Asian stocks dip on worries over US Hong Kong security law backlash May 29, 2020 Asian stocks dipped today as investors nervously waited for US President Donald Trump’s reaction to China’s tightening hold over Hong Kong. China’s parliament yesterday pressed on with national security legislation for Hong Kong, raising fears over its freedoms and its future as a financial centre. Trump, who has promised a tough response, said he will [...]
Mike Pompeo declares Hong Kong no longer autonomous from China May 27, 2020 US secretary of state Mike Pompeo today told Congress that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China, bringing into doubt the region’s unique trading status. In a statement, Pompeo said that due to China’s plan to impose new national security legislation on the city, “no reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains [...]
Brave beginnings May 26, 2020 On Tuesday, 8 March 2016, Bitcoin was trading at $412.07 and Ethereum was hot on its heels at $10.86. The KR1 team had just inked a deal to take a dormant publicly listed former Romanian property investment company and turn it into a publicly listed crypto fund. Every single person involved in the process, whether [...]
Asian stocks rise on global lockdown easing optimism May 26, 2020 Asian stocks jumped today on optimism over the loosening of lockdowns around the world and hopes the global economy can get back on track. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.8 per cent to 21,322, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added1.4 per cent and South Korea rose 1.1 per cent. There were also hopes [...]
Security officials launch review into Huawei role in 5G network May 25, 2020 Security officials have launched a review of Huawei’s involvement in Britain’s 5G network after fresh US sanctions. The US commerce department earlier this month said it would extend the sanctions to require licences for sales to Huawei of semiconductors made abroad with American technology. The UK government has since confirmed that the National Cyber Security [...]
Alibaba profit tumbles despite Covid-19 lockdown sales boost May 22, 2020 Alibaba today reported a plunge in profit during the fourth quarter as investment losses offset a surge in ecommerce sales during the coronavirus lockdown. The Chinese tech behemoth reported an 88 per cent decline in net income to 3.2bn yuan (£368m) in the three months to the end of March. The group said the decrease [...]
Markets live: FTSE 100 goes green as US stocks shrug off China tensions May 21, 2020 The FTSE 100 turned from red to green as US markets opened higher today, despite the looming threat of escalating US-China tensions. Britain’s main stock index had fallen 0.78 per cent by 10.30am to 6,017 points. By 2.50pm it had risen 0.2 per cent to 6,078 points, however, as US markets shrugged off more jobless [...]
World Trade Organization: Global trade to drop ‘precipitously’ May 20, 2020 The World Trade Organization (WTO) has said international trade is set to drop “precipitously” in the first half of 2020 as coronavirus wreaks havoc on global supply chains and consumer demand. The WTO’s gauge of the health of global trade fell to 87.6, its lowest reading since the goods trade barometer was launched in 2016. [...]
Huawei says ‘pernicious’ new US sanctions puts its survival at stake May 18, 2020 Huawei has slammed “pernicious” new sanctions rolled out by the US last week, warning they could put the Chinese tech giant’s survival at stake. “We expect that our business will inevitably be affected. We will try all we can to seek a solution,” Huawei’s rotating chairman Guo Ping said in a speech this morning. “Survival [...]
Asian stocks struggle to extend gains as coronavirus hurts US-China relations May 15, 2020 Asian stocks have struggled to extend gains despite the optimism over major economies reopening after coronavirus lockdowns, as relations between the US and China deteriorated. Chinese data indicated that its economy is beginning to recover from the impact of the coronavirus crisis, with global investors watching closely to see how the easing of lockdowns could [...]