocks surge on hopeful signs from US-China trade talks

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — European and US stock markets leapt on Friday as positive signs emerged from US-China trade talks aimed at averting an escalation of a tariff war between the world’s top two economies. US President Donald Trump said the negotiations in Beijing were going “extremely well” and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping announced the talks would continue in Washington next week. Trump also said there was a “possibility” he would extend […]

Global energy demand to soar one third by 2040: BP

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Global energy demand will surge by a third over the next two decades on advancing prosperity, but Indian demand growth will eclipse that of flagging giant China, Britain’s BP forecast Thursday. “The demand for energy is set to increase significantly driven by increases in prosperity in the developing world,” BP said in its Energy Outlook 2019 for the industry. “This improvement in living standards causes energy demand to increase by […]

China’s January inflation comes in slower than expected

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Factory and consumer price inflation in China rose at a slower rate than expected in January as global growth cools and the US trade war drags on, official data showed Friday. The producer price index (PPI) — an important barometer of the industrial sector that measures the cost of goods at the factory gate — rose 0.1 percent on-year in January, compared with a 0.9 percent rise the previous month. The […]

Asian shares drop on trade talks fears, weak US retail

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian stocks retreated Friday as concern grew over reports of an impasse in China-US trade talks in Beijing, and Wall Street was hit by weak US retail sales. Bourses across the region posted losses as investors shrugged off news that US President Donald Trump would sign a massive spending bill to avert a government shutdown, while Chinese inflation eased more than expected. Top US economic officials were due to meet […]

US officials to meet Xi as trade talks near end

by Ryan Mcmorrow Agence France Presse Top US economic officials were to meet on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the sides aim to wrap up trade talks in Beijing with enough goodwill to extend a truce in their tariff war. The world’s two biggest economies are seeking an accord to bridge their deep trade differences, after President Donald Trump set a March 1 deadline beyond which he would rescind a freeze on tariff […]

Airbus pulls plug on costly A380 superjumbo as sales plummet

by Joseph Schmid Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — European aerospace giant Airbus said Thursday that it would stop building its A380 superjumbo, the double-decker jet which earned plaudits from passengers but failed to win over enough airlines to justify its massive costs. The final two double-deckers will be delivered in 2021, just 14 years after the first A380 went into service, after the Dubai-based Emirates decided to reduce its total orders by 39 […]

Hong Kong port slips from global top five for first time

  HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s port, which once vied with rival Singapore for global dominance, has slipped out of the world’s top five busiest shipping container terminals for the first time, new data has revealed. The bustling southern Chinese financial hub owes its very existence to its ideal location as a port, a cornerstone of the remarkable growth of a city’s whose name means “Fragrant Harbour”. It has been among the world’s […]

Asian shares ease as US-China trade talks begin

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian stocks eased Thursday as traders anxiously awaited news from high-level US-China trade talks starting in Beijing. Negotiators from the two economic superpowers kicked off discussions in the Chinese capital aimed at defusing a row that has already triggered tariffs on billions of dollars worth of exports and threatened to stymie global growth. Failure to resolve the dispute would initiate a sharp hike in US tariffs on $200 billion of […]