Bloomberg SoundCloud Ltd., the popular but financially strapped digital music service, is getting a lifeline from new investors who have agreed to pump $170 million into the company. The new investment keeps the Berlin-based company alive but comes with strings attached. SoundCloud Chief Executive Officer Alex Ljung is being replaced by Kerry Trainor, the former head of the online video ...
Read More »Snap lags growth estimates, as Facebook copying takes toll
Bloomberg Snap Inc.’s growth again fell short of estimates, feeding fears that aggressive competition from Facebook Inc. is blunting the younger social-media company’s potential just months after its IPO. The Los Angeles-based company said daily active users reached 173 million in the second quarter, compared with 166 million in the prior period. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected 175 million ...
Read More »OPEC sees higher 2018 crude demand, points to easing glut
LONDON / Reuters OPEC forecast higher demand for its crude in 2018 due to rising global consumption, and pointed to signs of a stronger oil market that suggest an OPEC-led production cut is getting rid of price-sapping excess supply. In a monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said the world would need 32.42 million barrels per day ...
Read More »Egypt inflation soars to multi-decade high
CAIRO / Reuters Egypt’s key inflation rates soared to multi-decade highs on the back of energy sub- sidy cuts agreed with the International Monetary Fund as a condition of its $12 billion three-year loan. Annual urban inflation for July hit a critical high of 33.0 percent from 29.8 percent in June, the official CAPMAS statistics agency said, the highest since ...
Read More »Large freight rates on Asia routes ‘bottomed’
Reuters Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) on Asian routes may have finally bottomed as owners attempt to resist moves by charterers to push rates still lower, brokers said. “This is a really bad market now. The floor keeps getting lower but I think there’s now resistance by owners,†said a Singapore-based supertanker broker. That came as VLCC ...
Read More »Saudi, Iraq ministers agree to stronger oil-cuts commitment
Bloomberg OPEC’s two biggest producers agreed to strengthen their commitment to production cuts and maintain balance in world crude markets, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said after talks with his Iraqi counterpart Jabbar al-Luaibi, according to the kingdom’s state news agency SPA. The two ministers also agreed to ensure coordination of their nations’ oil policies, Saudi Press Agency reported, citing ...
Read More »â€˜Saudi favours New York for Aramco listing despite risks’
RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Arabia favours New York for the main foreign listing of state oil giant Aramco, even though some financial and legal advisers have recommended London as a less problematic and risky option, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. A final decision on where to stage what could be the world’s largest initial public offering will be ...
Read More »India pledges to meet budget deficit, but fiscal outlook clouded
Bloomberg India warned that fiscal slippages could be a drag on Asia’s third-largest economy in the year to March 2018, but pledged to meet its budget deficit targets as it sought to reassure investors and global rating companies. The mid-year survey of the economy released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s chief economic adviser, Arvind Subramanian, also called for interest rates ...
Read More »Facebook quietly launches app in China
Bloomberg Facebook Inc. has found a new way to enter China: secretly launching an app under a different name. The photo-sharing app, called Colorful Balloons, was released in May to help Facebook enter a market that it’s been blocked from since 2009, according to a person familiar with the matter. Facebook has said its goal of connecting the world wouldn’t ...
Read More »Singapore GDP growth beats forecasts on trade
Bloomberg Singapore’s economy posted faster growth in the second quarter than previously estimated by the government as a recovery in global trade helped to buoy manufacturing. Highlights of GDP report Gross domestic product rose a seasonally-adjusted and annualised 2.2 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said. As one of Asia’s ...
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