May, 2021

• 19 May

  Get ready for new reopening trade

  

  Get ready for the new reopening trade — and it has nothing to do with the stock market. Think teeth and travel. In discussing its latest earnings, retail giant Walmart Inc said it had noticed an increase in sales of teeth-whitening products in areas of the US where face coverings were no longer required. At Macy’s Inc, Chief Executive Officer ...

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• 19 May

  A chance to tame your inner workaholic!

  The most engaged employees are those who put in face time at the office, WeWork’s CEO, Sandeep Mathrani, declared last week, while “those who are least engaged are very comfortable working from home.” This is from a man whose livelihood depends on the profitability of commercial real estate. It’s as if the Staples chief executive said the most engaged workers ...

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• 19 May

  The Fed is negotiating with itself on inflation

  If you’re worried about the recent surge in inflation, some reflection on the past decade might prove useful therapy. Central banks are willing to look beyond price spikes they consider transitory, in large part because of a perceived need to atone for missteps after the last big slump. It’s hard to understand why the Federal Reserve appears unfazed without appreciating ...

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• 19 May

  Thailand plans $22.3 billion borrowing for Covid relief

  

  Bloomberg Thailand plans to borrow an additional 700 billion baht ($22.3 billion) to fund measures to counter the worst wave of Covid-19 outbreak to hit Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, people familiar with the matter said. A meeting of the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha approved the new borrowing plan from the finance ministry, the people said, declining to ...

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• 19 May

  Singapore’s Sea doubles revenue over tech battle

  

  Bloomberg Sea Ltd, Southeast Asia’s most valuable company, more than doubled revenue in the first quarter, though losses swelled as it spent to ward off competition in the regional e-commerce and online entertainment arenas. Sales rose to $1.76 billion in the three months ended March from $714.9 million a year earlier, the Singapore-based company said. Net loss widened to $422.7 ...

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• 19 May

  Philippines slashes GDP growth outlook amid coronavirus fight

  Bloomberg The Philippine government cut its economic outlook for this year and next as it struggles with a surge in coronavirus cases that threatens its recovery. Gross domestic product is now tipped to grow 6% to 7% this year, down from a previous estimate of 6.5%-7.5%, according to the Development Budget Coordination Committee, which sets the government’s economic assumptions for ...

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• 19 May

  Chinese firm GDS considers buying GLP’s data centres

  

  Bloomberg GDS Holdings Ltd is considering acquiring GLP Pte’s data centres business as the Chinese cloud computing company seeks to expand its digital infrastructure capacity in the world’s second-largest economy, according to people familiar with the matter. GDS, a developer and operator of high-performance data centers across China, is holding preliminary talks with Singapore investment manager GLP over a potential ...

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• 19 May

  Mumbai gets import bids for Sputnik

  Bloomberg Mumbai’s municipality has received bids to import 10 million Sputnik vaccines and expects more proposals as authorities attempt an ambitious plan to vaccinate every resident of the world’s second-most densely packed city within two months. India’s financial capital estimates to spend about 7 billion rupees ($96 million) to buy the shots, Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal told Bloomberg TV ...

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• 19 May

  Indonesian travel startup explores $2b SPAC deal

  

  Bloomberg Indonesian online travel company Tiket.com is exploring going public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) as it seeks to expand its business, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The startup is in talks with COVA Acquisition Corp for a deal that would value the combined entity at about $2 billion, according to the ...

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• 19 May

  Biden looks to build on Trump’s Singapore deal with North Korea

  

  Bloomberg President Joe Biden is looking to build on a denuclearisation agreement Donald Trump reached with North Korea, a move likely to be welcomed by South Korea, which has seen it as a starting point for disarmament discussions. Kurt Campbell, Biden’s Asia coordinator, made the administration’s first on-record comments that it would accede to the agreement struck in 2018 between ...

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