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TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday, helped by a cheaper yen and optimism over the US economy following strong jobs data that also saw Wall Street shares rise. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.42 percent, or 87.74 points, at 20,876.13 in early trade, while the broader Topix index rose 0.60 percent, or 9.33 points, to 1,573.96. Wall Street shares ended mostly higher after stronger-than-expected US jobs data. The dollar […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets rose Monday as investors were cheered by a blockbuster US jobs report last week, while trade was thin owing to the three-day Lunar New Year break. Expectations that the Federal Reserve will take its foot off the gas in raising interest rates and optimism that China and the United States will eventually hammer out a deal to resolve their long-running trade war were also providing support. With most […]
by Glenn CHAPMAN Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Amazon on Thursday reported its profit in the past quarter surged on strong holiday retail sales and its soaring cloud computing business. The US tech giant said profit jumped 63 percent from a year ago to $3 billion in the fourth quarter as revenues increased 20 percent to $72.4 billion. The results reflected growth in Amazon’s ever-expanding online retail operations as well as its […]
Japanese electronics giant Sony said on Friday that nine-month net profit jumped 63.2 percent on-year, led by its games and music divisions, while tax benefits allowed the firm to raise its annual forecast. But the electronics and entertainment giant lowered its annual sales forecast, citing slower-than-expected sales in a range of fields including the key semiconductor unit. The company said its April-December net profit reached 828.4 billion yen ($7.6 billion), while operating profit rose 13.9 […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets mostly rose Friday, with investors treading carefully as China-US trade talks ended with no deal but with both sides sounding notes of optimism and setting up more high-level meetings later this month. After the much-anticipated gathering, Donald Trump hailed “tremendous progress” between the world’s top two economies but warned the “hard deadline” of March 1 remained in place, after which US tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Wall Street stocks finished a banner month on a mostly positive note Thursday on optimism over US-China trade relations, while European bourses were pressured following tepid economic data. The Dow finished the session a hair lower, but up 7.2 percent for all of January, in its best start to the year in 30 years. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished solidly higher as Wall Street continued to cheer the […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Nintendo said Thursday its net profit jumped nearly 25 percent for the nine months to December, riding out the crucial holiday season thanks to blockbuster game titles for its popular Switch console. The Kyoto-based games giant said its bottom-line profit rose 24.9 percent to 168.8 billion yen ($1.6 billion) for the April-December period on sales of 997.3 billion yen, up 16.4 percent. “During the holiday season, software was a great driver […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday said that net profit surged 80 percent to $23.4 billion in 2018, thanks to higher oil prices and cost cuts. Profit after tax had come in at almost $13 billion in 2017, Shell said in a statement. “We delivered on our promises for the year, including the completion of the $30 billion divestment program and starting up key growth projects while maintaining discipline on capital […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s manufacturing activity contracted for a second consecutive month in January, official data showed Thursday, another sign of the country’s economic slowdown. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a gauge of factory conditions, came in at 49.5 for the month, up slightly from 49.4 in December, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Although this marks the first uptick in four months, it remained below the 50.0 mark separating expansion from […]
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook said Wednesday quarterly profit climbed to an all-time record $6.9 billion as it boosted its global user base despite scandals that have dented the leading social network’s image. Revenue soared 30 percent from a year ago to $16.9 billion while the number of people using it monthly rose nine percent to 2.32 billion, Facebook said in its fourth quarter update. Net profit for Facebook, which makes most of […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — The pound ticked up slightly in Asia on Wednesday after suffering heavy losses on worries about a possible no-deal Brexit, while regional equities were mixed ahead of crunch trade talks between China and the United States. MPs on Tuesday returned to Westminster to vote on a series of proposals dealing with Britain’s exit from the European Union after roundly rejecting Prime Minister Theresa May’s controversial deal two weeks ago. In […]
by Daphne ROUSSEAU Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German software giant SAP said Tuesday it would slash 4,400 jobs in a billion-euro restructuring plan after profits stagnated in 2018, while insisting it was on track to grow revenues and earnings this year. “We are talking about a completely voluntary programme,” chief financial officer Luka Mucic said. The number of job cuts would be “slightly higher” than during a previous overhaul in 2015, […]
