Economic news

Australia’s second-largest lender, Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AX), announced on Friday that it would pay AUD 8 Million ($5.5 Million) including interest to around 8,000 employees who have underpaid their long service leave entitlements due to calculation errors. The company blamed the methodology used which failed to determine long service leave entitlements in situations where staff […]

On Thursday, Boeing Co (BA.N) announced that the company is pulling the plug on its hulking 747 jumbo jets, ending a half-century run for the twin-aisle pioneer. According to the aerospace company, the last 747 jumbo jets would roll out from its Seattle area factory in the next two years. “At a build rate of […]

The dollar traded in a narrow range on Friday, lifted by safe-haven bid as the surge of new cases in the United States quelled risk appetite. The yuan steadied after China’s services sector rebounded and investors avoided bigger positions due to the diplomatic conflict between the U.S. and China over the Hong Kong security law. […]

Oil prices fell on Friday, losing earlier gains, as the surge of new coronavirus cases in the United States raised concerns about fuel demand recovery.  Brent crude futures lost 0.7%, or 29 cents, at $42.85 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 0.8%, or 31 cents, at $40.34 per barrel.  Both benchmarks […]

Asian shares recorded a four-month high on Friday backed by strong payrolls data and an upbeat recovery monitored in China’s services sector. However, an increase in coronavirus cases in the United States restricted further risk-taking. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.5%, hitting their highest level since late February. Meanwhile, Chinese shares […]

May had seen Australian retail sales hitting a record level, official data showed on Friday. This followed after coronavirus-related lockdowns were lifted, allowing the entire sector to reopen and recover from a historic drop monitored in April. The country’s retail sales advanced a seasonally adjusted 16.9% in May. The reading came better after it tumbled […]

U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday, ahead of the much-awaited jobs report that could signal further evidence of an economic rebound in June. However, gains remained limited by the record surge in daily COVID-19 cases. Dow e-minis gained 0.92% (235 points) at 6:39 AM ET, while S&P 500 e-minis jumped by 0.62% (19.25 points). NASDAQ e-minis gained […]

Tesla Inc will be manufacturing mobile molecule printers in an attempt to aid Germany’s biotech firm CureVac in developing a potential COVID-19 vaccine, according to a tweet by the electric-car maker’s CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday. CureVac has been developing automated, portable mRNA production units called printers. The printers are designed to be easily deployed […]

Oil prices bounced on Thursday as a steep decline in oil inventories outweighed concerns that a surge in new coronavirus cases in the U.S. could stall demand recovery. Brent crude futures rose 0.6%, or 25 cents, at $42.28 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 0.6%, or 25 cents, at $40.07 per barrel.  […]

The dollar fell to a one-week low on Thursday as positive data on U.S. and European recovery lifted risk appetite, adding to the support provided by the latest breakthrough in the COVID-19 vaccine. The dollar index dropped 0.4%. However, it could trade up or down depending on the U.S. jobs data due later today. Data […]