Powell notes inflation is easing, downplays discussion of rate cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Inflation is slowing steadily, but it’s too early to declare victory or to discuss when the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates, Chair Jerome Powell said. Speaking at Spelman College in Atlanta, Powell noted that consumer prices, excluding volatile food and energy costs, rose at just a 2.5 percent annual rate in the past six months. That’s not far above the Fed’s 2 percent inflation target. Still, more progress is needed, Powell said. He added, “It

Dec. 3, 2023

Elon Musk visits Israel to meet top leaders as accusations of antisemitism on X grow

Elon Musk, who's been under fire over accusations of antisemitism flourishing on his social media platform X, paid a visit Monday to Israel, where he toured a kibbutz that was attacked last month by Hamas militants and was set to meet with top leaders. The billionaire and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the Kfar Azza kibbutz, which was stormed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7. Musk, wearing a protective vest and escorted by a phalanx of security personnel, used his phone to

Nov. 27, 2023

[Graphic News] Beer imports from China plunge 43% after worker urination video at Tsingtao

South Korea’s beer imports from China plunged more than 40 percent last month from a year earlier following the release of a viral video showing a man urinating into a tank at Tsingtao Brewery, the customs office said. The amount of beer imports from China fell 43 percent on-year to 2,281 metric tons in October, and the value of beer purchases from the neighboring country declined 38 percent to $1.93 million, according to the Korea Customs Service. The video released on Oct. 19 shows a uni

Nov. 27, 2023

Shoppers click 'buy' as retailers slash prices ahead of Cyber Monday

Holiday shoppers in the U.S. are seeking out the best deals and strategically nabbing the deepest discounts ahead of Cyber Monday, according to data from retailer websites aggregated by third parties. Cyber Monday, as the first Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday has become known as merchants step up online promotions, is set to be the biggest online shopping day of the year in the United States. Strong online traffic on Black Friday demonstrated a notable pattern of shoppers putting time and

Nov. 26, 2023

[Graphic News] Hyundai stands as No. 2 EV player in US market

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group stands as the second-largest player in the US market for electric vehicles despite concerns surrounding Washington’s protectionism policy, data showed. Hyundai Motor took up 4.8 percent of the US EV market in the January-September period, with its smaller sister Kia accounting for 2.7 percent, according to US magazine Automotive News. Their combined market share came to 7.5 percent, taking up the second-largest slice of the US EV market following Tes

Nov. 21, 2023

OpenAI CEO's ouster was over "breakdown of communications," not "malfeasance" -memo

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's firing was over a "breakdown in communication between Sam and the board," and not "malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices," Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap wrote in an internal company memo Saturday morning, viewed by Reuters. The board of OpenAI, the company behind hit product ChatGPT, on Friday pushed out its high-profile CEO Altman, sending shock waves across the tech industry. Th

Nov. 19, 2023

[Graphic News] Global dividends hit record $568b in second quarter

Dividends paid by the world’s biggest listed companies soared to a record $568.1 billion in the second quarter, with payouts to shareholders expected to grow further despite economic uncertainty, a study showed. Payments by the 1,200 biggest public companies rose more than expected, increasing by 4.9 percent compared to the same April-to-June period last year, according to the report by asset management firm Janus Henderson. Banks accounted for half of the world’s dividend growth as

Sept. 19, 2023

[Graphic News] Samsung maintains No. 1 position in global TV market

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics maintained its dominant position with the largest share of the TV market. According to market research firm Omdia, Samsung's market share was 31.2 percent in the first half of this year on the back of robust sales of premium and ultralarge models. LG Electronics ranked second with a 16.2 percent market share, followed by TCL, Hisense and Sony. LG, however, maintained its No. 1 position in the OLED TV market with 51.7 percent of the market share based

Sept. 7, 2023

EU targets Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft in next phase of digital crackdown

LONDON — The European Union is targeting Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet, Facebook owner Meta and TikTok parent ByteDance under new digital rules aimed at reining in the market power of online companies. The six companies were classified Wednesday as online "gatekeepers" that must face the highest level of scrutiny under the 27-nation bloc's Digital Markets Act. The act amounts to a list of do's and don'ts that seeks to prevent tech giants from c

Sept. 6, 2023

[Graphic News] Hyundai, Kia’s US market share stays above 10% in H1

The combined US market share of Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia inched up in the first half of the year from a year earlier, managing to stay above the 10 percent range amid the recovery in demand and output, data showed. Their combined share came to 10.6 percent in the January-June period, up 0.3 percentage point from the previous year, according to the data by the US-based Automotive News outlet. Hyundai and Kia saw their combined market share rise to double digits for the first ti

