Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd is offering unlimited flights for a year among a pool of prizes for people who’ve had Covid-19 shots, the biggest incentive yet from an Australian business in a bid to accelerate the country’s sluggish vaccination rollout. Giving details about the program on Monday, Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said 10 “mega prizes” would give families of …

Bloomberg The US will have a busy vacation season this summer as cities make a strong comeback, according to Stephen Kaufer, chief executive officer of TripAdvisor Inc. “Now we have a lot more activities all around the country, and it’s not just outdoors. The cities are making a very real comeback,” Kaufer said on CBS’s “Face the Nation”. Hotel searches …

Bloomberg The back-to-school season has always been important for US retailers, and this year’s is likely to be a doozy. Consumer wallets fat with stimulus checks helped Walmart Inc and Target Corp blow past sales estimates in the first quarter, but those funds will dry up at some point. Stepping into the fold, analysts expect an unprecedented shopping season as …

Bloomberg Ulta Beauty Inc reported first-quarter comparable sales that beat expectations, showing that makeup usage is making a recovery. Comparable sales, a key metric for retailers, rose 66% for the quarter — above the 39% average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg. The beauty retailer raised its outlook for 2021, with net sales now seen in a range of $7.7 billion …

Bloomberg China stocks’ biggest weekly surge since February is rekindling investor hopes for a strong rally ahead. But don’t expect the sentiment-driven frenzy of last year, analysts say. The benchmark CSI 300 Index gained 3.6% last week, with turnover nearing the 1 trillion yuan ($157 billion) mark – the most since late February. Foreigners snapped up a record amount of …

Bloomberg Malaysian stocks dropped and the ringgit weakened after the government imposed a two-week nationwide lockdown to curb a relentless surge in Covid-19 infections. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index falls as much as 1.6% on Monday, before paring losses to 0.7% at the close in Kuala Lumpur. The ringgit slid as much as 0.4% to 4.1480 per dollar, while …

Abu Dhabi / WAM UAE property market saw AED68.6 billion in transactions in Q1 of 2021, in a fresh sign that the worst is over and smart recovery is accelerating thanks to increased spending on infrastructure development, and the recorded growth in trade and tourism sectors across the nation. Statistics revealed by the departments concerned in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah …

Bloomberg India expanded an emergency credit program to airlines and hospitals to cushion them from the impact of a wave of coronavirus infections and deaths. The loans, which were previously intended for specific sectors such as small borrowers, can be availed until September 30 or until total guarantees worth 3 trillion rupees ($41 billion) are offered, the Finance Ministry said …

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s virtual banks are facing years of red ink on the bottom line after making limited inroads against their brick-and-mortar rivals in the financial hub. The two leading digital banks so far, Mox Bank Ltd, backed by Standard Chartered, and ZA Bank Ltd, bankrolled by China’s ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance, predict they will start breaking even by 2024 …

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG is grappling with how to keep top bankers from fleeing to competitors and drastically reducing risk as new Chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio seeks to recover from a series of scandals. The lender is cutting ties with SoftBank Group Corp, a backer to Lex Greensill’s collapsed supply-chain finance empire, and it’s temporarily barring clients from withdrawing all …