Business

Asian markets fall on coronavirus impact woes

  HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Markets across the Asia-Pacific were in the red on Monday with investors worried about the impact of the China coronavirus outbreak on the global economy. The virus has killed more than 900 people, infected 40,000 across mainland China and spread to more than two dozen countries in what has been termed a global health emergency. It has also jolted major supply chains for everything from food and household supplies […]

Hong Kong Airlines to lay off 400 staff as virus hits city

    HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong Airlines said Friday it has been forced to slash hundreds of jobs and ask remaining staff to take unpaid leave as the coronavirus outbreak compounds problems at the already-struggling firm. The announcement by the city’s number two carrier comes days after Cathay Pacific said it had asked all its 27,000 workforce to take three weeks leave without salary between March and June because of collapsing demand […]

Asian markets turn negative after healthy week, eyes on virus

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets fell Friday after a week-long rally as investors take profits and assess developments in China’s deadly coronavirus crisis. Strong US data, Chinese financial support and a broadly healthy earnings season have provided a much-needed boost to equities after last week’s sell-off, while there is a sense that the economic impact of the outbreak globally could be limited. China’s decision Thursday to halve tariffs on $75 billion of US […]

Nokia recovers in Q4 but cautious on outlook

HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Finnish telecom equipment provider Nokia beat expectations in a “challenging” 2019 as a strong fourth quarter enabled it to post its first full-year net profit since 2015, of 7.0 million euros. For the three months to December, it chalked up net profit of 563 million euros ($620 million), sparking sharp gains in the share price. Nokia was up more than 2.05 percent on the Helsinki Stock Exchange around early afternoon at […]

Staff making iPhones in central China plant to be quarantined

  TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Workers making iPhones at tech giant Foxconn’s plant in central China will be quarantined for up to two weeks, the company said Thursday, as cities on the mainland tighten their defences against the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Also known by its official name Hon Hai Precision Industry, Foxconn is the world’s biggest contract electronics maker and assembles Apple’s iPhones as well as gadgets for other international brands. Foxconn’s vast network of […]

Virus highlights OPEC reliance on Chinese oil demand

by Benoît PELEGRIN LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Fears of an economic slowdown, fuelled by the coronavirus slashing output in China, has shone the spotlight on OPEC, whose oil is heavily bought by the world’s second-biggest economy. “China has become increasingly important for OPEC countries in recent years,” research group JBC Energy told AFP. In total, more than two-thirds of China’s crude imports come from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia. Following a […]

Asian markets track Wall St surge as data trumps virus fear

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets rallied again Thursday despite China’s virus claiming hundreds of lives and infecting tens of thousands, with investors welcoming another record close on Wall Street and strong US jobs data. Equities gained across the board on building optimism that the outbreak, which has spread to more than 20 countries, can be contained and the economic impact limited. After last week’s big losses, and a near eight-percent drop in Shanghai […]

Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific asks all staff to take unpaid leave

  HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific is asking its entire workforce to take up to three weeks of unpaid leave, its CEO announced Wednesday, as the airline faces a crisis in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak. The request lays bare desperate times at Cathay, which was hammered last year by months of political chaos and protests in Hong Kong and is now being further hurt by the […]

Chinese stocks crash as viral panic infects markets

  by Dan Martin / LAN Lianchao Agence France Presse Chinese stocks collapsed Monday with Shanghai’s index posting its biggest single-day drop since 2015 — and hundreds of firms plunging the maximum 10 percent — as panic set in over China’s coronavirus epidemic. Monday was the first time in more than a week that Chinese investors were able to react to a viral outbreak that has now killed more people than the 2002-03 SARS outbreak, […]

Hong Kong economy shrinks for first time in a decade

HONG Kong, China (AFP) — Hong Kong confirmed Monday it plunged into recession in 2019, suffering its first annual contraction in a decade as the city buckled under the twin pressures of the US-China trade war and months of furious pro-democracy protests. The data was released as the semi-autonomous city begins the lunar new year facing another economic crisis — the outbreak of a deadly new coronavirus strain which began on the Chinese mainland and […]

Chinese central bank to pump $173 bln into economy in virus fight

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s central bank said Sunday it would pump 1.2 trillion yuan ($173 bln) into the economy as it ramps up support for a nationwide fight against a deadly virus that is expected to hit growth. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement it would launch a 1.2 trillion yuan reverse repurchase operation on Monday to maintain “reasonable and abundant liquidity” in the banking system, as well as […]

Apple closes China stores until Feb 9 due to virus

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — Apple announced on Saturday the closure of its stores, corporate offices and contact centres in mainland China until February 9 due to the new coronavirus epidemic. The virus has prompted the government extend the Lunar New Year holiday through this weekend in a bid to contain its spread, but many provinces and cities have called on companies to delay their return to work. “Our thoughts are with the people most […]