Posts by Mark Darwin
Europe: French stocks drag shares lower on political concerns
EUROPEAN shares dropped for a third straight session on Tuesday, dragged down by weakness in French stocks as political uncertainties lingered, while investors analysed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony. The continent-wide Stoxx 600 index ended 0.9 per cent lower, its biggest daily percentage decline in nearly a month. France’s benchmark CAC 40 index underperformed the…
Read MoreUS: S&P 500, Nasdaq edge to records on better inflation sentiment
THE S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged to fresh records on Tuesday as Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell reported “modest” progress in countering inflation ahead of the publication of influential US pricing data. “More good data would strengthen our confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward two percent,” Powell told a Senate panel in remarks that…
Read MoreOracle drops after Elon Musk’s xAI shifts away from cloud deal
ORACLE dropped as much as 4.8 per cent after Elon Musk said his artificial intelligence (AI) startup would rely less on cloud technology from the software maker, jeopardising a potentially lucrative revenue stream. On Tuesday (Jul 9), Musk said his company, xAI, decided to build a system to train AI models internally because “our fundamental…
Read MoreInviting competitors to join AI boot camp: Tech company breaks silos to drive industry innovation
IT’S RARE to have competitors in the technology space gathered in one room. But over two days in October 2023, NEC Asia Pacific took a unique approach. The company brought its senior management together with its partners from major tech companies — some of whom are competitors with each other — for a common goal:…
Read MoreHigh-priced S&P 500 powers through political stress
ADD political turmoil to the long list of outside influences that are failing to thwart the 2024 bull market. Investor resilience was on display again in a week in which high election drama could not keep the S&P 500 from doing what it has done in nine of the last 11 weeks: go up, this…
Read MoreInvestors shift to Singapore after Indian central bank’s curbs on local rupee futures
The jump in open interest on rupee/dollar currency futures on the Singapore Exchange indicates that investors are shifting their arbitrage and hedging activity to the city-state after the Indian central bank imposed restrictions on local currency futures, traders said. The Reserve Bank of India has been seeking to increase the volume of rupee derivatives traded…
Read MoreSGX has no immediate plans to allow crypto listings, CEO says
SINGAPORE Exchange (SGX) has no immediate plans to allow cryptocurrency listings on its bourse, CEO Loh Boon Chye said on Tuesday (Jul 9), adding that conditions are still not ripe for such a move. Speaking in an interview at the Reuters NEXT conference in Singapore, Loh said “not at the moment”, when asked whether SGX…
Read MoreJapan’s Nikkei marks record closing high as chip-related shares rally
Japan’s Nikkei share average rose to a record close on Tuesday (Jul 9), with chip-related stocks following their US peers higher, as investors awaited testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for clues on the path of interest rates. The Nikkei closed 1.96 per cent higher at 41,580.17, after rising as much as 2.4 per…
Read MoreNet-zero goals: Talk is cheap if Singapore corporates lack a roadmap
A SIZABLE number of Singapore companies want to hit net-zero emissions by 2050. But such talk is empty if not accompanied by realistic strategies, with real accountability if companies fail to meet their promises. A study released on Monday (Jul 8) showed that over 70 per cent of Singapore-listed companies valued above S$1 billion –…
Read MoreBanks to start phasing out OTPs for account logins by digital token users
Customers will have to use their tokens for bank account logins either via the browser or the mobile banking app MAJOR retail banks in Singapore will begin phasing out the use of one-time passwords (OTPs) for account login by digital token users within the next three months. Customers with activated digital tokens on their mobile…
Read More