Finance news

Interview Governor Josh Stein: “In the long term, we are depriving ourselves of our growth opportunities”

The governor of North Carolina complains about the great uncertainty caused by the US government. It is the responsibility of Congress to bring rationality back into politics.

US Navy seeks to boost production of new anti-radar missile

Naval Air Systems Command is asking industry whether it is capable of supplying up to 600 Advanced Emission Suppression Missiles per year.

US job growth falters, testing Trump’s Republicans ahead of midterm election

The United States posted weaker-than-expected job growth in June as new data showed the labour market is facing headwinds ahead of the testing midterm election for President Donald Trump’s Republicans. Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 57,000 and the unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.2 per cent, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) said in a statement on Thursday. After months of seesawing growth and contraction, the US job market posted strong gains in the last three months, but..

BYD spots North America foothold amid US-Canada tariff discord

Sumitomo-backed Phoenix Tailings taps Asia to strengthen US rare-earth ambitions

Wall Street: US stock markets are inconsistent – ​​Dow Jones reaches record

Significantly fewer new jobs than expected are dampening interest rate expectations in the USA. Falling oil prices are offset by losses in the technology sector.

Papua rebels shoot American pilot dead, torch plane to send ‘message’ to US

Rebels in Indonesia’s restive easternmost region of Papua on Thursday shot ⁠dead an American pilot and ⁠set a civilian plane on fire in ⁠what a spokesperson for a local separatist group described as a “message” to the US and Indonesian governments. A low-level battle for independence from Indonesia has long raged in the resource-rich western half of Papua, where attacks by independence fighters have grown deadlier and more ‌frequent as they have procured better weaponry. Sebby Sambom, a...

Labor market: US companies are creating significantly fewer jobs than expected

Economists had expected a stronger increase. Fewer than 60,000 jobs were created in June. However, the unemployment rate surprisingly fell.

Iran was the most successful failure in US airpower history

The US entered the conflict with a detailed plan for a war of destruction, but no serious plan for Iran’s war of disruption.

US ban on Chinese inverters would harm local power industry, firms warn

The United States’ reported plan to ban foreign-made inverters – a move likely aimed at curbing reliance on China – would be difficult to implement and harmful to local industry, Chinese industry insiders have warned. Washington is working on a plan to ban foreign inverters – a vital component used in renewable power systems – over national security concerns, Reuters reported on Tuesday, with a draft potentially set to be published by the end of the year. China dominates the global market for...

Aftermath of Venezuela’s earthquake, China-Colombia ties: 7 Latin America relations reads

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘I will sell to someone else’: Brazil’s Lula hits back at US after China beef win Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva thanked China for clearing the country’s beef of foot-and-mouth disease and fired a barb at US President Donald Trump, saying “I will sell to someone else”,...

Shell Offloads Stake in US Gulf Production Hub

Shell is selling its 50 percent ownership in its only non-operated platform in the Gulf of America, including associated fields, and 100 percent in the Coulomb tieback to Ridgewood Energy and Talos Energy for $1.7 billion.

Dax current: Dax reaches record after weak US labor market figures

The stock market barometer reached 25,655 points on Thursday afternoon. Because the US labor market is apparently growing more subdued than expected, interest rate expectations are falling.

Artificial Intelligence: Open AI talks about state participation

The AI ​​company is apparently willing to give the US government a five percent share. He envisions setting up an AI sovereign wealth fund – at a time when these technologies are becoming increasingly controversial.

Is expansion of Philippine bases for US use on track? Chinese think tank weighs in

Satellite imagery shows that Philippine military bases open to US troops have expanded more slowly than expected, according to a Chinese think tank. In a report published on Thursday, the Beijing-based South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI) zoomed in on the nine sites covered by the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the two treaty allies. It said the sites reflected Washington’s efforts to transform the Philippines from a “strategic rear” into a...

When and how will China ease capital controls?

The China Securities Regulatory Commission recently fined three Hong Kong brokerages – Tiger Brokers, Futu Securities International and Longbridge Securities – over US$330 million for offering mainland investors access to overseas stocks without authorisation. This should not be misconstrued as a move to discourage overseas investment. It is merely an attempt to discourage mainland investors from illegal channels that violate China’s capital controls. This is evidenced by the fact that the...

China aims to ‘infiltrate’ US-Mexico-Canada trade deal, says American manufacturing group

China is trying to “infiltrate” the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement via Mexican automotive investments, a US manufacturing trade group said, as Washington indicated it would not renew the agreement that comes up for review this month. However, analysts cautioned that full decoupling from China’s automotive industry remains difficult, given North America’s continued dependence on Chinese-sourced motor vehicle components and Mexico’s legacy of export manufacturing plus quick access to the US...

