The Korea Herald

Apple tops $700b valuation, fueled by new products

Apple Inc., already the world’s largest company by market capitalization, hit a record intraday value: $700 billion. Shares of Apple rose to as much as $119.75 at the start of trading in New York Tuesday, giving the company a valuation of more than $702 billion, a milestone that no other U.S. company has ever reached. The stock ended up falling less than 1 percent to $117.60 at the close in New York, putting its market capitalization at $690 billion. That still gave the iPhone maker about 1.7 ti

Nov. 26, 2014

U.S. economy posts even stronger growth in Q3

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The U.S. economy grew even faster in the third quarter than initially thought, posting the strongest six months of growth in more than a decade and pulling further ahead of other big economies of the world.The gross domestic product, the country’s total output of goods and services, expanded at a healthy 3.9 percent annual rate in the July-September period, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. That’s a notable jump from its first estimate of 3.5 percent. The revision was p

Nov. 26, 2014

U.S. economy posts even stronger growth in Q3

Juncker unveils $390b plan to ‘kick-start’ EU economy

STRASBOURG, France (AFP) ― New EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker unveiled Wednesday an eagerly awaited 315 billion euro ($390 billion) investment plan to “kick-start” the economy, saying it would show the world that Europe was back in business after years of crisis.Juncker said the proposal, which must be approved by European leaders at a summit in December, would mix an investment fund with a scheme to match new projects with private money.“Europe needs a kick-start and today the commissi

Nov. 26, 2014

HSBC to pay $12.5m to settle SEC charge

NEW YORK (AFP) ― A Swiss unit of British bank HSBC has agreed to pay $12.5 million for flouting U.S. rules requiring registration of cross-border brokerage services, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday.HSBC’s Swiss-based private banking arm, HSBC Private Bank, amassed as many as 368 U.S. clients and collected fees of about $5.7 million for conducting securities transactions and other cross-border brokerage services in the U.S., the SEC said.However, the HSBC Swiss relationsh

Nov. 26, 2014

Eurozone ‘major risk’ to world growth

PARIS (AFP) ― The weak eurozone economy poses a key threat to global growth, the OECD warned Tuesday, urging more flexibility in fiscal rules for struggling EU members like France and Italy to prevent another recession.Forcing the two major European economies to meet the EU’s tough deficit criteria “would likely depress activity further and even risk tipping the euro area into another recession,” it said.France and Italy’s “slower pace of structural fiscal adjustment ... proposed in their 2015 b

Nov. 26, 2014

Russia loses $140b from sanctions

MOSCOW (AFP) ― Russia is losing up to $140 billion a year because of Western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict and plunging oil prices, but President Vladimir Putin has dismissed the economic damage as “not fatal.”“We are losing around $40 billion per year due to geopolitical sanctions,” Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in a speech at an economic forum in Moscow, quoted by RIA Novosti news agency.Siluanov added that falling oil prices were also causing Russia economic damage of “some $90 t

Nov. 25, 2014

Global warming could undermine poverty fight, World Bank says

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Climate change could undermine efforts to defeat extreme poverty around the globe, the World Bank warned Sunday.In a new report on the impact of global warming, the bank said sharp temperature rises would cut deeply into crop yields and water supplies in many areas and possibly set back efforts to bring populations out of poverty.“Climate change poses a substantial and escalating risk to development progress that could undermine global efforts to eliminate extreme poverty and

Nov. 24, 2014

Global warming could undermine poverty fight, World Bank says

Judge OKs $450m deal in Apple e-book suit

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― A U.S. judge signed off Friday on Apple’s $450 million legal deal to compensate consumers harmed by an illegal price-fixing conspiracy for electronic books.The settlement negotiated to avoid trial in the civil case brought by authorities in 33 states calls on Apple to reimburse consumers to the tune of about $400 million and then pay legal costs and fees.The settlement was deemed by the court to be “fair, reasonable and adequate.”In an unusual twist, the agreement is contin

Nov. 23, 2014

Judge OKs $450m deal in Apple e-book suit

Toyota recalls 423,000 Lexuses for fuel leaks

DETROIT (AP) ― Toyota is recalling nearly 423,000 Lexus luxury brand cars in the U.S. to fix fuel leaks that can cause fires.The recalls affect the 2006 to 2011 GS, 2007 to 2010 LS and the 2006 to 2011 IS models.Toyota says that the cars’ fuel lines have nickel phosphate plating to protect against corrosion. Some lines could have been built with particles coming in contact with a gasket. That can cause the sealing property to deteriorate and trigger fuel leaks.Toyota says it’s not aware of any f

Nov. 23, 2014

China building possible airfield in South China Sea, U.S. says

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― China is building a massive island in the South China Sea that could host an airfield in an area where Beijing is locked in bitter territorial disputes with neighboring states, a U.S. military spokesman said Friday.The vast land reclamation project on the Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands is one of several pursued by China but the first that could accommodate an airstrip, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Poole said.“It appears that’s what they’re working toward,” Poole told AF

