Tag: business

Indian stocks hit record, break 10,000 barrier

MUMBAI, India (AFP) — India’s stock markets hit record highs on Tuesday with the National Stock Exchange’s much-watched Nifty index breaking the psychological 10,000 point mark for the first time as traders take heart from economic reforms. The Nifty, which consists of 50 of India’s top companies across more than a dozen sectors, rose 0.45 percent, or 44.90 points, to hit 10,011.30 shortly after opening. That came as the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex index extended its […]

IMF says global recovery on firmer footing

by Heather Scott Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The global economic recovery is on firmer footing as improving growth in China, Europe and Japan offset downward revisions for the United States and Britain, the International Monetary Fund said Sunday. However, wage growth remains sluggish which risks increasing tensions that have pushed some countries toward more anti-global policies, while efforts to erode financial regulations put in place since the 2008 crisis could erode stability, […]

Martial law extension, not bad for economy, says NEDA Chief

QUEZON City, Philippines (Eagle News) — National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Chief Secretary Ernesto Pernia allayed  fears of a negative impact of a martial law extension to the country’s economy. Pernia said that he recently attended a meeting with businessmen from Cagayan De Oro City where the businessmen expressed that they feel safer because of martial law. “I was in Cagayan de Oro just the other day and there were businessmen there in the forum […]

Volkswagen fined $154 mn more in US for dieselgate

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Volkswagen must pay an additional $154 million to California to settle state environmental charges in the latest penalty in the scandal over its use of emissions “defeat devices,” regulators announced Thursday. The sum is on top of $533 million VW already paid to California in the so-called dieselgate conspiracy, in which software allowed cars to pass emissions tests, while still spewing nitrogen oxide far above legal limits. “This payment […]

Unilever first half profits soar 22.4 percent

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Food and consumer products giant Unilever said Thursday profits soared in the first half of 2017, raking in 3.3 billion euros after the Anglo-Dutch firm spurned a takeover bid by US rival Kraft Heinz. The 22.4 percent hike in the first six months compared to the same period last year showed “a substantial step-up in profitability despite the persisting volatile global trading environment,” chief executive Paul Polman said. “The transformation of […]

China second-quarter GDP growth tops forecasts on strong investment, consumption

BEIJING, China (Reuters) — China’s economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter as industrial output and consumption picked up and investment remained strong, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday (July 17). The economy grew 6.9 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the same rate as the first quarter, but analysts expect slower growth over the rest of the year as policymakers seek to reduce financial risk. Analysts polled by […]

President Duterte visits the Philippine Stock Exchange for the first time

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, July 11, visited the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) for the first time to attend the 10th listing anniversary of Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. (PNX). PNX is a leading independent and fastest-growing oil company in the country that opened its first station in Davao in 2005. On July 2007, it became a publicly listed company in the PSE, the only oil company to do so after the Oil […]

Opportunities for oil and gas despite demand worry: Total CEO

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — The oil industry must accept that global demand for crude may fall by 2050 but rich potential remains in hydrocarbons, especially gas, the head of French energy giant Total said Tuesday. Total Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said climate policies and electric cars would affect demand for oil in the next three decades. “It is possible that by 2040-2050 oil demand will not be as high as it is today,” he told […]

Tokyo stocks up by break on weak yen, Wall St rallies

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks rose Monday morning, following a strong lead from Wall Street after a better-than-expected jobs report, while a weak yen boosted exporters. New York rallied Friday after government data showed that the US economy generated 222,000 jobs last month, far above market expectations. “Although the announcement was made on Friday, the positive energy remained strong enough to sustain the market today,” said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities. The […]

‘Some’ job cuts confirmed by Microsoft

by Glenn Chapman Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Microsoft said Thursday it was cutting an unspecified number of jobs amid reports the United States tech giant was reorganizing its global sales operations. “Today, we are taking steps to notify some employees that their jobs are under consideration or that their positions will be eliminated,” Microsoft said in an email response to an AFP inquiry. Earlier, CNBC television said the company would be […]

Guinean former fashion model digs into west African mining

GUINGOUINE, Ivory Coast (AFP) — Leaving behind chic gowns and catwalks to stomp in the mud in heavy work boots, Guinean former fashion model Tiguidanke Camara has made herself west Africa’s first woman mine owner. In the small forest village of Guingouine, in the west of Ivory Coast, Camara runs a team of 10 geologists and labourers who are probing the soil for gold deposits. She readily wades into a mucky pond to help take laboratory samples. […]

Samsung to invest $18 billion in memory chip business

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Samsung Electronics will invest nearly $18 billion in its chip business, the South Korean firm said Tuesday, as it seeks to expand its lead in the global memory chip and smartphone markets. The world’s top maker of smartphones and memory chips will invest 20.4 trillion won ($17.7 billion) by 2021 to expand and upgrade its chip plants in the South Korean cities of Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong, it said in a […]