Category: x.straitsTimes

SEOUL – South Korean authorities arrested Kakao’s chief investment officer (CIO) for alleged stock price manipulation in a high-profile takeover battle over K-pop agency SM Entertainment. Bae Jae-hyun was arrested early on Thursday, according to the Seoul Southern District Court which issued the warrant. Internet giant Kakao won a controlling stake in SM after an intense bidding war with Hybe, the label behind hit boy group BTS. Financial regulators accused the executive, along with two others working at Kakao and…

SINGAPORE – Keppel Corporation has raised a 1.4 billion yuan (S$262.8 million) initial investment from an undisclosed global institutional investor, capturing opportunities in China’s sustainability transition. Together with 160 million yuan of a sponsor stake by Keppel, the total 1.6 billion fund (S$306 million) marked the closing of its China-focused sustainable urban renewal programme, said the company on Thursday. About 3.9 billion yuan worth of assets are expected to be under Keppel’s management “when fully leveraged and invested”. Both parties…

NEW YORK – US stocks fell on Wednesday as underwhelming earnings and ongoing fighting in the Middle East weighed on investor optimism. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1 per cent to 33,665.08. The broad-based S&P 500 sank 1.3 per cent to 4,314.60, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.6 per cent to 13,314.30. The yield on the popular 10-year US Treasury rose above 4.9 per cent for the first time since 2007, as traders prepared for the likelihood…

Things may take a positive turn only if the US economy achieves a soft landing, boosting the outlook for manufacturing and capital expenditures, the technology cycle bottoms out, and disinflation in Asia accelerates to provide scope for easing monetary policy in 2024, the IMF said. However, medium-term prospects are uncertain due to geo-economic fragmentation, with de-risking policies of major economies creating a potentially significant impact on growth, it said. While inflation is expected to ease in 2024, IMF advised central banks to ensure that inflation remains durably at appropriate…

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s BC Technology Group is exploring the sale of its crypto platform OSL, one of only two exchanges licensed under digital-asset rules the city introduced in June, people familiar with the matter said. BC Technology has gauged interest in OSL from possible buyers such as industry players and funds, and a HK$1 billion (S$175.13 million) valuation has been suggested, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. Shares of BC Technology slumped as…

BENGALURU – The global smartphone market contracted by 8 per cent to its lowest third-quarter level in a decade on subdued demand for major brands including Apple and Samsung in most developed markets, according to data from Counterpoint Research. The data, shared exclusively with Reuters, showed that the share of the top five brands, which also include Chinese firms Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, had fallen to a three-year low. The report fans fears that the market’s ongoing slump could sap…

  NEW YORK – Wall Street stocks closed higher on Wednesday as traders await key US consumer inflation data, while shrugging off hotter-than-expected wholesale price increases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.2 per cent up at 33,804.87. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent to 4,376.95, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.7 per cent to 13,659.68. Recent Federal Reserve officials’ comments “had two hawks dial down the immediate need for further tightening,” noted Mr Edward Moya,…

  FRANKFURT – The German government slashed its growth forecast on Wednesday, predicting Europe’s top economy will shrink this year as it battles high inflation, elevated energy prices and a manufacturing slump. Output will shrink 0.4 per cent, the economy ministry said in its latest projections. This is a marked downgrade from its last estimate in April, when Berlin forecast growth of 0.4 per cent in 2023. The economy has faced severe headwinds since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year…

JERUSALEM – The Bank of Israel said on Monday it will sell up to US$30 billion (S$41 billion) of foreign currency in the open market, in the central bank’s first ever sale of foreign exchange, to maintain stability during Israel’s war with Palestinian militants in Gaza. The move appeared to quickly calm the market as the shekel recovered from steep early losses. “The bank will operate in the market during the coming period in order to moderate volatility in the…

The US Department of Justice has stepped up its probe into Credit Suisse Group and UBS Group over suspected compliance failures that allowed Russian clients to evade sanctions, according to people familiar with the situation. What began as a series of subpoenas sent to a range of banks early this year has developed into a full-scale investigation focusing on Credit Suisse, said the people, who requested anonymity to speak about an ongoing inquiry. The DOJ has briefed US-based lawyers for…

  BEIJING – In the gloom of China’s economy, one area of business is booming: cosmetics. After enduring nearly three years of mandatory masks and frequent lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, many Chinese consumers, wary of big-ticket purchases like apartments, are now splurging on lipstick, perfume, moisturisers and other personal care products. But cosmetics companies from France, Japan, South Korea and the United States, which have invested heavily in China, are missing out on a lot of the action. As…

NEW YORK – United States federal prosecutors are looking into Tesla performance claims after Reuters reported the electric carmaker exaggerated the potential driving distance of its vehicles, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Reuters reported in July that Tesla cars often fail to achieve their advertised range estimates and projections reported by the cars’ own equipment, citing experts who tested or studied them. The company wrote algorithms about a decade ago to create “rosy” in-dash driving range estimates, Reuters…

A European spy agency told the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) it knew of an Ukraine special operations team plan to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipeline three months before explosions damaged the undersea system last year, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper cited US intelligence allegedly leaked earlier this year by a low-level US Air National Guard computer technician who had access to large amounts of highly classified materials.

The leaked documents indicated that an unnamed European intelligence body told the US spy agency in June 2022, four months after Russia invaded Ukraine, that Ukraine military divers reporting directly to the country’s military commander-in-chief were planning the attack.

EL PASO, Texas – A federal judge on Friday sentenced a white supremacist to 90 consecutive life terms in prison for a 2019 shooting in which he killed 23 people and wounded 22 others at a Texas Walmart while targeting Hispanics, the El Paso Times newspaper reported. The sentencing by US District Judge David Guaderrama in El Paso adheres to a plea agreement from February in which shooter Patrick Crusius, 24, pleaded guilty to and agreed to 90 consecutive life…

TEXAS – Mr Daniel Piedra Garcia had been an Uber driver for three weeks when he picked up a rider on June 16 who was headed to the Speaking Rock Casino in El Paso, Texas. It was near the end of his work day, but Piedra had picked up the rider anyway, his family said. As they passed a sign for Juarez, Mexico, a nearby city over the border, the passenger grew nervous about where they were headed, she told…

COLORADO SPRINGS – A 23-year-old was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty on Monday to killing five people in a 2022 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Anderson Lee Aldrich pleaded guilty in Colorado state court to five first-degree murder counts and 46 attempted murder counts, part of an agreement reached with prosecutors that avoided what could have been a lengthy trial. Aldrich also pleaded no contest to two…