Finance news

Guest Comment – ​​Global Challenges: The EU should counter China’s unfair monetary policy

The yuan is undervalued by up to 30 percent. This has devastating consequences for Europe's industry, argue US economist Brad Setser and German economist Jürgen Matthes.

Chinese door-to-door logistics networks grow in US to counter trade war

US stablecoin giant Circle to start settlement business with Nomura

Watchdog seeks HK$250,000 for family of late helper sacked during cancer battle

Hong Kong’s equality watchdog is seeking about HK$250,000 (US$31,900) in compensation for the family of a domestic helper who was sacked by her employer in 2019 after being diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer and later died. The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) launched legal proceedings under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance in 2020 against Jamil Bushra for firing Baby Jane Allas in February 2019 while she was on medical leave. According to the ordinance, it is unlawful for an...

Qatar Adds Momentum to Mideast Oil Trade Rebound

Qatar has joined other Persian Gulf nations in reviving crude oil sales, with regional producers cranking up activity as peace talks between the US and Iran progress.

Hong Kong exports rise by nearly 41% in May as AI keeps fuelling demand

The recent bumper growth in Hong Kong exports spilled into May, expanding by 40.8 per cent year on year, as artificial intelligence-related products continued to fuel already robust demand overseas. Provisional figures released by the Census and Statistics Department on Thursday showed that the total value of exports rose to HK$611.2 billion (US$77.95 billion) last month, following a nearly 43 per cent increase in April. The May figure marked the second month in a row that export growth exceeded

Dax currently: Despite positive impulses, Dax only starts slightly in the black

The DAX can only benefit slightly from the AI ​​euphoria according to the figures from the US chip manufacturer Micron. Even positive economic data doesn't help the DAX rise above 25,000 points.

World trade: EU states approve implementation of US customs deal

With the agreement, the EU wanted to avert a trade war with the USA. Shortly before the USA's Independence Day, the EU states finally agreed.

Aviation: Easyjet rejects further offer from US investor

The low-cost airline once again rejects a takeover offer from Castlelake. Why the board of directors still allows further negotiations with the US investor.

Could China’s photonic chips help it leapfrog US on AI?

China opened a top-level optical computing laboratory in Shanghai in June after a string of breakthroughs in the field that could help get around US curbs on its development of artificial intelligence (AI). A decade after optical computing and next-generation photonics were made national priorities, China last year began limited production of locally designed photonic chips. These transmit and process data using photons – particles of light generated by lasers – whereas silicon chips such as the

As US wavers, ex-minister says Japan and South Korea ‘only have each other’

Japan and South Korea should build a stronger security alliance to anchor regional stability as US commitment to East Asia becomes less certain, former Japanese foreign and defence minister Taro Kono said on Wednesday. “I think it is indispensable for peace and stability for East Asia that Japan and Korea create a very strong security alliance, not just the economy. Japan and Korea need to sit down and discuss security in the region,” Kono said during the “Asia-Pacific in the age of American...

Billion dollar transaction: VW sells majority stake to Everllence marine engine division

It is one of the big German billion-dollar transactions of the year: Volkswagen wants to sell the majority of its marine engine division. Who gets the contract? The decisive committees will meet this Wednesday.

Is Prabowo’s Trump moment a sign that China is losing its favourite partner?

Last October, at a Gaza peace summit in Egypt, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto leaned towards his US counterpart Donald Trump and asked, “Can I meet Eric?” Prabowo was referring to the American president’s son. Trump responded warmly in the exchange that was picked up on a hot microphone. “I’ll have Eric call. He’s such a good boy.” Eric and his brother Donald Trump Jnr both serve as executive vice-presidents of the Trump Organisation, which has already built its first golf club in...

Trump casts doubt on US striking Iran school on war’s first day

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday it may never be known who was at fault for a deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran on February 28, the first day of the Iran war, that killed scores of children. Reuters first reported in March that an initial internal US military investigation showed US forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike in Minab in southern Iran. The Pentagon has since elevated the probe but it has not acknowledged any preliminary findings. “I don’t know that they

Volkswagen: VW sells engine subsidiary Everllence for 7.4 billion euros

The US financial investor Bain Capital is taking over the heavy diesel engine division of Volkswagen AG. What's behind the Everllence deal.

Volkswagen subsidiary: Everllence is sold to financial investor Bain for 7.4 billion euros

A buyer has been found for the engine manufacturer: the US investment company Bain has prevailed in the competitive auction process. The Handelsblatt reported exclusively.

Trump shrugs off Britain’s incoming leader: ‘I hear he’s extremely liberal’

US President Donald Trump was dismissive of Andy Burnham, who is set to become the next UK prime minister, saying he was unfamiliar with him and has only heard that he is “extremely liberal”. The US president was asked by a reporter on Wednesday about what he knew about Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester who is poised to succeed Keir Starmer in Britain’s latest leadership shake-up. “I don’t know anything. I see that he was, I guess, the mayor of a town. I hear he’s extremely...

