Bloomberg Thailand will increase a mandatory quarantine period for all arrivals to two weeks in a setback to the country’s previous plans of gradually reopening its borders to foreign visitors. The Southeast Asian nation reduced the timeframe to seven days for vaccinated tourists and ten days for most others in a bid to boost its tourism sector. But the latest …

Bloomberg US equity futures climbed and stocks in Asia dropped on Monday as investors assessed inflation risks amid improving economic activity. The dollar held onto gains. Hong Kong led losses amid low volumes with Japan and China, as well as the UK, among markets closed for holidays. The US and European futures edged higher after the S&P 500 dropped from …

Bloomberg Retail traders who drove record gains in South Korean stocks during the darkest days of the pandemic are bracing for a new threat — the return of institutional players betting on share-price declines. The world’s longest ban on short-selling stocks came to an end on Monday. Stocks fluctuated between gains and losses. Nevertheless, the end of the ban has …

Bloomberg India’s government eased some rules relating to indirect-tax compliance to ease the burden of citizens during the pandemic period. Reduced penalty and waiver of late fees on delayed goods and services tax payments were among the measures announced by the Finance Ministry on Sunday. Taxpayers were also allowed more time to file GST returns. For persons with turnover above …

Bloomberg Russia increased its oil production in April thanks to a more generous Opec+ quota. The nation pumped 42.81 million tons of crude and condensate last month, according to preliminary data from the energy ministry’s CDU-TEK unit. That equates to 10.46 million barrels a day, or 1.9% more than in March. The data don’t provide a breakdown between crude and …

Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp added momentum to a nascent recovery in the US oil industry as they reported bumper cash flow, a dramatic improvement after a torrid 2020. The energy giants generated enough cash to cover dividends, debt payments and project spending in the first quarter, the first time they’ve managed to do that in more than …

Bloomberg China will make cutting emissions a focus of its ecological strategy in the next five years, President Xi Jinping said, vowing to call off projects which consume a lot of energy and can’t meet environmental standards. “The carbon neutral and emission-peaking goals are solemn promises China has made to the world,” Xi said at a study session of the …

Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG reined in capacity plans and London’s Heathrow airport lowered passenger forecasts as new waves of coronavirus infections dent prospects for a travel rebound by the start of summer. Lufthansa now expects to offer only 40% of its pre-pandemic capacity for 2021 as a whole, according to a statement, a figure that’s below the level it has …

Bloomberg Passengers on airplanes, buses and railroads in the US will have to keep wearing masks to guard against the spread of Covid-19 as federal officials extended a mandate that was set to expire within days through the busy summer travel season. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced it was extending the mandate through September 13. The move is in …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc will supplant Walmart Inc as the biggest US retailer by 2025, according to a new report, suggesting the e-commerce giant has too much momentum for Walmart to stop despite big investments in its own e-commerce offerings. By 2025, US shoppers will buy $632 billion worth of products at Amazon and retail afflilites including Whole Foods Market, surpassing …