Economic news

Asian stocks and Wall Street futures plunged on Thursday as surging coronavirus cases seen in the United States and China dampened market mood. This also underscored a longer recovery period for the global economy. S&P 500 mini futures declined, shedding a total of 1.2% during its early Asian session. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares […]

May had seen Australia’s unemployment rate soaring to its highest in about two decades. This followed after nearly a quarter of a million people lost their jobs due to the pandemic-driven restrictions which halted business activities. Employment in May sank lower with 227,700 jobs. This came worse than the record slump of about 600,000 in […]

Russia’s unemployment rate reached 6.1% in May according to a statement by Labour Minister Anton Kotyakov on Wednesday. The unemployment rate increased from April’s 5.8% which was recorded by Rosstat, the state’s statistics services. In a conference run by the Russian Union of Industrialist and Entrepreneurs, Kotyakov said that the domestic labor market had fared […]

HSBC will be resuming its plan to cut 35,000 jobs after it had been put on pause during the COVID-19 outbreak as the largest bank in Europe faces declining profits. HSBC will also put a halt on all external hiring, according to a memo Chief Executive Noel Quinn wrote on Wednesday to the bank’s 235,000 […]

Tesla Inc. (TSLA) said on Tuesday that it had signed a three-year pricing agreement with Japan’s Panasonic Corp. (6752.T) for the manufacturing and supply of lithium-ion battery cells at the Gigafactory in Nevada.    Tesla said that the agreement is effective from April 1 until March 31, 2023, which sets the specific terms between the two […]

On Tuesday, the Trump administration said that it is preparing a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure proposal for transportation plans as part of its push to spur the world’s largest economy back to life. A preliminary version prepared by the Department of Transportation (DOT) would reserve most of the money for traditional infrastructure work like roads […]

Asian share markets were seen retreating on Wednesday. This was mainly from weak market confidence that a surge of coronavirus cases will prolong economic inactivity, even as U.S. retail sales recorded historic highs in May. Geopolitics pressed deeper as India reported that 20 of its soldiers had been killed in clashes with the Chinese military […]

May had seen Japan’s exports falling at its most rapid pace since the 2009 global financial crisis. This could be attributed to inactive U.S.-bound car shipments and an impending contraction this quarter in the world’s third-biggest economy. Japan’s exports dropped by 28.3% in the year ended May, official data showed on Wednesday. This came to […]

The dollar firmed against its peers on Wednesday after U.S. retail sales in May reported higher gains than forecasted. In Asia, risk currencies were under pressure due to the coronavirus and diplomatic tensions in the region. The dollar index traded at 97.003. The euro stood at 1.12635 on the dollar, while the Aussie fell 0.4% […]

Oil prices dropped on Wednesday as U.S. crude and fuel inventories rose, raising concerns of oversupply amid fears of a second coronavirus wave. Brent crude futures lost 2.2%, or 89 cents, at $40.07 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures plunged 2.9%, or $1.13, at $37.25 per barrel. Both benchmarks rose 3% on Tuesday after […]