Business

Most Asian markets up after Wall St gains, eyes on US jobs

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Stocks mostly rose in Asia Friday following a strong lead from New York, while optimism about a US jobs report later in the day pushed the dollar up against the yen and euro. The upbeat outlook was also evident in oil markets, where prices held around the $50 mark as OPEC’s refusal to cap output was offset by a fall in US stockpiles. With the start of June proving to be […]

Hyundai Heavy wins creditor approval for overhaul

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries has received the green light for a near 3.0 billion restructuring program — including asset sales and job cuts — to keep the world’s largest shipbuilder afloat. A spokesman for KEB Hana Bank, one of the company’s chief creditors, confirmed Wednesday that it had approved the 3.5 trillion won ($2.94 billion) plan, to be implemented over the next three years. Hyundai Heavy, along with Daewoo […]

Pharma sector set for wave of mergers, acquisitions: study

FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — The pharmaceuticals sector is facing an intensive period of mergers and acquisitions in the coming years, even if US firms Pfizer and Allergan recently failed to tie the knot, the corporate consultancy firm EY said Monday. “We’re going to see a high level of investments and divestments in the pharmaceuticals sector in the coming years,” said Gerd Stuerz, analyst at EY. In April, Pfizer and Allergan called off a  $160-billion (144-billion-euro) tie-up […]

Oil climbs $50 for the first time in seven months

QUEZON City, Philippines – Low prices have been wrecking havoc among oil firms and producers for almost half of the year. But prices are climbing slowly in the past weeks and for the first time oil futures reach $50 which also caused allied energy stocks to go up. (Eagle News Service Described by Jay Paul Carlos, Video Editing and Uploaded by Vince Alvin Villarin) https://youtu.be/EV9TdR34Khw

North Korea’s construction boom

QUEZON City, Philippines – In North Korea, the private sector is leading the construction boom which is changing the city’s skyline. (Eagle News Service Described by Jay Paul Carlos, Video Editing and Uploaded by Vince Alvin Villarin)

Bank heist runs cold in the Philippines

QUEZON City, Philippines – After three months, authorities were still not able to arrest any of the suspects as well as recover the bulk of the $81 million. Investigators said that certain laws in the Philippines make it near impossible to follow the money. (Eagle News Service Described by Jay Paul Carlos, Video Editing and Uploaded by Vince Alvin Villarin) https://youtu.be/qWHT5qiJxAQ

Google wins in retrial of Oracle copyright lawsuit

by Glenn CHAPMAN SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — A jury ruled Thursday that Google did not unfairly use parts of Java programming language, saving the tech giant from a possible multi-billion-dollar verdict in a lawsuit brought by business software firm Oracle. The retrial stemmed from a 2012 case in which Google also prevailed, and has been closely watched by the tech industry because of its implications for software innovation and copyright law. Oracle sought […]

PS4 sales hit 40 million as Sony console dominates

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Sony Interactive Entertainment announced Thursday that PlayStation 4 sales hit 40 million units, being snapped up at a record-setting pace. PS4 has dominated the market for the latest-generation consoles, with industry trackers pegging sales as being nearly double those of rival Microsoft Xbox One. “We are truly grateful for the enormous support from our fans and partners across the globe, which helped us achieve this significant milestone in such […]

McDonald’s French HQ raided in tax probe

PARIS, France (AFP) – French police said Thursday they had raided the French headquarters of McDonald’s and seized documents last week as part of an investigation into tax fraud. Agents of a special corruption, financial and tax crime unit searched the premises west of Paris on May 18, taking away company files, a police source said. French authorities suspect McDonald’s has been illegally lowering its tax bill by channelling French earnings to Luxembourg, where its European […]

Energy stocks jump in Asia as oil passes $50 a barrel

  HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Energy stocks jumped in Asia Thursday after oil surged past $50 a barrel for the first time this year, providing a bright point as regional bourses generally took a breather. Oil prices, which have been edging towards the psychological barrier as global supply disruptions mount, were buoyed by data showing a fall in US crude inventories that put another dent in a stubborn glut. Canada’s central bank also announced that […]

McDonald’s in ‘historic’ agreement to contain Arctic cod fishing

OSLO, Norway(AFP) — Food giants McDonald’s and Tesco have signed a “historic” agreement to not expand cod fishing into untouched parts of the Arctic, where the ice melt has sparked fears of a rush on unexploited areas, Greenpeace said Wednesday. “This is a historic agreement that brings together the main players in the cod fishing” in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea, said Frida Bengtsson, a marine environment specialist at Greenpeace. “In the absence […]

Tokyo shares open higher as markets eye G7 summit

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo shares opened sharply higher Thursday, building on the previous day’s gains driven by rising oil prices, with markets eyeing the start of a G7 leaders’ summit in Japan. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rallied 1.02 percent, or 170.34 points, to 16,927.69 in opening deals, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares climbed 0.96 percent, or 12.85 points, to 1,355.73. © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse