World

NEW YORK :Oil prices rose on Monday, as optimism around China relaxing its COVID-19 restrictions outweighed fears of a global recession that would weigh on energy demand. China, the world's top crude oil importer, is experiencing its first of three expected waves of COVID-19 cases after Beijing relaxed mobility restrictions but said it plans to step up support for the economy in 2023. "There is no doubt that demand is being adversely influenced," said Naeem Aslam, analyst at brokerage Avatrade. "However, not everything is so negative as China has vowed to fight all pessimism about its economy, and it will do what it takes to boost economic growth." Brent crude gained 76 cents to settle at $79.80 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 90 cents to $75.19. Prices pared ga...

TOKYO -Toyota Motor Corp said it would restart production of its first electric vehicle, the bZ4X, on Thursday after fixing potential safety problems that had halted sales of the new battery-powered model for more than three months. Japan's largest automaker, a laggard in the EV market, recalled 2,700 bZ4Xs globally in June after discovering that there was a risk the car's wheels could come loose. Subaru Corp, a fifth owned by Toyota, also had to recall units of the related Solterra model that it jointly developed with Toyota. A recall notice submitted to Japan's transport ministry by Toyota in June said that sharp turns and sudden braking could cause a hub bolt to loosen, raising the risk of a wheel coming off the vehicle. The automaker on Thursday said in a filing to the ministry tha...

The main entrance at JPMorgan's headquarters in New York City. Erik McGregor | LightRocket | Getty Images JPMorgan Chase has agreed to acquire a payments startup called Renovite to fend off threats from fintech firms including Stripe and Block , CNBC has learned. The bank, a major player in the global payments arena, said that acquiring Fremont, California based Renovite will speed up its ability to roll out new offerings to merchants. While JPMorgan is the world's biggest provider of merchant services by transaction volume, fast-growing upstarts including Stripe and Block have climbed the rankings in recent years, thanks to booming e-commerce sales and the proliferation of new payment methods. Merchant acquirers are crucial, behind-the-scenes providers that enable sellers to accept in-pe...

SINGAPORE: The near-decade high in the average room rate for Singapore hotels reflects pent-up demand for travel resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, but affordable options remain available, industry experts told CNA. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) released data earlier this month showing that the average room rate rose to S$259 in July. This was the highest since September 2012, when the average room rate was S$261.66, and almost 70 per cent higher compared with a year ago. Hotels here are getting a "flood of enquiries" from overseas visitors and are seeing a "desperation" for rooms, said tourism consultant Christopher Khoo. "Our international markets (are) opening up and they are starting to do their forward bookings or negotiating rates ... and hoteliers are starting to feel comf...

BEIJING: Twenty-seven people died en route to a COVID-19 quarantine facility when their bus crashed in southwest China on Sunday (Sep 18), local authorities said, in the country's deadliest road accident this year. The crash took place on a highway in rural Guizhou province when the vehicle carrying 47 people "flipped onto its side", Sandu county police said in a statement on social media. Twenty people were being treated for injuries and emergency responders were dispatched to the scene in remote Qiannan prefecture, police said. The Guizhou government confirmed later Sunday that the vehicle had been "transporting people linked to the epidemic to quarantine" from the provincial capital of Guiyang, and that the accident occurred around 2.40am. "At present, on-site rescue work is basical...

Younger investors should focus on passive investing instead of short-term strategies with unrealistic expectations that have risen in popularity amid the meme stock frenzy, said David Booth, executive chairman of Dimensional Fund Advisors. "You have to be smarter than the market to beat the market," said Booth, during an interview with CNBC's Bob Pisani at the Future Proof Conference on Tuesday. "And it turns out the market is smarter than I am and it's smarter than any individual investor." According to Booth, younger investors have unrealistic expectations, often focusing on short-term strategies rather than long-term objectives. Although more boring in nature, passive funds could have a better payoff in the long run than active trading when taking into account the added fees, Booth said...

A research assistant prepares a PCR reaction for polio at a lab at Queens College on August 25, 2022, in New York City. Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images When a young adult in a New York City suburb visited an emergency department in June after experiencing weakness in their lower legs, the shocking diagnosis would lead local officials to declare a health emergency in New York and put authorities across the U.S. and around the world on a state of alert. The individual, a resident of Rockland County, had suffered from a fever, a stiff neck, back and abdominal pain as well as constipation for five days. The patient was hospitalized and tested for enterovirus, a family of pathogens that in rare cases can cause weakness in the arms and legs. New York state's Wadsworth Center and the Centers f...

These promotions, which are seeing rates being revised every month, come as global central banks go on a rate-hike race to combat soaring inflation. “As the concern on inflation is pressing, the speed of increase (in interest rates) has been quick as well, hence you can observe how fast the banks are keeping up,” said Mr Tan Chin Yu, a senior client adviser at wealth advisory firm Providend. While banks make swift adjustments to their borrowing rates, they also have to remain competitive in the space of deposits. “Previously when interest rates globally were low, banks were lending out at low rates so they have no room to raise interest rates when it comes to fixed deposits … But now, they can raise rates to attract more depositors and bring in more funds,” Mr Tan added. Foreign banks ...

Two of our core tech holdings hosted annual launches this week, revealing ample room for business growth. Amazon (AMZN) unveiled a series of new and updated smart home devices. In a separate event, Alphabet 's (GOOGL) Google announced new features to enhance its search engine and improve user experience. Following these events, in separate research notes, Citi praised the mega caps for being two of the best positioned companies in the internet sector. As shareholders of both, we agree. Here's an in-depth look at these two fall events along with Wall Street's take and ours, too. Amazon's hardware event Amazon hosted its annual September hardware event on Wednesday, showcasing new gadgets as part of its interconnected smart home ecosystem driven by Alexa A voice assistant capabilities, inclu...

DITIONAL SUBSIDIES AND USING MEDISAVE An additional subsidy tier will be added to the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) for common chronic drugs and drug price limits. This is to level the significant price difference of drugs between GP clinics and polyclinics, so that residents will be encouraged to stick with the family doctor of their choice. All enrolled Singaporean CHAS card holders, including Pioneer Generation and Merdeka Generation card holders, will be able to benefit from this. Mr Ong pointed out that the price will not be able to equalise "down to the last cent" as the basis of calculating subsidies at Polyclinics and for CHAS are different. However, the current difference in drug prices between Polyclinics and private GP clinics will be "substantively" removed, he sai...