World

NEW YORK :Oil prices rose more than 2per cent on Tuesday, rebounding from recent losses on signs of rising fuel demand in the United States despite a surge in COVID-19 cases. Brent crude rose US$1.59, or 2.3per cent, to settle at US$70.63 a barrel and U.S. oil climbed US$1.81, or 2.7per cent, to end the session at US$68.29 a barrel. Both contracts dropped around 2.5per cent on Monday, and last week notched their biggest losses in months as infections surged in major global oil consumers. "Predicting short-term price swings has become extremely difficult given the arduous process of predicting the impact of the Delta variant on forward global oil demand, particularly in countries such as China where data is much less transparent than that of the U.S.," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of ...

HONG KONG : State-backed firms are set to take a sizeable stake in a key Ant Group asset for the first time, three people told Reuters, in a move that will loosen the Chinese fintech giant's grip on a data treasure trove of over 1 billion users but help revive its IPO. The partners plan to establish a personal credit-scoring firm, said the people, adding that such a firm and ownership structure was one aspect of restructuring ordered by regulators who put a sudden stop to Ant's blockbuster initial public offering (IPO) in November. The listing highlighted the outsized role of Ant and e-commerce affiliate Alibaba in China, triggering a regulatory clampdown on the business empire of billionaire founder Jack Ma. The result was a restructuring order for Ant, a record US$2.75 billion fine for...

NEW YORK : The dollar advanced for a second straight session on Tuesday, bolstered by safe-haven demand, as investors fretted about Afghanistan, a slowing Chinese economy, and the rapid spread of the Delta coronavirus variant which forced some lockdowns. The overall tone in financial markets was one of caution, with shares on Wall Street in the red. A much sharper decline than expected in Tuesday's U.S. retail sales curbed gains in the dollar, but that was offset by the higher-than-forecast rise in industrial production, which accelerated the greenback's gains. "This morning's retail sales report served to confirm that the U.S. consumer - the world's biggest and most dependable customer - is becoming more cautious," said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Cambridge Global Paymen...

Three-quarters of Africa's population is under the age of 35, according to the United Nations. FotografiaBasica/Getty The working-age population of sub-Saharan Africa is set to increase more than twofold by 2050 to become the largest in the world, offering unprecedented opportunity for economic growth, according to S&P Global Ratings. In a report published Wednesday, the ratings agency estimated that growth in the working-age population would add up to three percentage points to the average annual GDP growth for the next 10 years across key economies in the subcontinent. S&P Global Ratings' senior economist Satyam Panday said countries in sub-Saharan Africa are now experiencing the "most significant demographic transition in their history." "Unprecedented decreases in fertility rates, low...

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. Capital One business credit card debut Capital One Spark Cash Plus Credit Card The Capital One Spark Cash Plus Credit Card is a charge card, meaning that there is no predetermined spending limit. However, that does not mean you can spend an unlimited amount on the card. Your spending limits are determined by several factors, including spending history, credit score and more. The card has an annual fee of $150, but comes with a long list of benefits, including: A one-time welcome bonus of up to $1,000. You'll earn $500 once you spend $5,000 in the first three months, ...

On a warm Friday night in July, the sun seemed to linger behind Amsterdam’s low, 16th century skyline. In the red-light district, the crush of tourists that was common before the pandemic had long since vanished, making it easy for a delivery worker to cycle past a handful of gawkers around the old town’s notorious storefronts. While six German men in matching T-shirts ignored signs warning of a €95 ($112) fine as they swilled beers on a nearby footbridge, they were the exception. Mostly, only small groups of sedate strollers were about on this midsummer evening. Centuries before its more lurid attractions took hold, Amsterdam was already a tourist draw. As far back as 1345, when a communion wafer at a local church apparently proved indestructible, pilgrims flocked to see the miracle hos...

A northeastern Indian state that has for years been a big transit point for illicit drugs originating in neighboring Myanmar has launched a massive crackdown on the trade, seizing record amounts and arresting nearly 2,000 people since May. Assam, four of whose neighboring states have open and rugged borders with Myanmar, connects the northeast to the rest of India. It has received praise for the drug clampdown from ruling and opposition politicians but has been criticized for alleged human rights abuses, including the shooting of suspected traffickers. Assam’s ties with one of the states, Mizoram, has frayed too, after Assam linked the drugs fight to a recent territorial clash between the two states in which police forces fired at each other. Police say Assam, the most populous northeas...

SAN FRANCISCO : At Tesla's "Autonomy Day" event in April 2019, Chief Executive Elon Musk said that by mid-2020 Tesla would have over a million self-driving vehicles where riders "could go to sleep" during a trip. Tesla has not achieved that goal and on Thursday Musk is staging another event, called "AI Day," to promote his electric car company as the place to work for the engineers he needs to make good on his promises for autonomous vehicles. Musk has walked back some of his claims for Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) system in recent months, saying Tesla cars are "not fully-self driving yet." U.S. safety regulators earlier this week opened an investigation into Tesla's driver assistant system because of accidents where Tesla cars crashed into stationary police cars and fire trucks. T...

:U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp, along with Chevron Corp, is seeking to bulk up in the burgeoning renewable fuels space by finding ways to make such products at existing facilities, sources familiar with the efforts said. The two largest U.S. oil companies want to produce sustainable fuels without ponying up billions of dollars that some refineries are spending to reconfigure operations to make such products. Renewable fuels account for 5per cent of U.S. fuel consumption, but are poised to grow as various sectors adapt to cut overall carbon emissions to combat global climate change. Both Chevron and Exxon have massive refining divisions that contribute heavily to their overall carbon emissions. The companies have been criticized for a less urgent approach to renewable investments than E...

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. Many of our financial habits we learn as children. Learning about how to save and how to budget are important to building the strong financial foundations that can carry you into adulthood. According to Policygenius, nearly 63% of parents are teaching their children about allowances, budgeting and even the importance of some bank accounts — and your kid doesn't even need to be 18 before they can have their own bank account and start taking a hands-on approach to learning about money. The Chase First BankingSM account is a debit card meant for kids ages 6–17 and parent...