Author: Ritu

Australia has won the backing of the United States for development of its critical minerals industry after the two countries reached an agreement to coordinate polices and investment to support the industry’s growth. Australia supplies around half of the world’s lithium as well as other minerals like rare earths used in batteries for electric cars and defense amid a global push to diversify supply chains away from dominant producer China. The agreement will also cover…

India will withdraw its highest denomination currency note from circulation, the central bank said on Friday. The 2000-rupee note, introduced into circulation in 2016, will remain legal tender but citizens have been asked to deposit or exchange these notes by Sept. 30, 2023. The decision is reminiscent of a shock move in 2016 when the Namenda Modi-led government had withdrawn 86% of the economy’s currency in circulation overnight. This time, however, the move is expected…

European stock markets are expected to open higher Friday, benefiting from the global optimism that a U.S. debt default will be avoided, but concerns about future growth remain. At 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.2% higher, CAC 40 futures in France climbed 0.3% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.2%. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices closed at their highest levels…

Six Pacific countries are at a high risk of debt distress in part due to government spending to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, the World Bank said in a report on Thursday. The report, titled Raising Pasifika, said fiscal consolidation was needed in Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu because these countries lack domestic debt markets and access to international capital markets. Among other countries in the…

Germany’s Commerzbank (ETR:CBKG) said on Wednesday that net profit nearly doubled in the first quarter, a better-than-expected result helped by higher interest rates. The bank said it sees “upside potential” in net interest income this year, and raised its forecast to 7 billion euros ($7.7 billion) from a previous 6.5 billion euros. The bank’s shares were indicated to open 2.5% higher. Net profit of 580 million euros in the first quarter compares with a profit…

Most Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday, tracking some overnight resilience in U.S. equities as markets awaited more cues on the world’s largest economy, although broader gains were held back by disappointing Chinese economic data. Outperformance in Japan’s Nikkei 225 index persisted, with the index up 0.9% at an 18-month high as a strong first-quarter earnings season and a dovish Bank of Japan made local equities appear extremely attractive. The Nikkei was also among the…

Australia’s InvoCare Ltd shares jumped nearly 12% on Monday after it revealed a higher A$1.86 billion ($1.26 billion) offer from global private equity firm TPG had been tabled just weeks after it rejected a lower bid it said undervalued the funeral services provider. Shares of InvoCare rose to A$12.36 by 0424 GMT, outperforming the broader Australian market which was up just 0.07% in the afternoon session. TPG tabled an all cash $A13 per share offer…

Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its forces had fallen back north of Ukraine’s battlefield city of Bakhmut after a new offensive, in a retreat that the head of Russia’s Wagner private army called a rout. CONFLICT Russian-installed officials on Friday said missiles fired by Ukrainian forces had injured six children and a Russian parliamentarian and damaged two disused factories in eastern Luhansk region’s main city, about 100 km (60 miles) behind the frontlines. As anticipation…

Toyota Motor Corp said on Friday the vehicle data of about 2.15 million users was left publicly available in Japan for about a decade from November 2013 to mid-April. The incident comes as the world’s biggest automaker by sales makes a push into vehicle connectivity that is seen as crucial to offering services such as autonomous driving and other artificial intelligence-backed features. The leak, attributed to a setting error in the cloud environment, could encompass…

Most Asian stocks sank on Wednesday as markets hunkered down before key U.S. consumer inflation data due later in the day, with Chinese bourses down for a second straight session after disappointing trade readings. China’s Shanghai Composite and Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 indexes fell 1.2% and 0.8%, respectively, tracking weaker-than-expected import data that ramped up fears that an economic rebound in the country was running out of steam. Chinese exports also grew at a slower…