August, 2022

• 14 August

  Russian war in Ukraine bruises Baltics’ relations with China

  

  Bloomberg China’s refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine played a role in Estonia’s decision to quit an Eastern European initiative that aimed to enhance relations with Beijing, the Baltic nation’s top diplomat said. “It was definitely a factor that we kept in mind when making the decision. Before that, we consulted with a series of allies,” Foreign Minister Urmas ...

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• 14 August

  Mastercard faces backlash over instalment payments

  

    Bloomberg Mastercard Inc is facing pushback from retailers over a new product that allows customers to pay off their purchases in installments. The payments giant has begun telling merchants and their banks that it will charge retailers 3% of a purchase price each time a consumer opts to use the new program, according to people familiar with the matter. ...

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• 14 August

  Battered dollar has scope for a rally to new highs as risks swirl

  

    Bloomberg The dollar’s best days might still be ahead of it. While the greenback has tumbled as riskier assets have rebounded and demand for havens has ebbed, there’s potential for renewed political and economic risks to rekindle its strength. Add to that a dire outlook for Europe and prospects for even more policy tightening by the Federal Reserve, and ...

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• 14 August

  RBA explores case for central bank digital currency

  

    Bloomberg Australia’s top economic agencies are collaborating on a project to review the case for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the country. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Treasury and others will oversee the research effort designed to explore the potential economic benefits of introducing such a currency in Australia, the RBA said in a statement. The ...

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• 14 August

  Bitcoin surpasses $25,000 for first time since June

  

    Bloomberg Bitcoin briefly surpassed $25,000 for the first time since mid-June, as momentum continued from a cooler-than-expected US inflation data and progress towards Ethereum’s big upgrade. The largest cryptocurrency rises as much as 2.2% to $25,031, its highest level since June 13. It was trading around $24,750, rising a fifth straight day in a streak fuelled by US consumer-price ...

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• 14 August

  CATL to build $7.6 billion battery plant in Hungary

  

  Bloomberg Mercedes-Benz Group AG will join China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) in building a battery factory in Hungary with an investment of as much as 7.3 billion euros ($7.6 billion), with some of Europe’s leading automakers set to become customers too. The plant will have capacity of 100 gigawatt hours, enough to power more than 1 million cars, ...

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• 14 August

  Snap adds new tools for parents to monitor teens using Snapchat

  

    Bloomberg Snap Inc is introducing tools for parents or trusted adults to better supervise teen behaviour on its popular disappearing photo and video app, Snapchat. The new tool, called Family Center, lets parents or designated adults over the age of 25 to view their teen’s friends, see who they’ve messaged in the past week and anonymously report abusive accounts. ...

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• 14 August

  China electric car sales forecast to hit record 6 million

  

  Bloomberg Electric vehicles sales in China are forecast to hit a record 6 million this year as demand for cleaner cars surges. The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) raised its estimate from 5.5 million, after releasing data showing deliveries of new-energy vehicles more than doubled in July to around 486,000 units — accounting for 26.7% of the new auto market. ...

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• 14 August

  Apple laptop maker’s profit halved

    Bloomberg Apple Inc MacBook assembler Quanta Computer Inc said its Shanghai campus recovered from Covid-related disruptions more slowly than expected, halving its profit. Net income for the second quarter came in at NT$3.96 billion, down 50% and below the average estimate of NT$4.3 billion. Sales totalled NT$270.5 billion, versus average analyst estimate of NT$258.4 billion. Quanta announced in April ...

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• 13 August

  Abu Dhabi’s H1 non-oil foreign trade rises 12% to AED124bn

  

    Abu Dhabi / WAM The total value of the emirate of Abu Dhabi’s non-oil foreign trade amounted to about AED124 billion during first half of 2022, compared to AED110 billion and 313 million, with a growth rate of 12%, recorded in the same period of 2020. Exports during the first six months of this year increased to 26%, at ...

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