Posts by Stephanie Irvin
Saudi Aramco reports 15% drop in Q3 profit but maintains dividend
Saudi oil giant Aramco on Tuesday (Nov 5) reported a 15.4 per cent drop in third-quarter profit due to lower crude prices and weaker refining margins, but maintained its generous dividend at US$31.1 billion for the quarter. Aramco posted net income of US$27.6 billion in the three months to Sept 30, which still beat a…
Read MoreStanChart partners with Wise for faster FX in Asia and Middle East
STANDARD Chartered (StanChart) is going to use Wise’s payments platform to offer multi-currency money transfers in Asia and the Middle East. The lender will integrate Wise’s foreign exchange infrastructure to allow money movements in 21 currencies over the coming months, Steve Naude, managing director of Wise Platform, said. “The big thing that we have spent…
Read MoreCautious Asian markets inch higher ahead of high-stakes US election
ASIAN markets edged up slightly on Tuesday (Nov 5) as investors treaded cautiously amid heightened volatility in anticipation of the US presidential election. Market sentiment was likely tempered by uncertainty over potential shifts in US economic policy, trade relations and stimulus measures – all of which could ripple through global financial markets. Lorraine Tan, director…
Read MoreRecent US economic data points to a concerned Fed opening the door to series of rate cuts
BAD news is good news again. And the worse tidings that US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell can bring about for US economic prospects, the bigger the welcome his message will receive this week from the stock market. The central bank is bound to cut rates by a quarter-of-a-percentage point to a range of between…
Read MoreGold flat ahead of US election and Fed meeting
GOLD was little changed on Tuesday (Nov 5) as investors refrained from taking big bets ahead of the US presidential election, with the Federal Reserve policy meeting due later this week also in focus. Spot gold was flat at US$2,734.71 per ounce, as at 0013 GMT. Bullion hit a record high of US$2,790.15 on Thursday. …
Read MoreApple to offer extra Indonesia investment to remove iPhone ban
APPLE has proposed investing almost US$10 million to make additional goods in Indonesia, according to sources familiar with the matter, as it seeks to have the country’s ban on sales of its latest iPhone removed. The plan would involve Apple investing in a factory in Bandung, southeast of Jakarta, in partnership with its list of…
Read MoreApple explores push into smart glasses with ‘Atlas’ user study
APPLE is exploring a push into smart glasses with an internal study of products currently on the market, setting the stage for the company to follow Meta Platforms into an increasingly popular category. The initiative, code-named Atlas, got underway last week and involves gathering feedback from Apple employees on smart glasses, according to sources with…
Read MoreCromwell E-Reit Q3 distributable income falls 7.8% to 20.8 million euros
THE manager of Cromwell European Real Estate Investment Trust (Cromwell E-Reit) on Tuesday (Nov 5) announced a 7.8 per cent year-on-year decline in distributable income to 20.8 million euros (S$29.8 million) for the third quarter ended September. This brings distributable income for the first nine months of FY2024 to 60.4 million euros, down 8.9 per…
Read MoreMeta opens its AI models to US defence agencies and contractors
META Platforms has granted approval for US government agencies and defence contractors to use its artificial intelligence (AI) models, opening the door for Meta’s technology to play a key role in military and national security efforts. The Facebook-parent company is making its large language models, called Llama, available to more than a dozen US agencies…
Read MoreNew Zealand central bank says financial system remains resilient
NEW Zealand’s central bank said on Tuesday (Nov 5) that the country’s financial system remained resilient amid an economic downturn, and that risks to the system remain contained. In its semi-annual Financial Stability Report, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) said debt servicing costs were nearing their peak and beginning to decline, with advertised…
Read More