Business

Tokyo stocks open higher as yen falls

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday with a weaker yen lifting car makers and other exporters as risk fears over last week’s US attack on Syria waned. Geopolitical tensions spiked after US President Donald Trump ordered a cruise missile strike on a Syrian air base in retaliation for a deadly chemical weapons attack in the country blamed on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. “The US strikes were seen for what they […]

Defense stocks, oil boosted by US attacks on Syria

  by John Biers Agence France Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Wall Street stocks finished modestly lower Friday following a disappointing US jobs report, while Pentagon missile strikes on Syria lifted defense shares and oil prices. Gold prices, a traditional safe haven in times of turbulence, also rallied following the Syria action, while global stock markets were mixed. The Labor Department reported that the US added just 98,000 jobs in March, far below […]

Samsung Electronics expects Q1 profits to grow 48.2%

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Samsung Electronics said Friday it expects profits to soar by 48.2 percent in the first quarter despite a smartphone recall fiasco and the arrest of its de facto head. The world’s largest memory chip and smartphone maker estimated its operating profit in the January-March period at 9.9 trillion won ($8.8 billion), up 48.2 percent from a year earlier, thanks to strong sales of memory chips and display panels. It marked […]

Facebook adds tips for spotting ‘fake news’

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook on Thursday ramped up its fight against “fake news” by adding tips on how to tell when shared stories are bogus. An initiative being launched in the United States, France and a dozen other countries added an educational tool in an “awareness display” in news feeds at the leading online social network. “By clicking on the awareness display located at the top of their news feed, users will […]

Bezos sells $1 bn in Amazon stock yearly to pay for rocket firm

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos said he is selling $1 billion in stock of his retail giant Amazon each year to finance his rocket company, Blue Origin, which aims to carry tourists to space by 2018. Speaking Wednesday at the 33rd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Bezos vowed to lower the cost of space travel and start taking customers to space by next year. The entrepreneur did not say how […]

DOF chief Dominguez to ASEAN investors: This is the best time to invest in region

(Eagle News) — Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III told participants at the ASEAN Finance Ministers Investors’ Seminar (AFMIS) that now is the best time to invest in the economies of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as they are expected to collectively become a strong driver of global growth in the next decade. Dominguez, as host of this year’s AFMIS, delivered the opening remarks at the forum’s plenary session. Finance ministers and central […]

EU Parliament adopts tough Brexit ‘red lines’

by Lachlan Carmichael STRASBOURG, France (AFP) — The European Parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted tough “red lines” for negotiations over a Brexit deal, on which European Union lawmakers will have the final say in two years’ time. The parliament largely followed EU President Donald Tusk’s draft guidelines issued last week after British Prime Minister Theresa May formally triggered the historic Brexit process. But they omitted any mention of the flashpoint issue of Gibraltar, unlike Tusk’s […]

Pepsi drops ad accused of mocking ‘Black Lives’ protests

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Pepsi said Wednesday it was dropping an ad featuring the supermodel Kendall Jenner that appeared to use the “Black Lives Matter” protests to promote the soda brand. The spot provoked an outcry and widespread derision on social media claiming Pepsi was seeking to profit from the social justice movement. “Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly we missed the mark, and we […]

Amazon drops appeal, to pay $70 million for kids app buys

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Amazon has dropped its appeal of a United States regulator’s order and will pay refunds up to $70 million for app purchases by children on its tablet computers, officials said Tuesday. The Federal Trade Commission announced it filed a joint request with Amazon to withdraw a court challenge to an order from last year, which was similar to actions taken against Apple and Google for failing to get parental authorization for […]

‘Pink Star’ diamond fetches record $71.2 mn in Hong Kong

by Elaine Yu HONG KONG, China (AFP) — A giant diamond named the “Pink Star” broke the world record for a gemstone sold at auction when it fetched $71.2 million in Hong Kong on Tuesday. The 59.60-carat “Pink Star,” the largest in its class ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America, was sold to the city’s Chow Tai Fook jewellery chain. “Sotheby’s Hong Kong is very proud to have this record,” its Asia chairman […]

Global stock markets edge higher ahead of Trump-Xi meeting

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Global stock markets moved tentatively higher on Tuesday, with a narrower United States trade deficit boosting Wall Street modestly ahead of a key US-China summit later this week, dealers said. European markets sloughed off earlier weakness caused by the Saint Petersburg metro attack Monday, which left 14 dead, dozens wounded and had initially sent investors rushing for haven investments like gold and the yen. US stocks also finished higher […]

Tesla now 2nd largest US automaker as competitors’ sales falter

    by Nova SAFO Agence France Presse CHICAGO, United States — Tesla on Monday became the second-largest United States car maker in terms of market capitalization, displacing Ford, whose sales lagged amid concerns about the ability of the US market to keep growing. Many major auto makers reported US sales declines in March compared to a year ago, but Tesla over the weekend said it saw a huge jump in vehicles delivered to consumers […]