Bitcoin hit a fresh record of $14,000 Thursday as investors piled in, triggering a warning the cryptocurrency was "like a charging train with no brakes" which would inevitably slip back.It touched a new a high of $14,400 in Asian trade before slipping back to $13,900, according to Bloomberg News.
With at least $323 billion in infrastructure spending in the pipeline in Southeast Asia and potentially more expected over the next few years, 2018 could well shape up as the year of builders’ stocks from Indonesia to the Philippines that have been the laggards in a broader market rally this year.Governments are boosting spending on everything from airports to high-speed rails and ports to increase connectivity and boost economic growth in what promises to be a boon for the region’s construct
Asian stocks are poised for the longest losing streak in two years as the technology, mining, consumer and industrial sectors led declines. Japan equities fell sharply, as did Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index. The Australian dollar and bond yields tumbled as traders dialed back expectations for higher interest rates after growth missed estimates.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is set to fall for eight days, making it the longest run of losses since 2015.
Indonesia’s stock exchange is having trouble luring retail investors. Their solution? Target the millennials.While the participation of individual investors in Indonesia is low compared with other Asian countries, those aged between 21 and 30 account for 26 percent, the biggest share of any age group, according to data from Indonesia Central Securities Deposit.
Tech giants including Samsung and Tencent sank in Asian trade on Tuesday, tracking a sell-off in their US rivals and dragging most regional markets lower.While investors welcomed news that the US senate had finally passed controversial tax reforms, the deal must still be reconciled with a House bill, while the probe into alleged Russian meddling in last year's election continues to dog Donald Trump.The Dow closed at a record high on Wall Street but the Nasdaq tumbled more than one percen
Xiaomi Corp., the Chinese smartphone maker that was once the most valuable startup in the world, is in talks with investment banks about a possible initial public offering and seeking a valuation of at least $50 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.The Beijing-based company is considering an offering as soon as next year with banks suggesting Hong Kong as the most likely destination, said the people, requesting not to be named because the matter is private.
The Philippines is looking at regulating so-called initial coin offerings, as the use of cryptocurrencies gains ground in the Southeast Asian nation.Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla said the central bank is in talks with the nation’s Securities and Exchange Commission on ways to oversee ICOs, in which companies raise funds through the sale of digital tokens.
Oil dropped below 58 dollars a barrel as investors weighed an increase in US oil drilling rigs against OPEC’s promise to extend output cuts through the end of next year.Futures fell as much as 0.9 percent in New York after adding 1.7 percent Friday. OPEC and its allies including Russia last week agreed to keep their supply cuts in place and beefed up the extension with the inclusion of Nigeria and Libya. Executives from three of the biggest independent U.S.
Singapore, which prides itself on being a haven for law and order, is being called a haven for pirating copyrighted programming by entertainment titans such as Walt Disney, HBO, the National Basketball Association and the English Premier League.Viewers in the city-state buy legitimate set-top boxes that also allow unauthorised streaming of thousands of movies, TV shows and live sporting events, said the Coalition Against Piracy. Its 21 members, including divisions of Sony Corp.
The rising supply of homes and slowing population growth may undermine the recent recovery in Singapore residential property prices, the country’s central bank said.Future development projects could potentially add 20,000 private housing units over the next one or two years, more than doubling the existing number available for sale, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in its annual financial stability report published Thursday.“Over the medium term, as these development projects are prog
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. sold 7 billion dollar bonds Wednesday in a deal that investors clamoured for, ordering more than six times as many securities as were for sale.The deal eclipsed China Evergrande Group’s 6.6 billion dollar offering in June to become the biggest sale in Asia from a non-bank issuer, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Eager investors were already flipping the bonds in the after market late Wednesday in New York.
Oil explorers took advantage of a market rally to lock in prices for almost 1 million barrels a day’s worth of future output, signaling the shale boom’s staying power as OPEC ponders the extension of its supply curbs.New hedging contracts in the third quarter covered 897,000 barrels a day of annualized production, a 147 percent increase over the second quarter, according to an analysis of 33 companies released Tuesday by industry researcher Wood MacKenzie Ltd.
