Business
Asian shares slip ahead of key U.S. economic reports
Asian shares declined Tuesday on heavy selling of property and technology shares. U.S. futures slipped and oil prices were little changed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.4% to 16,238.79, while the Shanghai Composite lost 1.7% to 2,972.30 as worries flared over weakness in the Chinese economy. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225… Read
Toyota to make 20% of European sales zero-emission cars by 2026
Toyota Motor Corp said Monday it will increase the percentage of zero-emission vehicles in its European sales to over 20 percent by 2026, offering at least 15 electric and fuel-cell models. The plan comes as the European Union is set to ban sales of gasoline-powered cars in 2035, prompting global… Read
Bitcoin surpasses $41,000 for first time since April 2022
Bitcoin is once again having a moment. On Monday, the world's largest cryptocurrency soared past $41,000 for the first time in over a year and a half — and marking a 150% rise so far this year. Volatile bitcoin rocketed from just over $5,000 at the start of the pandemic… Read
Spotify cuts 17% of workforce in third round of layoffs this year
Spotify says it's axing 17% of its global workforce, the music streaming service's third round of layoffs this year as it moves to slash costs while focusing on becoming profitable. In a message to employees posted on the company's blog Monday, CEO Daniel Ek said the jobs were being cut… Read
China's Evergrande liquidation case adjourned until January
Heavily indebted Chinese property giant Evergrande has until late January to put together a restructuring plan, a Hong Kong court ruled Monday, extending a deadline that could lead to its liquidation. Once China's biggest real estate developer, Evergrande has reported more than $300 billion in liabilities and its troubles have… Read
Gold jumps to record on rate cut bets but equities struggle
Gold hit a fresh record Monday on growing optimism the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in the new year, with traders shrugging off boss Jerome Powell's attempts to temper expectations. However, equity markets struggled to build on a positive lead from Wall Street, with attention now turning to key… Read
Japanese firms pick kanji for 'change' (変) to describe turbulent 2023
The kanji character for "change" (変) was the top pick among Japanese firms to summarize 2023, a year that many saw as marked by turbulence, a research firm said. The character, picked by nearly 60 firms, was followed by ones for "patience" and "endurance," according to Teikoku Databank, which conducted… Read
With outburst, Musk puts X's survival in the balance
Elon Musk's verbal assault on advertisers who have shunned X threatens to sink the social network further, with the tycoon warning of the platform's demise, just one year after taking control. "If somebody's gonna try to blackmail me with advertising, go F... yourself," a visibly furious Musk told an interviewer… Read
To greenwash or do the right thing? Corporate dilemmas at COP28
They call the giant climate business expo running outside the COP28 United Nations talks in Dubai the "green zone". With the enormous former Expo 2020 site given over to green -- and not so green -- companies to trumpet their climate credentials, the private sector has never been embraced so… Read
Japanese firms step up spending by 3.4% in July-Sept
Capital spending by Japanese companies from July to September increased 3.4 percent from a year earlier for the 10th straight quarter of gain, but growth slowed further in a worrying sign for the economy, Finance Ministry data showed. Investment by all nonfinancial sectors for purposes such as building factories and… Read
