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by Roland JACKSON Agence France Presse Global equity and oil markets slumped Monday on investor panic over the impact of worldwide measures to contain the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant, dealers said. Asia tanked on concern over a fresh global surge in coronavirus infections, sparking a fierce renewed selloff in Europe, with eyes also on the US open. Oil tumbled by more than five percent as traders fretted over the impact on the world’s appetite […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea said Thursday it will reimpose coronavirus curfews on businesses and limit the size of gatherings again as record infections forced the government to pause its plan to live with Covid. Following a rapid vaccination program, authorities eased restrictions last month to help boost the Covid-hit economy, removing limits on how long businesses could stay open. But new daily infections have more than trebled since then, with a record […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s economically important Zhejiang province wrestled on Tuesday with a Covid outbreak that has left half a million people quarantined and some districts under business shutdown. Zhejiang, a major industrial and export hub on the country’s east coast, reported 44 of China’s 51 domestically transmitted coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the total since late last week to nearly 200. Although Chinese case counts are miniscule compared to other major economies, […]
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexico registered its highest annual inflation since 2001, at 7.37 percent in November, the Inegi statistics institute said Thursday. Month-on-month, the increase was 1.14 percent, it said, pointing to agricultural and energy price rises as the main contributors. The 12-month figure is higher than the 3.33 percent recorded in November a year ago, and in excess of the central bank target of three percent per year. The previous high was […]
by Ali BEKHTAOUI Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The share of global wealth of the world’s richest people soared at a record pace during the Covid pandemic, a report on inequality showed Tuesday. Since 1995, the slice held by billionaires has risen from one percent to three percent, according to the World Inequality Report. “This increase was exacerbated during the Covid pandemic. In fact, 2020 marked the steepest increase in global billionaires’ […]
PARIS, France (AFP) – Only 14 companies are making top-grade efforts on the climate, the organisation that scores environmental efforts by companies for investors said Tuesday. The NGO Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) said only 14 out of nearly 12,000 firms that it scores received A marks in all the three areas of climate change, forests and water security in 2021. Among those were consumer goods firm Unilever, food group Danone, cosmetics maker L’Oreal and tobacco […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — China has an important part to play in the global economy as it recovers from Covid-19, but its growth is slowing, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Monday. The head of the Washington-based crisis lender held a virtual meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and discussed topics ranging from inflation to the recovery from the pandemic, according to a statement released by the IMF. “China achieved a truly remarkable recovery, […]
by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA Agence France-Presse SINGRAULI, India (AFP) – Thick grey dust hangs in the air and vast chasms are gouged into the land in the Indian coal hub of Singrauli, where giant machines scoop up dirty fuel to power the country’s growth while worsening its pollution blight. The open-cast mines of Singrauli epitomise the economic and environmental dilemma faced by the world’s second-most populous nation, which led the opposition to phasing out coal at this […]
by Roland JACKSON Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Global stock markets rebounded Wednesday and oil prices surged following Omicron-driven losses and on the eve of a key output meeting of OPEC and its allies. European equities advanced, mirroring most rebounding Asian bourses, as dealers temporarily set aside news of record-high eurozone inflation. Oil surged about five percent, while the dollar extended gains against major rivals as the Federal Reserve is seen […]
by Andrew BEATTY Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Pandemic-induced lockdowns caused Australia’s economy to shrink 1.9 percent in the third quarter, a downturn that bucked the trend of a steady recovery in other wealthy nations. The Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday reported the country’s second quarterly contraction since the pandemic began — and one of the largest contractions on record — sparked by long-running containment measures in populous states. Sydney, Melbourne […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Lockdowns and border controls shrank Australia’s economy by 1.9 percent in the third quarter, official statistics showed Wednesday, a decline more modest than expected but worse than in many other wealthy nations. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the quarterly downturn — the first since it contracted at the start of the pandemic in the first half of 2020 — was due to “extended lockdowns” in the country’s most populous states. […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian equity and oil traders were sent running Tuesday after the head of Moderna warned current coronavirus vaccines might be less effective at fending off the Omicron variant, fuelling fears that countries could be forced back into economically painful lockdowns. Stocks had mostly been edging up after a two-day sell-off that followed news Friday of the new variant, which some observers said was overdone as billions of people have […]
