Economy

Despite the pickup in activity, however, high import costs heaped pressure on the sector as prices of fuel, energy and raw materials increased.The final au Jibun Bank Japan Services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 53.2 from the prior month’s 52.2, growing at the quickest rate since June.”Survey respondents suggested that the latest improvement was primarily underpinned by the growth within the tourism industry and the subsequent strengthening in demand conditions,” said Laura Denham, economist at S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Market Intelligence, which compiles the survey.”However, inflationary pressures currently being faced by Japan’s service providers continued to present downside risks to the sectors potential growth.”On top of the windfall from brighter conditions in inbound and domestic tourism, new business got a lift from a sustained COVID-19 recovery as the drag from the pandemic eased.October’s final reading was slightly better than a 53.0 flash figure released last month, the survey showed. Activity came in above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction for the second consecutive month.The composite PMI, which is calculated by combining the manufacturing and services readings, stood at 51.8 in October, up from the previous month’s 51.0 final. More

KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Nepal’s main communist opposition party will balance the Himalayan nation’s ties with neighbours China and India for mutual benefit if it is returned to power in a general election this month, its leader said.Both Asian giants have been locked in a high stakes battle for influence in Nepal — sandwiched between the two countries — longing for a friendly government in Kathmandhu. India, Nepal’s biggest trade and economic partner, sees it as a natural ally and has invested billions of dollars in its infrastructure. Beijing has also made inroads lately and signed projects under its Belt and Road Initiative.” They (India and China) are big powers. Our policy of neutrality and non-alignment will be genuinely followed and implemented,” K.P. Sharma Oli, a two-time former prime minister and president of opposition Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), or UML, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.Oli, who is considered by some political watchers to be closer to China, gave New Delhi a rough time in his earlier term as he whipped up nationalist sentiment while altering Nepal’s map over disputed land by including territories controlled by India. “We will be a reliable friend and neighbour of both. Our foreign policy will be based on mutual benefits and mutual respect,” Oli said as he sat in his office.The 70-year-old is a favorite for prime minister if his loose alliance with royalists and a group of regional parties dominant in the southern plains wins a majority in the Nov. 20 election for the 275-member national parliament.He is facing the ruling alliance of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba with the Maoist Centre party led by Prachanda, who headed a decade long insurgency that ended in 2006. Both Deuba,76, and Prachanda,67, are vying for the top job.HIGH INFLATION, RISING INTEREST RATES The election is taking place as Nepal faces the highest inflation in six years caused by rising energy prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and amid growing fears of an economic slowdown following monetary tightening.Oli said the present government had no vision to tackle inflation, high interest rates and faltering economic growth. Retail inflation is currently hovering over 8% and bank lending rates have gone up to over 18%. “The high interest rates are not helpful to businesses and industries,” Oli said, vowing to cut rates if returned to power.In its election manifesto released on Tuesday, Oli’s party promised to create 500,000 jobs every year.Oli said reconstruction of 750,000 houses, monuments, hospitals and schools destroyed by an earthquake in 2015, along with roads and airports were key achievements of his two previous governments between 2015 and 2021.“People know that UML is trustworthy, powerful and can lead a strong national government that works for them,” he said. More

In its quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised its forecasts for inflation as it predicts higher wage growth ahead, and foreshadowed a faster pick-up in unemployment next year. Yet even with further increases in rates, inflation was not expected to return to the bank’s 2-3% target range beyond the end of 2024, pointing to a long period of pain ahead.”There are many uncertainties surrounding these forecasts that make the path to achieving the Board’s objective of returning inflation to target while keeping the domestic economy on an even keel a narrow one,” said the RBA.It added sharply higher electricity and gas prices – which are projected to rise by 20-30% next year – are likely to slow the return of inflation to the target range, while another round of floods has damaged the domestic food supply. Consumer inflation is now expected to peak around 8% later this year, up from 7.75% in its forecast in August. Core inflation – the trimmed mean – would likely accelerate to 6.5% by the end of the year, up from 6.0% previously. Both measures are expected to only slow to 3.2% by the end of 2024.However, the silver lining, according to the bank, is medium-term inflation expectations and wages growth have remained consistent with the inflation target, and it is important that this remains the case.Annual wage growth is expected to pick up to 3.1% this year and accelerate further to 3.9% for 2023 and 2024, which would be the fastest in many years.The central bank lifted its cash rate by 25 basis points on Tuesday to a nine-year peak of 2.85%, bringing its tightening to a steep 275 basis points since May.It downshifted to a 25 basis point increase in October after four outsized hikes of half a point, becoming the first of the major world central banks to slow its pace.Citing reasons for the downshift, the RBA said it was mindful that policy operates with a lage and the full effect of higher rates is yet to be felt in mortgage payments and household budgets.It also acknowlegded that higher inflation is eroding real household incomes against the backdrop of a possible global recession. That leaves the RBA walking a narrow path between curbing inflation while not tipping the economy into recession. However, the bank reaffirmed its determination to bring inflation back to target, warning that rates will need to rise further. “If in future the Board judges that it needs to increase the cash rate in larger steps to secure the return of inflation to target, it will do so,” said the RBA. “Similarly, if the situation requires the Board to hold the cash rate steady for a period, it will do so.”Markets expect the RBA to hike by another quarter-point in December and see rates peaking around 4.1% by July next year.Forecasts for economic growth this year were slashed by a 0.3 percentage point to 2.9%, while 2023 and 2024 were trimmed to 1.4% and 1.6% respectively. The RBA now see the jobless rate to remain at its nearly 50 year low of 3.4% by the end of the year, unchanged from the previous forecast, before rising to 4.3% by late 2024. All these forecasts are based on the technical assumption that interest rates peak at around 3.5% in mid-2023 before easing back to around 3% by the end of 2024. More

