World

(Updates with Fed policy statement) By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK : The U.S. dollar was choppy on the heels of the latest policy announcement by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, while risk-sensitive currencies such as the Australian dollar and Chinese yuan strengthened after China's Evergrande said it would make a bond coupon payment. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cleared the way to reduce its monthly bond purchases "soon" and signaled interest rate increases may follow more quickly than expected, with half of the 18 U.S. central bank policymakers projecting borrowing costs will need to rise in 2022. "The tapering of quantitative easing seems very likely now in November but this was something of a given and remains couched in a lot of qualifying criteria in the event that various r...

NEW YORK :The dollar slipped against a basket of currencies on Monday, pulling back from the 1-year high hit last week, as traders looked to U.S. jobs data at the end of the week for clues to the Federal Reserve's next move. The U.S. Dollar Currency Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was 0.2per cent lower at 93.802. The index rose 0.8per cent last week to its highest since late September 2020. With Chinese mainland markets closed until Thursday for the National Day holiday and South Korean markets also shut on Monday, investor attention was firmly on the upcoming U.S. data. "Nonfarm payrolls will be the big focus for markets this week," Brad Bechtel, global head of FX at Jefferies in New York. Friday's data is expected to show continued improvement ...

France isn’t the only country upset about a new security pact between the U.S., U.K. and Australia: Some Southeast Asian nations are also worried the partnership could provoke China and spur a regional arms race. The so-called AUKUS partnership, which will help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines, prompted China last week to warn of an arms race in a region riven by maritime territorial disputes. Since then, two key members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — Indonesia and Malaysia — have voiced similar concerns. That wariness in ASEAN is significant, particularly as both President Joe Biden and Australian leader Scott Morrison last week touted the arrangement as necessary for Indo-Pacific stability and mentioned a desire to work with the 10-nation bloc of Southeast ...

TAIPEI :Taiwan's central bank revised up the island's growth outlook for the year on Thursday as strong exports bolstered a trade-reliant economy that has boomed even in the face of local COVID-19 cases, also keeping interest rates steady as expected. Taiwan's economy has continued to perform strongly despite an uptick in infections that began in May - now well under control - buoyed by strong global demand for its tech products as many people work and study from home during the pandemic. The central bank raised its 2021 estimate for gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 5.75per cent from the 5.08per cent forecast in June. Growth hit 3.11per cent in 2020, after expanding 2.71per cent in 2019. GDP expanded by 7.43per cent in the second quarter of 2021, down from 8.92per cent in the fir...

1. Nasdaq futures sink as soaring bond yields slam tech The Nasdaq logo is displayed at the Nasdaq Market site in New York September 2, 2015. Brendan McDermid | Reuters U.S. stocks were sliding in Tuesday's premarket, indicating further September losses with just three days left in one of the historically weakest months of the year. Nasdaq futures were sinking 200 points, or 1.5%. S&P futures were down almost 1%. Dow futures were dropping nearly 0.5%. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 fell Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose modestly. Monday's divergence came as Treasury yields rose. The 10-year Treasury yield, increasing on economic optimism and inflation fears, remained above 1.5% on Tuesday, back to levels not seen since June. Higher bond yields, which move in the opposite direction o...

NEW DELHI : India's antitrust watchdog has agreed to Google's request to keep confidential some information the company provided during an investigation into its business, though the regulator denied allegations it leaked a report on the probe to the media, a judge said on Monday. Alphabet Inc's Google sued the Competition Commission of India (CCI) at a New Delhi court last week, urging a judge to direct the watchdog to prevent leaks of information. The filing came after The Times of India and Reuters reported this month, citing a confidential CCI report, that the regulator's probe had found that the U.S. tech giant abused the dominant position of its Android operating system in India, unfairly using its "huge financial muscle" to hurt competitors. Google, in its 188-page court filing s...

AMSTERDAM: Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday (Sep 15) approved a formal investigation into possible crimes against humanity allegedly committed under the leadership of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in the context of his "war on drugs". The ICC said in a statement that judges had approved a request by prosecutors to begin the investigation into potential murder as a crime against humanity. Judges' assessment of material presented by prosecutors, was that "the so-called ‘war on drugs’ campaign cannot be seen as a legitimate law enforcement operation", but rather amounted to a systematic attack on civilians. Human rights groups accuse Duterte of inciting deadly violence and say police have murdered unarmed drug suspects on a massive scale as part of the c...

At first glance, the more than 7,100 islands that make up the Philippines may appear to be similar. Those islands — of which some 2,000 are inhabited — differ by history, culture and religion, meaning they draw tourists for different reasons. Here are six — some well-known, some not — and the types of travelers that gravitate to each. Boracay Boracay was once known as the Philippines' quintessential party island. That changed following a six-month closure in 2018. Along with an intensive environmental cleanup, the island freshened its image. It now caters to family-friendly experiences over hedonistic beach raves. Boracay's sudden closure in 2018 cleaned both the environment and reputation of the popular island. 35007 | E+ | Getty Images Boracay is divided into three "stations," or are...

Select’s editorial team works independently to review financial products and write articles we think our readers will find useful. We may receive a commission when you click on links for products from our affiliate partners. Saving for retirement isn't always an easy feat — especially when you don't know where, when or how to start. Often times, it's only after retirees have left the workforce and are finally spending their savings that they realize there were a few things they could have done differently. Hindsight is 20/20 and while you can't turn back the clock, you can avoid making some common mistakes that lead to regret when it comes to saving for retirement. Below, Select has rounded up some of the biggest things retirees wish they did differently. 1. Not saving enough money Not ...

Facebook's messaging service WhatsApp on Wednesday launched a new feature to make it possible to search for businesses within its app for the first time, the company told Reuters. The test in São Paulo, Brazil, which allows WhatsApp users to find shops and services through a directory in the app, is the latest feature in Facebook's drive to bolster ecommerce on its services. "This could be ... the primary way that people start a commerce process in WhatsApp," Matt Idema, Facebook's vice president of business messaging, said in an interview this week. WhatsApp, unlike Facebook and Instagram, does not run ads in its app. Idema said previously businesses were promoting their WhatsApp numbers on packaging or websites or using Facebook ads to bring users into chats on WhatsApp. The messagin...