Posts by Mark Darwin
Apple customers dash to stores to buy iPhones ahead of tariffs
[NEW YORK] The Trump administration’s threat of massive new tariffs has sent Apple’s share price plummeting, but it also brought a short-term benefit: customers rushing to retail stores to buy iPhones. Employees from different Apple locations across the country said stores filled with customers over the weekend – with the shoppers expressing concerns that prices…
Read MoreOil prices slide 2% to near 4-year low as US trade conflict fuels recession fears
[NEW YORK] Oil prices slid 2 per cent to a near four-year low on Monday on worries US President Donald Trump’s latest trade tariffs could push economies around the world into recession and reduce global demand for energy. Brent futures fell US$1.37, or 2.1 per cent, to settle at US$64.21 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate…
Read MoreDBS’, Bank of China’s printing vendor hit by ransomware attack; more than 11,000 customers affected
[SINGAPORE] About 8,200 customers of DBS Bank – as well as 3,000 from the Bank of China’s Singapore branch – have had their customer information compromised after a printing vendor was hit by a ransomware attack. On Monday (Apr 7) night, DBS Bank said it was informed by Toppan Next Tech (TNT), one of its…
Read MoreTesla shares plunge below Lutnick’s ‘never this cheap’ level
[NEW YORK] Tesla’s stock extended losses on Monday (Apr 7), dropping below a price at which Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick predicted they’d never fall to again. The shares plunged as much as 9.2 per cent to US$217.41 as of 9.41 am in New York, amid a broader selloff in global equity markets. Lutnick said during…
Read MoreUS: Wall St opens sharply lower, S&P 500 nears bear market territory
[NEW YORK] Wall Street’s main indexes opened sharply lower on Monday (Apr 7), with the S&P 500 on track to confirm bear market territory, as investors sought refuge in government bonds on economic worries over the fallout of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plans. At 09.31 am the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,212.98…
Read MoreExxon CEO Woods compensation rose 19% in 2024
Woods’ pay package is about 231 times the average compensation of US$190,266 received by the oil major’s workers [NEW YORK] ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods’ pay package for 2024 rose 19.3 per cent to US$44.1 million, a regulatory filing by the US oil major on Monday (Apr 7) showed. Woods’ base salary was about US$1.96 million,…
Read MoreSingapore shares close lower on Monday; STI tumbles 7.5%
Across the broader market, decliners outnumber advancers 612 to 137, with 2.7 billion shares worth S$4.2 billion changing hands [SINGAPORE] All 30 constituents of the Straits Times Index (STI) closed down, as regional indices settled lower on Monday (Apr 7). The STI declined 7.5 per cent or 285.36 points to 3,540.5. The trio of local…
Read MoreCredit gauges in Asia show most concern since early pandemic
Credit-default swaps in Asia blew out the most since the worsening of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, as a rout in risk assets deepened following US President Donald Trump’s doubling down on his global tariff barrage and China’s retaliation. The cost to insure investment-grade debt of Asian issuers outside Japan widened by 26.5 basis points…
Read MoreChina LPG buyers’ rush to replace US flows sends prices soaring
Diversions or outright purchases of shipments from other origins will come at a hefty price [BEIJING] Chinese liquefied petroleum gas buyers have prompted a price surge as they scramble to replace US supplies of the widely used fuel following Beijing’s tough response last week to Washington’s punitive tariffs. Buyers are trying to swap US cargoes…
Read MoreAustralian shares drop 4% in worst session since pandemic on Trump tariff shock
[SYDNEY] Australian shares plunged on Monday (Apr 7), in their worst session since the pandemic began, as sweeping US tariffs under President Donald Trump fuelled recession fears and wiped out billions from stock market value. The S&P/ASX 200 index finished 4.2 per cent lower at 7,343.30 points, after plummeting as much as 6.5 per cent…
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