Asia

U.S. bond yields fell to three month lows and a broad gauge of Asian shares rose on Friday as investors saw enough one-off factors in U.S. consumer price data to back the Federal Reserve's conviction that rising inflation will be transitory. NEW YORK/LONDON: European shares, the S&P 500 and an index of global stock performance scaled new peaks while yields on U.S., Japanese and European government debt fell on Friday as investors embraced the easy monetary policies of major central banks. Investor sentiment rose in Europe after the European Central Bank raised its growth and inflation projections on Thursday, and also renewed a pledge to keep stimulus flowing. The pan-regional STOXX Europe 600 index rose 0.7per cent to a record close, posting its sixth straight session of gains and ...

World equity markets made gains while the U.S. dollar hit new lows against major currencies on Tuesday after Federal Reserve officials reaffirmed a dovish monetary policy stance that eased inflation concerns. NEW YORK: World equity markets made gains while the U.S. dollar hit new lows against major currencies on Tuesday after Federal Reserve officials reaffirmed a dovish monetary policy stance that eased inflation concerns. Investors weighed the Fed's soothing words that put to rest tapering worries for the time being and helped to drive the dollar to four-and-a-half-month lows. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note also hit two-week lows and was at 1.56per cent in afternoon trading, down from 1.608per cent late on Monday. The yield curve flattened for a fourth straight session, as pa...

Moonshots are in. I’m not referring to space travel, although the regular launches and landings of space probes suggest that the conventional use of the word is apropos. Here, “moonshots” are grand, government-backed missions that unite the considerable powers of the state, its scientists and its entrepreneurs to accomplish a single goal. There are many potential moonshots, from creating a vaccine for COVID-19 to solving global warming. What differentiates them from other problems is that they address extraordinary, if not existential, challenges. The pursuit of moonshots is forcing a reassessment among governments that normally — wrongly in many cases — view industrial policy as an aberration, a dangerous indulgence that is inefficient at best and corrupt at worst. China’s impressive pe...