World

:The blank-check acquisition firm that agreed to merge with Donald Trump's social media company failed to secure enough shareholder support for a one-year extension to complete the deal, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. At stake is a $1.3 billion cash infusion that Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which operates the former U.S. president's Truth Social app, stands to receive from Digital World Acquisition Corp, the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that inked a deal last October to take TMTG public. The transaction has been on ice amid civil and criminal probes into the circumstances around the deal. Digital World had been hoping that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is reviewing its disclosures on the deal, would have given its bless...

Bill Murray is the latest celebrity to be targeted by crypto thieves. Criminals made off with 119.2 ETH (about $185,000) that the actor had raised during his NFT charity auction. The unknown hackers also attempted to steal non-fungible tokens from Murray's personal collection, which includes two CryptoPunk NFTs, according to Coindesk. CryptoPunks are among the most sought after NFTs and can range in price from $77,600 to $1.2 million in ether, according to GoBankingRates. The "Groundhog Day" star's virtual wallet security team, NFT consultancy firm Project Venkman, was able to protect his NFTs. However, they were unable to protect the funds raised for charity. It could be difficult to retrieve them since cryptocurrency transactions are typically irreversible. Murray's team says they've fil...

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaking at a news conference on July 14. Made Nagi | Reuters Yellen outlines 4 priorities for the $80 billion in funding The memo also describes how the nearly $80 billion in funding provides a "monumental opportunity" to transform the IRS, outlining four priorities. 1. Clear the backlog With millions of unprocessed tax returns, Yellen aims to "fully resolve" the agency's backlog, the memo outlined. Rettig in March pledged to clear the pileup by the end of 2022, and as of Aug. 5, there were 9.7 million unprocessed individual 2021 tax returns, according to the IRS. 2. Improve customer service Yellen also pushed for making "significant improvements" to taxpayer service. While the agency only answered 11% of phone calls during fiscal 2021, the Taxpayer Advoc...

WHAT’S HURTING TECH FIRMS? Stock markets have in general been pummelled since the start of 2022 by concerns over surging inflation and rising interest rates, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine added geopolitical unrest into the stew of volatility. But the tech sector, especially disruptors such as e-commerce or ride-hailing firms, seems to have taken on a larger hit as investors desert so-called growth stocks for safer pockets in the market like energy and utilities. For instance, the tech-heavy Nasdaq has lost almost 18 per cent year to date, versus the 11 per cent decline in the S&P 500 and 9 per cent in the New York Stock Exchange Composite. “Shares of all kinds of companies have taken a beating this year but tech companies have lost significantly more than other sectors,” said Asso...

:U.S. stocks fell and the dollar rose on Friday, even as Treasury yields gained, with traders anxious about inflation and what the Federal Reserve will do to combat it. With higher rates looming, large technology stocks such as Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc fell more than 2 per cent. Major banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp , and Deutsche Bank AG declined more than 2 per cent, a reversal of the sector's late-summer rebound. And an earnings miss by heavy equipment maker Deere & Co. added to the risk-off mood. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.86 per cent, to 33,706.15, the S&P 500 lost 1.29 per cent, to 4,228.37, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped about 2 per cent, to 12,705.22. European shares fell on Friday and posted a weekly loss as the highest-ever jump in...

New York : Global equities and the U.S. dollar advanced on Monday despite weaker-than-expected economic data in China that prompted its central bank to cut its lending rate, stoking concerns of a global recession. The People's Bank of China unexpectedly cut key interest rates after the world's second-largest economy reported July data on industrial output and retail sales that missed most analyst estimates. China's strict COVID-19 restrictions have hobbled activity at its main manufacturing hubs and popular tourist spots, including Shanghai, even as a deepening downturn continues in the property market. Markets reversed earlier session losses and were slightly higher. The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 50 countries, was up 0.23 per cent. Overnight in Asia, MSCI's broade...

SHANGHAI: Investors are snapping up China's coal stocks, betting the country's urgency to revive economic growth will override concerns about pollution to drive demand for fossil fuels and reliable energy. China's coal index surged roughly 10 per cent in August, bringing this year's gains to nearly 50 per cent, against a drop of almost 20 per cent for the blue-chip CSI300. Flows are likewise impressive with the biggest listed fund tracking the sector, Guotai CSI Coal & Consumable Fuels Index ETF, reporting that its assets under management grew fivefold from a year earlier to reach 5 billion yuan (US$720 million) at end-June. Beijing must weigh short-term economic stability against longer-term goals of carbon emissions reduction, with markets betting that a focus on the former will preva...

The S & P 500 finished lower Friday, at its lowest close since July, after mounting an attempt at back-to-back gains earlier in the session. The first two days of September, which has historically been the worst month of the year for stocks , were mixed following a rough August, which has typically been a solid month for the market. Following the government's Goldilocks-type August employment report Friday, market predictions for a 75-basis-point interest rate increase at the Federal Reserve's next scheduled meeting later this month went down somewhat, according to the CME's FedWatch tool . While odds of a 50-basis-point rate hike were still only 44%, that glimmer of hope of avoiding a third straight 75-basis-point move helped support stocks Friday morning as recently stronger bond yields ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Some farms in Malaysia rearing chicken specifically for export may resume exporting in October after getting approval from the Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry (MAFI), said the chairman of Malaysia's task force against inflation Annuar Musa on Monday (Aug 29). “This means the number of chickens to be taken out needs MAFI’s approval. It should not affect the output meant for consumption in the country. “Only certain farms designated for producing chicken can start breeding now for export purposes. But they cannot reduce the existing output or import that has been allowed,” said Mr Annuar, who is also the Minister of Communications and Multimedia. He said that the ceiling price of RM9.40 (US$2.10) per kg for local whole fresh chicken will not be raised after Aug 31. ...

Analysts generally expect state-owned enterprises will perform better than non-state-owned developers in the latest real estate slump. Pictured here in Guangxi, China, on Aug. 15, 2022, is a real estate complex developed by state-owned conglomerate Poly Group. Future Publishing | Future Publishing | Getty Images BEIJING — Chinese property developers' cash flows — a sign of the companies' ability to stay afloat — shrank this year after steady growth over the last decade, according to Oxford Economics. Developer cash flows through July are down 24% year-on-year on an annualized basis, according to analysis from the firm's lead economist, Tommy Wu. That's a sharp slowdown from growth for nearly every year since at least 2009, the data showed. Total funding as of July was 15.22 trillion yuan ...