Month: October 2019

“Slightly lower dollar, some adjustments in market positioning ahead of the weekend and expectations of Fed rate cuts are supporting Asian currencies,” said Irene Cheung, a senior strategist for Asia at ANZ Banking Group (Singapore). “With markets already fully loaded for an October FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) rate cut, it may require an outsized positive surprise from the NFP (non-farm payroll) numbers to shake out the very short-term dollar bears,” OCBC said in a note. India’s rupee gained marginally, showing little reaction to a 25 basis point rate cut that was in line with expectations. …read more […]

British drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved self-administration of its asthma treatment Fasenra which uses a pre-filled, single-use auto-injector pen. The move is a boost for the drugmaker’s respiratory portfolio after the regulator earlier this week declined to approve AstraZeneca’s combination therapy to treat smoker’s lung, as it tries to catch up with domestic rival GlaxoSmithKline. “We can now offer Fasenra in an even more convenient way, giving U.S. healthcare providers and patients the option of administering Fasenra at home or in a doctor’s office,” Mene Pangalos, executive vice …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. has told suppliers to increase production of its latest iPhone 11 range by as much as 10% to meet stronger-than-expected sales of the new handsets, the Nikkei Asian Review reported, affirming resilient demand for the company’s most important gadget.The boost would add 7 million to 8 million units to what the Cupertino, Calif.-based company had initially planned on, the Nikkei cited anonymous sources as saying. Shares in Apple suppliers from Murata Manufacturing Co. and Alps Alpine Co. in Tokyo to AAC Technologies Holdings Inc. in Hong Kong climbed after the report. An Apple spokesperson in Japan …read more […]

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday cut interest rates for a fifth straight meeting this year, stepping up its efforts to kickstart an economy growing at its slowest pace in six years. The central bank, which also downgraded its 2019-20 growth forecast, said it will maintain its current “accommodative” policy stance “as long as it is necessary” to revive growth, and ensure inflation remains within target. The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.15%, in line with expectations in a Reuters poll. …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Want the lowdown on European markets? In your inbox before the open, every day. Sign up here.BP Plc said Bob Dudley, chief executive officer of the U.K. oil major for more than nine years, will leave the company early next year.Dudley’s most notable achievement was rescuing the company in the wake of the the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico that caused the biggest oil spill in U.S. history and killed 11 people. His tenure has been focused on restoring the company to the position it held before the accident as billions of dollars of penalties …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Hong Kong stocks fell before a briefing by the city’s senior officials, where they are expected to invoke emergency laws to ban mask wearing.The MSCI Hong Kong Index dropped 1.7% at 2:35 p.m. Property developers were the biggest losers, with Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. poised for the largest drop in two months. The Hang Seng Index slid 1.5% below the key 26,000 point level. Hong Kong’s markets are closed Monday for a holiday.Chief Executive Carrie Lam and her government officials will meet the press at 3 p.m. according to an official statement, which gave no reason for …read more […]

Apple Inc has asked suppliers to increase production of its iPhone 11 models by up to 8 million units, or about 10%, Nikkei Asian Review reported https://s.nikkei.com/2nlgcSk on Friday, citing better than expected demand. “Previously, Apple was quite conservative about placing orders”, which were less than for last year’s new iPhone, said the Nikkei quoting a source. “After the increase, prepared production volume for the iPhone 11 series will be higher compared to last year”. …read more […]

JAKARTA/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – U.S. trade officials, at the request of card networks Mastercard and Visa , convinced Indonesia late last year to loosen rules governing its new domestic payment network, according to Indonesian government and industry sources, and emails reviewed by Reuters. The change will allow the U.S. companies to process credit card transactions without having to partner with a local company in Indonesia, the sources said. Indonesia’s decision represented a major lobbying victory for U.S. payment companies in efforts to beat back a host of new regulations in Asia and elsewhere around data storage or …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC has made a stronger pound one of its major bets, saying the currency is eventually poised to strengthen to $1.50 following a successful Brexit deal.Sterling is set to rebound to that level within two years as sentiment toward U.K. assets improves once the Brexit turmoil has been resolved and as the dollar weakens, said Jack McIntyre, a portfolio manager in Philadelphia at Brandywine, which oversees $75 billion. Both the U.K. and European Union have plenty of incentives to reach a deal, he said.“If we’re right about the dollar on a multi-year downtrend, then …read more […]

“Previously, Apple was quite conservative about placing orders”, which were less than for last year’s new iPhone, said the Nikkei quoting a source. “After the increase, prepared production volume for the iPhone 11 series will be higher compared to last year”. Sources cited by Nikkei said that the recent surge in iPhone orders is concentrated in the cheapest iPhone 11 model and the iPhone 11 Pro model, while Apple has slightly revised down orders for its top range model, the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which has a starting price of $1,099. …read more […]