Hong Kong’s box office takings for first half of 2026 up 25% year on year

Hong Kong’s box office takings for the first half of 2026 rose by nearly 25 per cent year on year, with comedy film Night King emerging as the highest-grossing movie over the six-month period. According to figures from the Hong Kong Box Office, 142 films premiered between January 1 and June 30, of which 17 were locally made. The movies generated HK$664 million (US$85 million) in takings, up from HK$531 million in the first six months of last year. “The summer film season has just begun with many

KI: OpenAI is said to have offered US government participation

Washington wants to regulate the AI ​​industry and is negotiating with companies about standards for new models. According to a report, Sam Altman made a surprising offer.

China AI drug-design deals swell as US scrutiny mounts

Riding a wave of booming cross-border dealmaking, China’s AI-driven drug-design firms are charging onto the global stage despite Washington’s growing scrutiny of Chinese biotech firms. The value of out-licensing deals struck by Chinese biotech companies with top global multinational pharmaceutical companies climbed to US$75 billion in the first five months of 2026, up from zero before 2020, according to Linda Shu, head of China healthcare research at HSBC. In total, over the five months, these..

Dax current: Dax is trading above 25,000 points – investors are waiting for US signals

The leading German index continues to struggle to maintain the 25,000 point mark. Meanwhile, new impulses are coming from the labor market in the USA and the Eurozone.

Major bank: UBS is apparently testing new banking offers in the USA

The Swiss bank is pushing ahead with US expansion, according to a report. This should enable customers to carry out more banking transactions. But Swiss regulations could become a problem.

In heatwave-baked France, ‘madness’ and chaos grip air-conditioner shoppers

Hundreds of people were besieging Lidl supermarkets in and around Paris on Thursday, with scuffles and shouting matches breaking out as residents scrambled to get their hands on bargain air-cooling units before the next heatwave hits the French capital. With few air conditioners on sale elsewhere for less than €1,200 (US$1,400), police were called to at least two stores as huge crowds descended on Lidl supermarkets trying to get their hands on basic models on sale for as low as €179. Mousa...

Woman accused of money laundering in Wang Fuk Court fire case granted HK$300,000 bail

A Hong Kong court has granted bail to an assistant manager of the project consultant behind a HK$336 million (US$42.8 million) renovation project at the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court, pending a money-laundering trial. Li Min, 33, secured bail at the High Court on Thursday after spending three weeks behind bars in connection with the city’s deadliest blaze in recent history. Her bail was set at HK$300,000, with her boyfriend also pledging HK$100,000 as surety. Li was among seven individuals and two

Hong Kong assets hit record US$5.38 trillion on renewed China appetite: SFC

Assets and wealth under management in Hong Kong surged to a record high last year as global investors returned to Chinese assets, underscoring the city’s edge over Switzerland as a wealth hub. Financial firms in Hong Kong managed HK$42.2 trillion (US$5.38 trillion) worth of assets last year, a 20 per cent increase from the previous peak of HK$35.5 trillion in 2024, according to a report released by the Securities and Futures Commission on Thursday. Driven by the asset-management and...

Hong Kong retail sales grow 7.9% in May, extending winning streak to 13 months

Hong Kong’s retail sales in May rose 7.9 per cent year on year, extending the streak of growth to 13 months, with the sector benefiting from an increase in visitor numbers amid mainland China’s Labour Day “golden week” holiday. The value of retail sales for the month reached HK$33.8 billion (US$4.3 billion), according to provisional figures released by the Census and Statistics Department on Thursday, compared with HK$31.3 billion in May 2025. Retail sales for the first five months of the year..

Inside CXMT’s US$4.3b IPO: soaring profits meet US export threat and high-stakes HBM race

As China’s leading DRAM maker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) prepares for its expected 29.5 billion yuan (US$4.3 billion) Shanghai Star Market listing, the critical question facing investors is whether the firm can convert its cyclical windfall into permanent industry leadership. The Hefei-based chipmaker enters the market at a uniquely lucrative moment: a global memory shortage driven by surging artificial intelligence computing demand has triggered a massive upcycle in pricing, delivering

Tensions in the Indo-Pacific: US diplomat: Taiwan must become a 'hornet's nest' of drones

Taiwan faces ongoing threats from China. The island republic has been relying on deterrence for a long time. A US diplomat sees an opportunity and draws a comparison with the animal world.

Sun is setting on US dominance of the world, scholar Wu Xinbo says

Wu Xinbo is the dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai and a leading Chinese researcher on the US. In this interview, he analyses how shifts in US foreign policy are changing the relationship between the two countries. SCMP Plus readers get early access to articles in the Open Questions series. As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, how do you assess US foreign policy and the future direction of its relations with China? Simply put, US...

Iran Struggles to Woo Oil Buyers before US Waiver Expires

A hoard of Iranian oil is building up at sea, as the Islamic Republic struggles to find buyers before the expiry of a 60-day window granted by Washington.