Stocks in Asia looked set to extend a rebound that began Monday after U.S. equities surged on signs that an escalation of trade tensions was beginning to ease.Futures pointed to a higher open for equity benchmark indexes in Japan, South Korea and Australia. Chipmakers and banks led gains in American stocks as the S&P 500 Index posted its biggest one-day jump since August 2015, with 20 stocks climbing for each one that fell. The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose, while the dollar declined. Russian assets were hit as the U.S. and more than a dozen European nations announced a swathe of diplomatic expulsions in response to the poisoning of an ex-spy in the U.K.The resurgence in risk appetite emerged after Steven Mnuchin said he’s “cautiously hopeful” that China will reach a deal to avoid tariffs on $50 billion of U.S. exports, while European leaders demanded a permanent exclusion at the threat of retaliation and a deal was struck with South Korea. While global … [Read more...] about Asia Stocks to Follow U.S. Higher; Dollar Slips: Markets Wrap
Asia
Uber to sell southeast Asia business
Ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc has agreed to sell its southeast Asian business to bigger regional rival Grab, marking the US company's second retreat from an Asian market.Both firms have announced the deal in a statement on Monday.It marks the industry's first big consolidation in southeast Asia, home to about 640 million people, and puts pressure on Indonesia's Go-Jek, which is backed by Alphabet Inc's Google and China's Tencent Holdings Ltd .As part of the transaction, Uber will take a 27.5 per cent stake in the southeast Asian company and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab's board.Expectations of consolidation in Asia's fiercely competitive ride-hailing industry were stoked earlier this year when Japan's SoftBank Group Corp made a multi-billion dollar investment in Uber.SoftBank is also one of the main investors in several other big ride-hailing firms including Grab, China's Didi Chuxing, and India's Ola.Ride-hailing companies throughout Asia have relied heavily on … [Read more...] about Uber to sell southeast Asia business
Uber Cedes Southeast Asia to Chief Rival Grab in Latest Pullout
Uber Technologies Inc. has agreed to sell its Southeast Asian operations to Grab, withdrawing from yet another fast-growing region to end a war of attrition with a fierce local rival.Under the agreement, Grab will acquire all of Uber’s operations in a region of 620 million people, including food delivery service UberEats. The U.S. ride-hailing behemoth in return gets a 27.5 percent stake in a combined entity and its chief executive officer will join the board of the Singapore-based company. Bloomberg News reported over the weekend that the two companies had finalized a deal.The cease-fire marks a victory for Grab as well as SoftBank Group Corp., the biggest shareholder in both companies. Masayoshi Son’s firm is pushing to reduce competition in a Southeast Asian ride-hailing market forecast to reach $20.1 billion by 2025. Uber and Grab, together with two other SoftBank-backed ride-hailing firms -- India’s Ola and China’s Didi Chuxing -- provide about 45 million … [Read more...] about Uber Cedes Southeast Asia to Chief Rival Grab in Latest Pullout
Asia Stocks Signal More Losses Amid Trade Tensions: Markets Wrap
By March 25, 2018, 5:47 PM EDT The rout that sent global markets into a tailspin last week showed no signs of easing on Monday morning, with stock futures in Asia signaling further declines amid concern that global growth may be destabilized by protectionist policies resulting from the U.S.Global stocks put in their worst week since the rout in early February and erased all of that subsequent recovery, with losses deepening into the close of Friday trading in the U.S. Crude posted its biggest weekly gain since July and the yen rose to the strongest in more than 16 months against the dollar.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox News that he’s “cautiously hopeful” the two nations will reach a deal to avoid the tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump ordered on $50 billion of imports. Part of the problem for traders is assessing how the tariffs will be implemented, particularly after Trump exempted a handful of key partners from proposed steel and aluminum … [Read more...] about Asia Stocks Signal More Losses Amid Trade Tensions: Markets Wrap
China’s Push for Tech Self-Sufficiency Threatens Asia’s Exporters
China’s rampant economic growth has been a boon for exporters in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, who’ve supplied high-end components and machines for its factories. The risk for them now is that China changes from customer to competitor as it ascends the value chain.Japanese shipments to China reached a record $130 billion in 2017, leading an export-driven economic recovery that’s run for eight-straight quarters. Korean sales to its neighbor have jumped 70 percent in a decade, while shipments from Taiwan climbed to an all-time high.Yet a deeper dive into the data highlights the threat. Take the trade in semiconductors -- and the machines to make these microchips. Sales of the components from firms like South Korean tech giant SK Hynix Inc. have helped drive export growth into China from the rest of North Asia.But at the same time, there’s been a spike in sales to China of precision metal working machines and equipment for making chips from firms like … [Read more...] about China’s Push for Tech Self-Sufficiency Threatens Asia’s Exporters