(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock futures advanced, while Asian equity benchmarks were mixed as investors weighed encouraging signs of businesses reopening across major economies against more data showing the severity of the pandemic’s impact and rising U.S.-China tensions.Futures on the S&P 500 climbed after the index rose on Friday, trimming a weekly loss. Japanese and Korean shares gave up some early gains and Australian shares advanced, while equities in Hong Kong were little changed. Treasuries were flat. California’s economy is now 75% open, its governor said, while upstate New York is also set to reopen. Apple Inc. said nearly 100 of its stores have opened. Even so, the Federal Reserve has warned of potential asset-price declines if the pandemic worsens.Further moves by the U.S. against China’s tech champion Huawei Technologies Co. also had little immedate impact on markets Monday. Crude oil climbed on supply cutbacks. The pound dipped after a Bank of...
(Bloomberg) -- Since its founding more than three decades ago, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has built its business by working behind the scenes to make customers like Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. shine. Now the low-profile chipmaker has landed squarely in the middle of the U.S.-China trade war, an incalculably valuable asset that both sides are vying to control.The Trump administration opened up a new front in the conflict on Friday by barring any chipmaker using American equipment from supplying China’s Huawei Technologies Co. without U.S. government approval. That means TSMC and rivals will have to cut off Huawei unless they get waivers from the U.S. Commerce Dept.That would be a financial blow for TSMC, which gets an estimated 14% of its revenue from Huawei, but more importantly it risks provoking retribution from the Chinese government, which already views Taiwan as a breakaway province that belongs to the mainland. The Communist...
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. said it’s reopening more than 25 stores across the U.S. and 12 stores in Canada this week, adding to nearly 100 global locations that have reopened to customers after the novel coronavirus outbreak forced them to close. Some stores will offer only curbside or storefront service, the company added in an emailed statement.In a letter to customers by Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president for retail and people, the company said it’s “focused on limiting occupancy and giving everybody lots of room,” with a renewed emphasis on one-to-one service throughout each store. There’ll be temperature checks conducted at the door and face coverings will be required for all employees and provided to any shoppers without one.“A store opening in no way means that we won’t take the preventative step of closing it again should local conditions warrant,” O’Brien wrote.The U.S. Apple stores set to reopen are in...
(Bloomberg) -- Gold rose to the highest in more than seven years after the Federal Reserve said stocks and asset prices could suffer a significant hit from the coronavirus pandemic, and warned the process of economic recovery may stretch through until the end of next year.Commercial real estate could be among the hardest-hit industries should the health crisis deepen, the U.S. central bank said in its twice-yearly financial stability report Friday. Separately, Chairman Jerome Powell said in an interview with CBS that a full recovery of the U.S. economy could drag through 2021 and depends on the delivery of a vaccine.Bullion has surged 16% this year as the spread of the virus curbed economic growth, roiled markets, and prompted vast amounts of stimulus to be unleashed by governments and central banks. Further bolstering the case for the metal has been recent speculation U.S. interest could go negative, while holdings in gold-backed...
May.17 -- Jane Golley, director of the Australian Centre on China in the World at Australian National University, discusses the rising tensions between the two countries. After Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government last month initiated calls for an independent probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, Beijing responded by claiming Australia was doing U.S. President Donald Trump’s bidding. Golley speaks on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia."...
(Bloomberg) -- SoftBank Group Corp. doubled the amount it plans to spend buying back shares and announced changes to its board, including the resignation of long-time director Jack Ma.The company plans to repurchase as much as 500 billion yen ($4.7 billion) worth of its own stock by March 2021, it said in a statement. That’s on top of an equally sized re-purchase it had announced in mid-March.The Tokyo-based company also announced several changes to its board, including the departure of Ma, the co-founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Three new directors have been nominated, including Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto. SoftBank shares rose about 1%.SoftBank, led by founder Masayoshi Son, is buying back shares to bolster its stock price after its portfolio of startup investments lost value. The company expects to book a record 1.35 trillion yen operating loss for the year ended March 31 when it reports financial results Monday...
