Apple was worth more than $1 trillion at the start of November. Now, it’s valued at $880 billion. The mighty tech titans and their seemingly endless pipeline of profits, which powered one of the longest bull markets in stocks, are looking a little less invincible. Shares of Apple and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, are down…
THE CAREER OF China’s biggest property tycoon can be divided into two stages. Xu Jiayin started slowly, focusing on Guangzhou, a southern city. Then came the global financial crisis and the government’s response, a giant economic stimulus, launched a decade ago this month. For Mr Xu it was a signal to become far bolder. His…
“THE DECLINE of the birth rate and the ageing of Japanese society is accelerating at unprecedented speed,” warns Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister. Given the scale of the problem, he told The Economist this week, the government must push for “impactful policies” to tackle it right away. He mentions a series of reforms, intended to…
TOKYO (Reuters) - Wall Street stock futures and Asian shares lost steam on Wednesday after Democrats won control of the U.S. House of Representatives, boosting the party’s ability to block President Donald Trump’s political and economic agenda. People walk past an electronic board showing Japan's Nikkei average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, October 12,…
THE FATE of the euro was always going to depend on Italy. With annual GDP of more than €1.6trn ($1.9trn), about 15% of euro-area output and debt of nearly €2.3trn, it poses a challenge to the single currency that Europe seems unable to manage but cannot avoid. Matters are now coming to a head, as…
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump didn’t make it to this week’s summit of Asian nations in Singapore, but his influence was still keenly felt among the leaders who gathered in the city. U.S. President Donald Trump points to the crowd after delivering remarks at an event for "supporting veterans and military families" at…
IN THE END, Amazon disappointed everyone. A year ago the e-commerce giant said it would open a second headquarters, and solicited bids from cities keen on the 50,000 new jobs and $5bn in investment it would bring. The gambit might have produced a fascinating experiment in urban development, and a departure from the concentration of…
There are wine bars and a cycling studio along the riverfront in Long Island City, among gleaming high-rise apartment buildings with views of Midtown Manhattan. The soon-to-open library branch is a modern art cube of concrete, the median income is $138,000 a year, and America’s hottest online retailer is about to move in. In the…
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia will offer Pacific countries up to A$3 billion ($2.18 billion) in grants and cheap loans to build infrastructure, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday, as Canberra seeks to counter China’s rising influence in the region. Australia and China have been vying for influence in sparsely populated Pacific island countries that…
Image copyright AFP Image caption President Trump began reinstating sanctions on Iran in May The Trump administration is to reinstate all US sanctions on Iran removed under the 2015 nuclear deal.The White House said it was "the toughest sanctions regime ever imposed on Iran" and targeted Iran's energy, shipping and banking sectors. However, eight countries…