The social media company’s 7,500 employees have been bracing for job cuts since Mr. Musk took it over last week.SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk will begin laying off Twitter employees on Friday, culling the social media company’s 7,500-person work force a little over a week after completing his blockbuster buyout.Twitter employees were notified in a company-wide email that the layoffs were set to begin, according to a copy of the message seen by The New York Times. About half the company’s workers appeared set to lose their jobs, according to internal messages and an investor, though the final count may take time to become clear. The email instructed Twitter employees to go home and not return to the offices on Friday as the cuts proceeded. Mr. Musk completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter on Oct. 27 and immediately fired its chief executive and other top managers. More executives have since resigned or were let go, while managers were asked to draw up lists of high- and low-performing employees, likely with an eye toward job cuts.Mr. Musk, the world’s richest man, faces pressure to make Twitter work financially. The deal was the largest leveraged buyout of a technology company in history. The billionaire also loaded about $13 billion in debt on Twitter for the acquisition and is on the hook to pay about $1 billion a year in interest payments. But Twitter has often lost money, and its cash flow is not robust. Mr. Musk may benefit from cutting costs so the company is less expensive to operate.Twitter’s layoffs are unlikely to be the largest in the tech industry by total number. The computer manufacturer HP cut 24,600 of its employees, about 7.5 percent, in 2008. It later cut tens of thousands more, reaching about 30 percent of its work force.Elon Musk’s Acquisition of TwitterCard 1 of 8A blockbuster deal. More

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Southeast Asia’s second-largest lender Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd (OCBC) joined its Singapore peers in beating market estimates and pumping out record quarterly profits as banks rake it in on higher interest rates.The city-state’s banks, which boast some of the strongest capital buffers in the world, have effectively weathered the COVID-19-induced slump and are now benefiting from rebounding Asian economies.But analysts say growth could be derailed by a big increase in U.S. interest rates – already at multi-year highs – as central banks try and tackle runaway inflation.”Net interest income grew on higher net interest margin and loan growth was sustained,” Group CEO Helen Wong said in a statement, adding that asset quality was healthy, with no indication of systemic stress.OCBC’s net profit increased to S$1.6 billion ($1.13 billion) in July-September versus the S$1.55 billion average estimate from four analysts, according to Refinitiv data.Wong, who took over as CEO of the lender in April 2021, said OCBC was on track to deliver full-year targets, including mid single-digit loan growth.On Thursday, OCBC’s larger peer DBS Group (OTC:DBSDY) reported a forecast-beating 32% jump in quarterly profit to a record high while UOB Group also posted a record quarterly profit.OCBC, which counts Singapore, Greater China and Malaysia among its key markets, said allowances for credit losses declined by 6%, while net interest income surged 44% to a new high of S$2.1 billion.Analysts have said it would make sense for OCBC to use its relatively large capital buffers for an acquisition, with its local rivals having snapped up targets in recent years.The bank’s net interest margin, a key gauge of profitability, increased 54 basis points to 2.06% in the quarter.($1 = 1.4214 Singapore dollars) More

