World

(Updates prices, adds Wells Fargo forecast) By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK : The offshore Chinese yuan weakened versus the greenback to its lowest level in nearly a month on Monday, as worries about the repercussions from property developer Evergrande's solvency issues spooked financial markets and lifted safe-haven currencies. Market sentiment has been rattled by the potential contagion from Evergrande, which is trying to raise funds to pay a host of lenders, suppliers and investors. A deadline for an US$83.5 million interest payment on one of its bonds is due on Thursday, and the company has US$305 billion in liabilities. On Thursday, the yuan strengthened to its highest level in three months at 6.4226 per dollar before starting to reverse as Evergrande's woes worsened. The move sharp...

SINGAPORE/SEOUL : China's economic setbacks have darkened the outlook for countries in its orbit, from South Korea to Thailand, as a sharp factory slowdown and trade bottlenecks in the world's second-largest economy hit Asia on the supply as well as demand sides. China's gross domestic product faltered in the third quarter, data showed this week, with growth hitting its weakest in a year, hurt by power shortages, supply chain snags and a property market crisis. For China's trading partners, the slippage presents new risks to what is shaping up to be a bumpy global recovery from the pandemic slump. "Yes, growth elsewhere, namely the U.S. and Europe, appears robust," wrote Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economics research at HSBC. "But it is China that's been the main engine for growt...

Some of the world’s longest and toughest pandemic-induced border curbs are finally being eased, with Asia-Pacific countries taking their firmest steps yet toward reopening to international travel in recent days. From Singapore to Sydney, Bali to Bangkok, authorities have announced a flurry of plans to welcome vaccinated travelers by drastically reducing or completely removing quarantine requirements in place for most of the pandemic. For these places, the easing is a significant shift toward opening up just as the traditional year-end holiday season approaches. “For double-vaccinated people around the world, Sydney, New South Wales is open for business,” state Premier Dominic Perrottet said Friday, as Australia’s most populous state announced it will waive the 14-day quarantine for trave...

NEW YORK :Oil prices rose for a third week in a row to a near three-year high on Friday as global output disruptions have forced energy companies to pull large amounts of crude out of inventories. The rally was slightly dampened by China's first public sale of state crude reserves. Brent futures rose 84 cents, or 1.1per cent, to settle at US$78.09 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 68 cents, or 0.9per cent, to settle at US$73.98. That was the highest close for Brent since October 2018 and for WTI since July 2021, both for a second day in a row. It was the third week of gains for Brent and the fifth for WTI mostly due to U.S. Gulf Coast output disruptions from Hurricane Ida in late August. New York Harbor Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) futures also closed at ...

WASHINGTON: South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said he would meet his Japanese counterpart on Thursday (Sep 23) and hoped for progress to end a dispute that has led to tit-for-tat trade restrictions. Chung told the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank during a visit to New York that he would hold a bilateral meeting with Japan's Toshimitsu Motegi in the city after taking part in a trilateral meeting together with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday. "Japan is our close neighbour and we share the same values of democracy, market economy, human rights and all that," he said. "So, we want Japan as a close friend, but unfortunately we have some differences in how to see the past history." A historic feud over Japan's 1910 to 1945 occupation of Korea including over...

HONG KONG : With one win from three matches in the final round of Asia's World Cup preliminaries, Hajime Moriyasu leads Japan into Tuesday's meeting with Australia knowing his side must win to reignite their challenge and dampen speculation over his future. The Japanese have qualified for every World Cup since their debut in France in 1998, when a team led by Takeshi Okada was forced into a playoff with Iran before confirming their berth in their first-ever finals appearance. Sitting in fourth place in Group B with only the top two teams guaranteed to advance to Qatar next year, Japan's current predicament carries echoes of that fraught campaign. In October 1997, during a swing through central Asia, Shu Kamo was fired following a draw with Kazakhstan and was replaced by his assistant, O...

NEW DELHI :Amazon.com Inc launched in India on Friday eight global and local streaming services on its video platform, in a move aimed at boosting subscriptions. The move comes at a time of increasing competition from global and domestic rivals in an important market for the U.S. tech company. The Amazon Channels service will help customers using its Prime flagship loyalty programme to subscribe to multiple streaming services on a single interface, Gaurav Gandhi, the head of Amazon Prime Video in India, told Reuters in an interview ahead of the launch. "We believe besides solving customer problems... multiple apps, multiple log ins... it also solves a lot for our partners where they are able to get the benefit of Prime Video's reach and ubiquitous distribution," said Gandhi. Channels i...

Myanmar is battling a plunging local currency amid an unprecedented dollar shortage, driving up the cost of imports and worsening the economy’s struggle with the dual challenges of the pandemic and post-coup financial isolation. The kyat has tumbled about 50% since the military seized power in February, triggering a freeze on parts of Myanmar’s foreign reserves held in the U.S. and the suspension of multilateral aid — both key sources of foreign currency supplies. Restrictions on cash withdrawals have fueled worries about the safety of money in banks, prompting people to seek more widely used currencies such as the U.S or Singaporean dollars or Thai baht, analysts said. The Central Bank of Myanmar’s efforts to quell the rush for dollars, including stepping up foreign currency supplies an...

BOSTON: Global airlines agreed on Monday (Oct 4) to step up plans to tackle climate change as they face mounting pressure from regulators and environmental groups over the impact of billions of extra passengers expected to take to the skies in coming decades. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which groups 290 airlines including leading state carriers, committed to reaching "net zero" carbon emissions by 2050, despite opposition from Chinese airlines. The move accelerates a 12-year-old pledge to halve emissions from 2005 levels by 2050 and involves tackling an extra 300 million tonnes or so of carbon through measures such as bio-based sustainable aviation fuels or hybrid-electric technology. But it drew a series of complaints from Chinese airlines, reflecting political ...

NEW YORK: US shares slipped on Tuesday in choppy trade, as investors waited for businesses to report how rising prices have hit their latest earnings, while bond yields spiked and the dollar shone on bets that monetary policy will soon be tightened. Indeed, two US Federal Reserve policymakers said on Tuesday that the central bank has kept pace with a planned move to reduce its bond buying program, cementing expectations that the Fed will start withdrawing its crisis-era stimulus as soon as next month. Soaring oil prices largely held on to recent gains, while US stock indices vacillated repeatedly between modest gains and losses before a flurry of third-quarter bank earnings reports from Wall Street on Wednesday and Thursday. After watching oil prices steadily gallop higher in the past 1...