World

A National Park Service worker replaces a flag at the Washington Monument which reopened today following a six month closure due to COVID-19 safety measures, in Washington U.S., July 14, 2021. Kevin Lemarque | Reuter The U.S. economy is expected to post another roaring growth spurt in the second quarter, before a slow and steady dose of reality starts to sink in. Gross domestic product is projected to accelerate 9.2% for the April-to-June period, according to a FactSet survey. The Commerce Department will release its first estimate for second-quarter GDP on Thursday. In a pre-pandemic world, that would have put annualized growth at its fastest level since the second quarter of 1983. However, the current circumstances and the outsized policy response they generated make this merely the thi...

The government bond market rally that had sent U.S. Treasury yields under 1.2per cent and the entire German curve negative fizzled out on Tuesday, though there were more problems in China as internet giant Tencent took another battering. LONDON: The government bond market rally that had sent U.S. Treasury yields under 1.2per cent and the entire German curve negative fizzled out on Tuesday, though there were more problems in China as internet giant Tencent took another battering. Rising bank shares helped Europe's main markets make a steady start but the real action was elsewhere. A Chinese state media outlet branding online games "spiritual opium" was enough to send Tencent tumbling as much as 10per cent in Asia, hot on the heels of its worst month in nearly a decade. The panic als...

related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. 2 related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. HONG KONG: HSBC and Standard Chartered are declining to extend new loans to buyers of property in two uncompleted Hong Kong residential projects developed by China's Evergrande Group, three mortgage brokers said on Wednesday. One of the brokers told Reuters that Bank of East Asia had taken a similar step. The move by the banks emerged after a Chinese court froze a US$20 million bank deposit held by Evergrande this week and a Chinese city regulator briefly suspended sales from two of its projects. The three brokers said the banks had halted lending to two residential projects in Hong Kong that were scheduled for completion in Augu...

Sir Richard Branson's successful spaceflight is a culmination of substantial progress and marks a new chapter for space tourism, says a UK professor of business studies. DUBLIN: With British billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s successful flight to the edge of space, he and his company Virgin Galactic have firmly established themselves in the history books as space tourism pioneers. While not the first tourist to enter space, 70-year-old Branson is the first to make his journey with a commercial spaceflight company, marking a giant leap for the space tourism industry being championed by some of the world’s most famous billionaires. Unlike its rivals, Virgin Galactic launched its spacecraft from a carrier craft – not from the ground. Branson and three Virgin Galactic mission specialist...

China's new bank loans rose more than expected in June from the previous month, while broad credit growth also picked up substantially, as the central bank seeks to shore up slowing growth in the world's second biggest economy. BEIJING: China's new bank loans rose more than expected in June from the previous month, while broad credit growth also picked up substantially, as the central bank seeks to shore up slowing growth in the world's second biggest economy. Chinese banks extended 2.12 trillion yuan (US$327 billion) in new yuan loans in June, up from 1.5 trillion yuan the previous month, data from the People's Bank of China showed on Friday. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted new yuan loans would rise to 1.8 trillion yuan in June. The Chinese economy has largely rebounded t...

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A man wearing a protective face mask walks by 14 Wall Street in the financial district of New York, November 19, 2020. Shannon Stapleton | Reuters A volatile environment for government bonds is reflecting a highly uncertain future for the U.S. economy, pointing to both slower growth and stubborn inflation. After a burst higher earlier this year that scared markets, Treasury yields have fallen back sharply as investors have switched their focus from worries about price increases to the potential that the rapid burst in post-pandemic activity could start to slow down. In the 1970s, the mix of higher prices and lower growth was called "stagflation," a pejorative that has garnered little attention since then as inflation has remained tame over the past few decades. However, the word is coming...

NEW DELHI: The Indian government rejected on Thursday (Jul 22) recent studies suggesting that millions of people have died in the country from COVID-19, several times the official toll of almost 420,000. It said in a statement however that several Indian states were now "reconciling" their data after dealing with a spike in cases in April and May. On Tuesday a study by US research group the Center for Global Development suggested anywhere from 3.4 million to 4.7 million people had died in India, between eight and 11 times the official number. That would give the country the world's highest number of fatalities. Currently its official toll of 419,000 trails the United States on 610,000 and Brazil with 545,000. The study is the latest to cast doubt on India's official numbers, pointi...

BEIJING/HONG KONG :Ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc said a regulatory order that its app be removed from app stores in China could hurt revenue, while other newly U.S.-listed Chinese firms also found themselves the subject of cybersecurity investigations. BEIJING/HONG KONG -Ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc said a regulatory order that its app be removed from app stores in China could hurt revenue, while other newly U.S.-listed Chinese firms also found themselves the subject of cybersecurity investigations. Sunday's takedown order from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) comes just two days after the regulator announced an investigation into Didi and less than a week after it made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Didi told Reuters on Monday that it was unaware b...

Most Asian stocks gained on Monday, extending the rally that took global equities to a record high after a U.S. jobs report signalled the economic recovery remained intact but didn't yet warrant any immediate withdrawal of Federal Reserve stimulus. LONDON/TOKYO: World stocks clung close to record highs on Monday as worries about the Delta variant of COVID-19 offset positive sentiment from surging euro zone business activity and a welcome U.S. jobs report. The STOXX index of 600 leading European companies was flat, reversing earlier losses after data showed euro zone businesses expanded activity at the fastest rate in 15 years in June. Activity for British services firms also soared in June, albeit at a slightly slower rate. French shares sank 0.4per cent as Health Minister Olivier ...