Nov. 23, 2014

ECB head willing to step up stimulus to help economy

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ― European Central Bank head Mario Draghi says the eurozone’s chief monetary authority is willing to “step up the pressure” and increase its efforts to stimulate the struggling economy. The comments fed market expectations for more central bank action, sending the euro lower and stocks higher. Draghi said Friday at a banking congress in Frankfurt, Germany that if current efforts do not achieve the desired effect the ECB could “broaden even more the channels through which

Nov. 23, 2014

ECB head willing to step up stimulus to help economy

Tokyo investors cautious over market downturn

TOKYO (AFP) ― Tokyo investors are likely to be cautious this week about a possible market downturn, analysts said last Friday, while political developments in Japan will be a focus ahead of an election next month.“The market continues to show all the signs of being technically overbought and potentially ready for a pullback,” said Masayuki Doshida, senior market analyst at Rakuten Securities.On Friday, the Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange reversed early losses to end 0.33 percent, or

Nov. 23, 2014

Tokyo investors cautious over market downturn

Video games, e-commerce booming in Middle East

ABU DHABI (AFP) ― Video game and e-commerce markets are growing exponentially across the Middle East and North Africa, driven by the mobile revolution and new youth-produced content, according to a study.The gaming market is expected to nearly triple in size, from $1.6 billion in 2014 to $4.4 billion in 2022, said the study conducted by consulting firm Strategy& and the Abu Dhabi media regulatory body twofour54.“Gaming in the region is growing faster than the global average, exceeding even other

Nov. 20, 2014

Gulf to reject OPEC cuts to guard oil market share

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) ― Gulf oil producers led by Saudi Arabia will likely reject output cuts at an OPEC meeting next week unless they are guaranteed their market share in a highly competitive market, analysts say.The stance of Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia is seen as crucial for a positive OPEC decision on reducing supplies to boost crude prices, which have shed a third of their value since June.The four pump a total 16.2 million barrels per day, or 52 percent of the 12-membe

Nov. 20, 2014

Gulf to reject OPEC cuts to guard oil market share

Uber investigating if exec broke ‘God’ app rules

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Uber Technologies confirmed Wednesday that it is investigating whether one of its general managers violated the popular car-booking service’s privacy policies by snooping on a reporter’s ride.The probe stems from allegations that Josh Mohrer, general manager of Uber’s New York office, used a company tracking tool called “God View” to monitor the location of a BuzzFeed reporter earlier this month. Internet news service BuzzFeed first reported the investigation.In a statement,

Nov. 20, 2014

Fed wary over global growth

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Federal Reserve policymakers saw a potential threat to U.S. growth from the global slowdown and a possible decrease in inflation in their last meeting, according to the minutes published Wednesday.But they also said the sharp fall in oil prices would likely bring relief to American households and boost overall consumption, supporting the economy.The solid gains in the labor market underpinned a general sense of confidence at the Oct. 28-29 meeting of the Federal Open Market Co

Nov. 20, 2014

Chinese tourists step up for Abe

When Jingyan Hou made her first trip to Japan in 1997, the office worker from Beijing spent 200,000 yen ($1,700) during a week-long stay on accommodation, meals, transport and souvenirs. On her second visit this year, she spent that much on just one Louis Vuitton handbag in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district. The increasing wealth of travelers like Hou, 45, underscores the opportunity for Japan to expand its tourism industry as China’s burgeoning middle class holidays abroad. The yen’s slump to a s

Nov. 20, 2014

China manufacturing shows weakness

BEIJING (AFP) ― Manufacturing activity in China stagnated in November, British banking giant HSBC said Thursday, warning of “significant” pressures on the world’s second-largest economy as its key purchasing managers’ index hit a six-month low.HSBC’s preliminary PMI for the month came in at the 50.0 breakeven point dividing expansion and contraction, the bank said in a statement.It was lower than October’s 50.4 and was the weakest reading since May’s 49.4, according to the bank’s data. The index

Nov. 20, 2014

Xi says Australia trade deal won’t hurt New Zealand

WELLINGTON (AP) ― Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday that his country’s trade deal with Australia won’t hurt neighboring New Zealand because demand from the world’s No. 2 economy remains strong.Xi spoke to media as he swung through New Zealand at the end of a month of courting international leaders. He went so far as to write an open letter to New Zealanders, describing their country as a “shining pearl” on the Pacific Ocean.China and Australia signed a preliminary free-trade deal earlie

Nov. 20, 2014

[Newsmaker] Uber exec under fire

An executive at Uber Technologies Inc. is facing criticism for saying that the mobile car-booking startup should hire a team of opposition researchers to dig up dirt on journalists who scrutinize the company. Emil Michael, Uber’s senior vice president of business, was speaking at a dinner in New York last week that included BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith, who reported on the comments yesterday. Michael suggested the San Francisco-based company was willing to spend a million dollars to look i

Nov. 19, 2014