WORLD
Abu Dhabi royal sets up firm to hold $27 billion in assets
The new firm, called 2PointZero, will be transferred into Abu Dhabi’s $239 billion International Holding Co. Its holdings will include portions of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s sprawling empire, according to a statement late Tuesday.
WORLD
China, Fed and Elections: What will move Asian stocks in 2024
Whether the world’s second-biggest economy can finally recover and fix its embattled property sector is among the main questions for investors this year. Chinese stocks ended 2023 with a record third year of losses and contributed to the MSCI Asia Pacific Index trailing global equities by 11 percentage points.
WORLD
TikTok eyes $17.5 billion shopping business on Amazon’s turf
The 2024 merchandise volume goal for the US version of TikTok Shop — which melds online entertainment with impulse buying — was discussed in internal meetings in recent weeks and may still change depending on how the business goes, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private information.
WORLD
Markets see Fed’s exit from quantitative tightening nearing
Participants remarked the Committee’s plans indicated it would slow and then stop shrinking its balance sheet when reserve balances are “somewhat above the level judged consistent with ample reserves.”
WORLD
Confidential Jeffrey Epstein documents unsealed by New York court
The first of what are expected to be hundreds of documents identifying more than 150 individuals were unsealed Wednesday following an order last month by US District Judge Loretta A. Preska.
WORLD
Coast Guard plane wasn’t cleared for runway before Tokyo crash
The readout of communications just prior to the crash was released on January 3 by Japanese officials in Tokyo. It appears to contradict the coast guard captain, who reportedly said he had “obtained permission to take off.”
BUSINESS
Petronet likely to renew Qatar LNG contract in January
Qatar is building an enormous expansion to its LNG export facility, which will start later this decade, and extending its commitment to India will help to lock in a key buyer.
BUSINESS
VinFast planning battery plant in Tamil Nadu in 2024
VinFast last year said it planned to set up an EV factory in India with an investment of $150 million to $200 million in the first phase.
BUSINESS
Citi, Jefferies sound caution on India tech rally on valuation
Brokerage firms including Citigroup Inc. and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. are now sounding caution on the sector’s outperformance, citing rich valuations and tepid growth prospects.
BUSINESS
India proposes tighter rules for dividend payouts by lenders
Lenders have to meet specific capital requirements for three financial years before giving out dividends, according to a statement on the proposed rules from the Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday.
WORLD
Apple stock downgraded as Barclays warns on cooling iPhone demand
Barclays analysts led by Tim Long cut their rating on Apple to underweight and price target by $1 to $160, compared with the stock’s Tuesday closing price of $185.64.
WORLD
SoftBank veteran Nikesh Arora a billionaire after another huge payday
At Google, he became the firm’s highest-paid executive after getting a compensation package worth about $51 million in 2012, on his way to collecting stock awards worth at least $200 million by the time he left.
BUSINESS
Apple stock downgraded as Barclays warns on cooling iPhone demand
Barclays analysts led by Tim Long cut their rating on Apple to underweight and price target to $160 from $161, implying a 17% decline over the next year.
BUSINESS
Russian oil cargoes head away from India amid payment issues
Five ships all carrying Sokol oil from Russia’s Far East — the NS Commander, Sakhalin Island, Krymsk, Nellis, and Liteyny Prospect — are moving toward the Malacca Strait at 7 to 10 knots, according to vessel-tracking data. A sixth also holding Sokol — the NS Century — is still close to Sri Lanka.
WORLD
Vedanta faces investor reckoning over $3.2 billion of bonds
Bondholders have until Jan. 2 to give an early consent on a plan to push out due dates on $3.2 billion in bond repayments, a move that prompted S&P Global Ratings in December to cut the company’s rating deeper into junk.
WORLD
The 10 most intriguing science breakthroughs of 2023
The most talked-about science story in 2023 was the expanding use of the diet drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists, most popularly known as Ozempic.
WORLD
An economist’s guide to making New Year’s resolutions
That means breaking down larger, more general goals into a smaller, more concrete ones. Instead of resolving to “exercise more,” for example, ask yourself how much you would benefit if you spent another 15 minutes a week exercising.
WORLD
2023’s economy will be hard to top, but 2024’s just might
There is ample reason to be optimistic about the US economy.
WORLD
Saudi fund outpaces Singapore’s GIC with $31.6 billion splurge
PIF, as the Saudi fund is known, deployed $31.6 billion in 2023, according to research consultancy Global SWF.
WORLD
AI, Metaverse, Chatbots: Workplace trends to watch for in 2024
ChatGPT’s arrival a year ago has captured the collective imagination with 100 million users per week, according to its creator, OpenAI.
WORLD
Chief Justice John Roberts says AI will transform how the courts work
AI tools will change how judges do their jobs and how they understand “the role that AI plays in the cases that come before them,” Roberts said in his end-of-year report.
WORLD
Singapore avoids recession as Lee Hsien Loong warns of ‘troubled’ world
Gross domestic product expanded 1.2%, Lee said in his New Year’s message, compared with the trade ministry’s forecast in November for an expansion of around 1%. For 2024, he reiterated an official projection for growth of 1% to 3%.
WORLD
US overtakes China as South Korea’s top export market
South Korea sold $11.3 billion in goods to the US in December compared with $10.9 billion to China, the trade ministry said Monday. The switch in positions came as South Korea’s overall exports rose 5.1% from a year earlier — a third monthly increase after a yearlong slump.
WORLD
Xi Jinping vows to strengthen economic recovery after ‘tough’ year
While China’s most-powerful leader since Mao Zedong used his annual new year address to trumpet his nation’s achievements, he also conceded some “enterprises had a tough time” and “people had difficulty finding jobs and meeting basic needs.”