(Reuters) -Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) posted a quarterly loss on Thursday that missed Wall Street targets due to restructuring of the combined media company, but investor concerns were tempered by news that HBO’s fantasy series “House of the Dragon” became the most-watched series premiere in the network’s history.Recession-wary brands have taken the axe to marketing budgets as consumer spending on discretionary products and services dips.Warner also missed expectations on revenue, helping send its shares down 4.8% after hours.The newly combined company has been cutting projects it considered weak and reorienting its business, including a re-embrace of sending movies to theaters, but costs have been high.Warner Bros. Pictures, film subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery, is planning to cut a number of jobs in distribution and marketing which will reduce the headcount by 5% to 10%, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. “We’re spending more money this year than we’ve ever spent historically,” Warner Bros Chief Executive David Zaslav told a conference call. He touted the new creative team leading the company’s DC Studios and promoted a coming lineup of films worthy of the big screen, including “The Flash,” “Wonka” and “The Color Purple.”Former leadership had sent many movies straight to HBO.“Launching a two-hour or an hour-and-40-minute movie direct-to-streaming has done almost nothing for HBO Max in terms of viewership, retention or love of the service,” Zaslav said.Warner Bros posted a third-quarter loss of $2.3 billion, or 95 cents a share, which includes $1.5 billion in pre-tax restructuring charges. That’s more than the 21 cents a share loss that analysts had anticipated, according to Refinitiv data. Quarterly revenue fell to $9.82 billion, lagging Wall Street targets, hurt by cuts in advertising budgets at businesses struggling to cope with decades-high inflation. The wider rout in the ad market has led companies including Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Warner Bros peers Paramount Global and Comcast Corp (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to warn about continuing weakness in the advertising landscape.Warner Bros Discovery, home to hit franchises such as “Batman” and “Euphoria,” added 2.8 million new streaming subscribers in the third quarter, bringing its total to 94.9 million. It aims to reach about 130 million global subscribers by 2025.Zaslav said changes to the service, such as offering recommendations to viewers after they finish watching a show and adding reality shows, helped increase viewer engagement. A merger of HBO Max and Discovery+ will debut on an accelerated timetable, in spring of 2023. Analysts also called out the success of “House of the Dragon” as proving the importance of developing franchises such as “Game of Thrones.” “In light of their underwhelming Q3 results, the success of ‘The House of the Dragon’ should be a source of relief,” said Max Willens, senior analyst at eMarketer. The company’s studio segment reported revenues of $3.1 billion, down 5% from a year earlier. The company had fewer movie releases than a year ago. Its networks segment, which includes TBS, Discovery Channel and Food Network, reported revenue of $5.2 billion, down 8% compared with a year ago.The streaming business, which combined HBO Max and Discovery+, saw revenue fall 6% to $2.3 billion, reflecting an end to HBO Max’s distribution on Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Channels a year ago. More

(Reuters) -Online payments firm PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) cut its annual revenue growth forecast in anticipation of a broader economic downturn and said it did not expect much growth in its U.S. e-commerce business in the holiday quarter.Shares in PayPal, owner of the popular Venmo payments app, fell as much as 11% in extended trading on Thursday after the company also reported a decline in third-quarter profit, but they later pared some losses and were down at 9%.The San Jose, California-based company cut its adjusted growth outlook for the year to 10% from 11% previously. Analysts were expecting 10% growth, according to Refinitiv.As inflation soars to the highest in decades and worries of a potential recession escalate, companies are issuing conservative forecasts to reflect an expected tightening in consumer spending. Chief Executive Daniel Schulman blamed “a challenging macro environment, slowing e-commerce trends and an unpredictable holiday shopping season” for the company’s prudent forecast.”We think that e-commerce is going to be pretty muted in the fourth quarter,” Schulman said in a post-earnings call.Last week, payments giant Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) also forecast weaker-than-expected revenue growth for the holiday quarter.But Block Inc, a payments platform led by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, posted a rise in quarterly revenue on Thursday on the back of a strong online payments business, sending its shares up 14%. PayPal posted a lower adjusted profit of $1.08 per share for July-September. Analysts had expected a profit of 96 cents a share. The company said it expects $900 million in cost savings this year and at least $1.3 billion next year.”Their cost saving plans are taking hold but in the ultra-competitive payments world, market share gains don’t seem to be enough to placate investors,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors. More

The report, citing two officials familiar with the matter, added that finance minister Jeremy Hunt was looking at cutting the amount shareholders can earn in dividends before they begin paying tax from the current level of 2,000 pounds ($2,235). “All options are under consideration,” said a government source when asked about the report.Hunt is also looking at increasing the headline rate of capital gains tax (CGT), The Telegraph reported later on Thursday. The finance minister is reviewing changes to the headline rate, reliefs and allowances on CGT while also considering hitting savers with an increase in dividend taxes, the newspaper said.Broad changes to CGT, including to the headline rate, are being considered, Telegraph said, citing treasury sources, but they cautioned that much can change before Nov. 17.The newspaper added that Treasury officials are not planning any extra help for homeowners, despite soaring mortgage rates and predictions of steep house price falls.There will be no extension of the stamp duty cut adopted by former Prime Minister Liz Truss, Telegraph said, citing a Whitehall source.Britain’s government is considering a plan to extend windfall taxes on oil and gas companies’ profits, as a way to raise around 40 billion pounds over five years which would help repair the public finances, Reuters had reported earlier on Thursday.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in power for just over a week, and finance minister Hunt are trying to find ways to cut spending and increase revenue to plug a budget hole worsened by Truss’s debt-fuelled economic plans.($1 = 0.8950 pounds) More