Aug. 22, 2023

Survivors of Maui fires face power cuts and poor cell service as teams work to find and ID the dead

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Survivors of deadly wildfires on Maui contended with intermittent power and unreliable cell service as they sought help rebuilding their lives. Teams of people, meanwhile, labored to find the dead and identify them. With the death toll already at 106 , a mobile morgue unit with additional coroners arrived in Hawaii on Tuesday to help with the grim task of sorting through remains. The governor warned that a new storm could complicate the search and recovery. A week after

Aug. 16, 2023

[Graphic News] Global smartphone sales down 11% on-year, with Samsung leading market: report

Global smartphone shipments fell 11 percent on-year in the second quarter, a report showed, as the market continued to face headwinds of slower consumer demand amid macroeconomic uncertainties. Market research firm Canalys said the continued market slump impacted market leaders, like Samsung Electronics and Apple, which had to reduce their sell-in, or shipments to retailers. Samsung led the market with a 21 percent market share, followed by Apple at 17 percent, Xiaomi at 13 percent and Oppo at 1

Aug. 8, 2023

Musk rebrands Twitter, replacing bird logo with X

SAN FRANCISCO -- Elon Musk killed off the Twitter logo on Monday, replacing the world-recognized blue bird with a white X as the tycoon accelerates his efforts to transform the floundering social media giant. The Twitter owner and the company's new chief executive Linda Yaccarino announced the rebranding Sunday, scrapping one of technology's most iconic logos in the latest shock move since the tycoon took over Twitter nine months ago. Musk said that under the site's new identity,

July 25, 2023

Britain officially joins an Asia-Pacific trade group that includes Japan and 10 other nations

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Britain on Sunday officially joined an Asia-Pacific trade group that includes Japan and 10 other nations during a meeting in New Zealand. The trade bloc covers more than 500 million people and 15% of the world’s economy. For Britain, it represents the largest trade deal it has struck since leaving the European Union more than three years ago. Britain first announced in March it had reached an agreement to join the bloc, which was created in 2018, after

July 16, 2023

Musk says Twitter has lost half its advertising revenue

Twitter has lost roughly half of its advertising revenue, according to owner Elon Musk, since he bought the social media platform for $44 billion last October. Musk, who has been outspoken about the difficulties facing the company, broke the figures in a tweet response to a user who was giving suggestions on financing for the platform. "We're still negative cash flow, due to ~50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load," the billionaire tweeted Saturday. "Need to rea

July 16, 2023

US economic growth last quarter is revised up to a 2% annual rate

The US economy grew at a 2 percent annual pace from January through March as consumers spent at the fastest pace in nearly two years, the government said Thursday in a sharp upgrade from its previous estimate. The government had previously estimated that the economy expanded at a 1.3 percent annual rate last quarter. The Commerce Department's third and final report on January-March economic growth pointed to surprising resilience but still marked a deceleration from the 2.6 percent annual r

June 29, 2023

[Graphic News] Global airlines more than double 2023 profit outlook

  Global airlines more than doubled their 2023 industry profit forecast to $9.8 billion from $4.7 billion, spurred on by strong travel demand as the sector recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. “The pandemic years are behind us and borders are open as normal,” Director General Willie Walsh of the International Air Transport Association said. But profit margins, clocking in at 1.2 percent, were still too thin to ensure the industry’s long-term financial robustness, he added

June 22, 2023

[Graphic News] Elon Musk again world’s richest man

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reclaimed the title of the world’s wealthiest person, surpassing LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault. Musk and the luxury tycoon have been neck-and-neck for the top spot this year in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a listing of the world’s 500 richest people. LVMH shares have tumbled about 10 percent since April, at one point wiping $11 billion from Arnault’s net worth in a single day. Musk’s rise in the position was due to the shares of Tesla

June 12, 2023

Former Wall Street exec named head of Turkey central bank

ISTANBUL (AFP) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed former Wall Street executive Hafize Gaye Erkan as central bank governor on Friday, signalling a possible shift from his unconventional policies to fight soaring inflation. Erkan -- a former chief executive of US real estate finance firm Greystone, co-CEO of First Republic Bank and managing director at Goldman Sachs -- will be the first woman to head the central bank. She takes over from Sahap Kavcioglu, who lowered rates even tho

June 9, 2023

UBS to retain more than 100 Credit Suisse bankers in Asia: source

UBS Group AG is looking to retain more than 100 Credit Suisse Group AG investment bankers across Asia as part of a plan to shore up talent in markets where its rival has a stronger presence, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. Switzerland's biggest bank is in advanced discussions to keep dozens of Credit Suisse's senior dealmakers in countries including South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and India following its planned takeover, the source told Reuters on Monday, requesting

June 5, 2023