Trump opens 250th US birthday party with a campaign-style rally

US President Donald Trump opened 16 days of celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary Wednesday with a rally-style speech – turning a national commemoration into a highly politicised showcase for his second-term agenda. The address, on Washington’s National Mall, underscored how Trump has reshaped the anniversary around his own brand of politics and showmanship, blurring the line between official celebration and campaign-style spectacle. The Republican leader eventually invoked the grand...

Celebration of 250 years of the USA: Trump opens US anniversary celebrations with self-praise

Donald Trump gives the starting signal for the USA's anniversary celebrations. But instead of looking back in detail at its 250-year history, he primarily praised his own politics in his speech.

Southbound Stock Connect flows surge to record US$152b driven by Hong Kong’s IPO revival

Southbound Stock Connect flows, through which mainland Chinese investors buy Hong Kong listed shares, hit a record high in the past year, reflecting strong confidence in the city’s market on the back of a booming pipeline of initial public offerings (IPO). In the 12 months to March this year, mainland investors snapped up HK$1.19 trillion (US$151.8 billion) worth of shares in Hong Kong, according to the Securities and Futures Commission’s (SFC) annual report published on Wednesday. Average daily

Hong Kong can take the regulatory high road amid US-China AI decoupling

The market realignment over the past week starkly captures the self-defeating logic of America’s technology containment strategy. The momentum began on June 15, when the shares of Chinese artificial intelligence pioneer Zhipu AI, which trade in Hong Kong under Knowledge Atlas Technology, surged by 48 per cent intraday after it announced the open-source release of its GLM-5.2 foundation model. The rally continued this week, with Zhipu’s shares trading at an intraday high of HK$2,980 (US$380) in..

South America: Earthquake shakes Venezuela – at least 32 dead

The magnitude 7.5 quake caused several buildings to collapse in the capital, Caracas. US Tsunami Warning Center has issued a warning for various islands in the Caribbean.

Natural disaster: Severe earthquake shakes Venezuela - US authorities fear up to 100,000 dead

The magnitude 7.5 quake caused several buildings to collapse in the capital, Caracas. US Tsunami Warning Center has issued a warning for various islands in the Caribbean.

Chinese boy destroys US$30,000 worth of phones in home fire; dad’s response shocks everyone

A boy in southern China accidentally ignited dozens of mobile phones while playing at home, but his father’s remarkably calm reaction has garnered praise online. The father, surnamed Peng, operates a mobile phone shop in Shenzhen and utilises part of his home as a workshop for storing devices, according to the mainland media outlet First Scene. The fire began when Peng’s five-year-old son noticed sparks from a short-circuiting power strip and, intrigued, used them to ignite a tissue. The flames.

US down to 1 Pacific aircraft carrier for last 22 weeks

Qualcomm to design China-specific data center chip in line with US export curbs

Buildings collapse as earthquake rocks Venezuela

A strong ⁠earthquake shook north-central Venezuela on Wednesday afternoon, west of Caracas, bringing down buildings in the capital, though authorities did not immediately report any casualties. The earthquake registered at a magnitude 7.1, about 160km (100 miles) west of Caracas, at a depth of 13km (eight ‌miles), according to the US Geological Survey. “Some buildings have been brought down [in Caracas], houses have collapsed,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on state television. He did.

General who was last US soldier out of Afghanistan suddenly steps down

The US Army’s commander of its forces in Europe and Africa – who was famously the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan in 2021 – is unexpectedly stepping down from his post after just 18 months in the job, the Army confirmed late on Tuesday. General Christopher Donahue, commanding general of US Army Europe and Africa and commander of Nato’s Allied Land Command, will relinquish his command on July 2, according to an Army statement. He is the latest in a line of nearly two dozen top military

US delegation snubs Apec meeting in Macau due to China visa requirements row

The United States did not send high-level officials to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) tourism ministerial meeting in Macau, citing China’s restrictions on American diplomats’ ability to provide emergency consular help. Washington did not send “high-level participants” to the meeting, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday in China’s Macau Special Administrative Region, according to a US State Department statement released on Wednesday. The US had repeatedly asked China to lift the...

Why the Vietnam ‘detour’ for US-bound Chinese goods hit a dead end

Nearly a decade ago, one of China’s largest textile exporters concocted a plan to hedge against trade barriers championed by US President Donald Trump during his first term. Its owners were convinced that moving their primary production base from China’s east coast to Vietnam would be a permanent workaround – bypassing complex supply-chain pitfalls by hunkering down in a tariff lowland and continuing to stock Walmart shelves with socks and towels. Trying to get the jump on Trump in 2017, from...