Posts by Mark Darwin
Oil little changed as investors eye impact of storm Beryl on Texas
OIL prices were little changed as investors eyed energy supply disruption, with the largest ports in Texas shut before Tropical Storm Beryl likely strengthens into a hurricane and makes landfall on Monday. Brent crude futures inched up 11 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to US$86.65 a barrel as at 0042 GMT after closing down 89…
Read MoreHawkish RBNZ seen unswayed by signs of deepening economic slump
NEW Zealand’s central bank will likely reiterate this week that interest rates need to stay high for a sustained period, even as households hunker down amid signs of a deepening economic downturn. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will keep the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 5.5 per cent for an eighth straight meeting…
Read MoreSingtel CEO’s lower pay belies turnaround, while SIA CEO’s higher pay may reflect peaking profits
Singtel is revitalising its core businesses and unlocking value while SIA has made the most of the pandemic-era shareholder support it received The chief executives of Singtel and Singapore Airlines (SIA) made headlines this past week when their multi-million-dollar pay packages were revealed in the latest annual reports of their companies – both of which…
Read MoreChinese EV maker BYD to acquire 20% stake in Thai distributor
Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD will acquire a 20 per cent stake in its Thai official distributor Rever Automotive after opening its first manufacturing plant in the South-east Asian market. The move is part of a joint investment agreement between the two companies, Rever Automotive said in a statement late on Saturday (Jul 6). The…
Read MoreGold hits highest since May after cooling US employment data
Gold jumped to a six-week high after US hiring data pointed to a gradual cooling in the labour market that bolstered expectations for lower interest rates in the coming months. Bullion was up 1.4 per cent to US$2,389.35 an ounce as at 1.30pm in New York on Friday (Jul 5), climbing on data from the…
Read MoreOil settles 1% lower as Mideast ceasefire talks ease supply disruption concerns
OIL prices settled lower on Friday (Jul 5) as the rising possibility of a ceasefire deal in Gaza outweighed strong summer fuel demand and potential supply disruptions from Gulf of Mexico hurricanes. Brent crude futures settled down 89 US cents, or 1 per cent lower, to US$86.54 a barrel, after reaching their highest since April…
Read MoreSamsung stock hits three-year high on profit leaping 15-fold
SAMSUNG Electronics posted its fastest pace of sales and profit growth in years, reflecting a recovery in memory chip demand as AI development accelerates globally. The world’s largest maker of memory chips and smartphones posted a 15-fold surge in operating profit to 10.4 trillion won (S$9.8 billion) in the June quarter, outstripping analysts’ projections.…
Read MoreNvidia creating ‘huge bottleneck’ in AI chip supply, EU’s competition chief warns
EUROPEAN Union competition chief Margrethe Vestager warned of a “huge bottleneck” in Nvidia AI chips supply, but said watchdogs are still making up their minds about what, if anything to do about it. “We’ve been asking them questions, but that is really preliminary,” she told Bloomberg during a trip to Singapore. That “would not”…
Read MoreUS: Wall Street opens muted after non-farm payrolls data
Wall Street’s main indexes were muted at the open on Friday (Jul 5) after data showed US job growth slowed to a still-healthy pace in June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5.40 points, or 0.01 per cent, at the open to 39,313.40. The S&P 500 opened higher by 0.89 points, or 0.02 per cent,…
Read MoreVisa, Mastercard to extend non-EU card fee caps to 2029
They agreed to extend a 0.2% fee cap on non-EU debit card payments and a 0.3% fee limit on credit card payments Visa and Mastercard will extend caps on tourist card fees agreed five years ago with EU antitrust regulators by another five years to 2029, the European Commission said on Friday (Jul 5). Visa,…
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