World

BEIJING: China's export growth unexpectedly picked up speed in July, offering an encouraging boost to the economy as its struggles to recover from a COVID-induced slump, but weakening global demand could start to drag on shipments in coming months. Exports rose 18 per cent in July from a year earlier, the fastest pace this year, official customs data showed on Sunday (Aug 7), compared with a 17.9 per cent increase in June and beating analysts' expectations for a 15 per cent gain. Outbound shipments have been one of the few bright spots for the Chinese economy in 2022, as widespread lockdowns hit businesses and consumers hard and the once mighty property market lurches from crisis to crisis. "China's export growth surprised again on the upside. (It) continues to help China's economy in a...

SINGAPORE: Heavy traffic through the Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoints is expected during the upcoming September school holiday period from Sep 2 to 11, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Wednesday (Aug 31). Travellers should expect delays and are advised to adjust their travel plans, where possible, to avoid being caught in traffic congestion, it added. "We seek travellers’ understanding and cooperation to be patient, observe traffic rules, maintain lane discipline, and cooperate with officers on-site when using the land checkpoints." At the peak of the September school holiday in 2019, travellers departing and arriving by car via the land checkpoints had to wait up to one-and-a-half hours before they were cleared through immigration, said ICA. Additionally, ICA said...

JAKARTA: Indonesia's economic growth accelerated in the April to June quarter amid an export boom driven by rising commodity prices, official data showed on Friday (Aug 5), but monetary tightening, rising inflation and a global recession risk threaten the outlook. Second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) was up 5.44 per cent on a year earlier, showing the fastest growth rate in a year, according to Statistics Indonesia data. That beat the median forecast of a 5.17 per cent rise in a Reuters poll and the first quarter's 5.01 per cent annual growth. Exports expanded nearly 20 per cent on a yearly basis, picking up pace from 16.22 per cent in the previous quarter, which the statistics bureau called "impressive". Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, is a major exporter of palm oi...

The major stock benchmarks all pulled back this past week, with the Nasdaq falling 2.6%, the S & P 500 off 1.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average down fractionally. The S & P 500's weekly decline broke a four-week winning streak. Contributing to the pullback was a retail sales number that came in hotter than expected when excluding the impact of auto sales, and fears of more aggressive Federal Reverse tightening returned after the minutes from its latest meeting were out this week. Also adding fuel to selloff was likely the blow up in Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY), the latest meme stock to wreck havoc in the market. As we noted on Friday , meme blowups often happen when the short squeeze — an event in which a stock is unnaturally bid higher by short sellers closing out positions — inevitabl...

SEOUL : FTSE Russell is likely to add South Korea to a watch list in coming weeks for inclusion in its World Government Bond Index, the country's vice finance minister said on Wednesday, heralding a move that could bring huge inflows of foreign funds. "We are closely working with FTSE Russell... and we've been receiving positive signs from them," Choi Sang-dae, second vice finance minister in charge of budget and treasury bond markets, said in an interview with Reuters. "We see a high chance of joining the watch list this September," said Choi, describing the progress South Korea is making toward inclusion in one of FTSE Russell's flagship indexes. The WGBI comprises of sovereign debt from more than 20 countries as global funds tracking the index is estimated at around $2.5 trillion, wi...

NEW YORK :Oil prices plunged around 2 per cent on Friday, on expectations that supply disruptions in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico would be short-term, while recession fears clouded the demand outlook. Futures, however, were still on track for a weekly gain. Brent crude futures fell $1.45, or 1.5 per cent, to settle at $98.15 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $2.25, or 2.4 per cent, to settle at $92.09 a barrel. Both contracts gained more than 2 per cent on Thursday. "We are pulling back a little bit after the big run up yesterday," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures group. Brent gained 3.4 per cent this week after last week's 14 per cent tumble on fears that rising inflation and interest rates will hit economic growth and demand for fuel. WTI rose 3.5 p...

If there isn't one, single cardinal rule in personal finance, this one certainly comes in near the top of the list: If you want to save money on something, do it yourself. But sometimes, it's well worth the money to delegate. Paying someone to assemble IKEA furniture is a good idea if the assembly process always leads to a fight between you and your significant other. And if something went wrong with your plumbing, it would be cheaper to get under your sink with a wrench — but would you even know where to begin? The same applies to investing for retirement. The DIY route is your cheapest option. But if managing a portfolio sounds like a nightmare or if you don't understand the first thing about investing, there are plenty of people and companies able to help out. But then it becomes a ques...

NEW YORK : The dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies on Tuesday as investors waited on U.S. retail sales and minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting on Wednesday. The greenback has bounced from a six-week low last week as investors ramp up bets that the U.S. central bank will continue to hike rates aggressively as inflation remains persistently high. Trading has been choppy, however, with the Fed not due to meet until Sept. 20-21 and with more consumer price inflation and jobs data due before then. Looser financial conditions as benchmark 10-year Treasury yields hold below 3 per cent and as the credit and stocks markets improve has increased speculation the Fed may need to be more aggressive in tightening conditions to address rising price pressures. “Every r...

SINGAPORE/MUMBAI : Adverse weather across top rice suppliers in Asia, including the biggest exporter India, is threatening to reduce the output of the world's most important food staple and stoke food inflation that is already near record highs. Rice has bucked the trend of rising food prices amid bumper crops and large inventories at exporters over the past two years, even as COVID-19, supply disruptions and more recently the Russia-Ukraine conflict made other grains costlier. But inclement weather in exporting countries in Asia, which accounts for about 90 per cent of the world's rice output, is likely to change the price trajectory, traders and analysts said. "There is an upside potential for rice prices with the possibility of production downgrades in key exporting countries," said ...

TOKYO: Japan's core consumer inflation accelerated in July to its fastest in seven-and-a-half years, driven by fuel and raw material prices and adding to the costs of living for households yet to see significant wage gains. In a sign of broadening price pressure, the so-called "core-core" index that strips away not just the impact of volatile fresh food but energy prices, also rose in July at the fastest annual pace in more than six years. While inflation exceeded its 2 per cent target for four straight months, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is likely to remain an outlier in keeping monetary conditions ultra-loose with price rises still modest compared with other major economies. "Food prices and a weak yen were the main culprits behind accelerating inflation," said Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief m...