Town Hall News

(Reuters) – Standard Chartered is starting to lay off employees across its Singapore, London, and Hong Kong hubs as part of its existing plan to cut costs by more than $1 billion through 2024, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. The total reductions could be more than 100, although a final number has yet to be decided, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. (Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in […]

By Kantaro Komiya TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s economy grew more than initially thought in January-March, revised data showed on Thursday, as a post-pandemic pickup in domestic spending and company restocking helped offset the hit to exports from slowing global demand. With inflation running at a four-decade high, further growth in the world’s third-largest economy will depend on sustained wage hikes, which the Bank of Japan and the government regard as […]

By Rae Wee SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar was on the back foot on Thursday, though it drew some support from higher U.S. Treasury yields as traders contemplated the possibility of another rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve, even if it pauses next week. The increased expectations that U.S. and global interest rates may have further to rise has come on the back of surprise rate increases by the […]

(Reuters) – Air India said on Thursday that its replacement flight has taken off from Russia’s Magadan for San Francisco, carrying all passengers and crew. The flight is expected to arrive at San Francisco at 12:15 a.m. PDT (0715 GMT) on Thursday, the airline said in a tweet. Air India has mobilised additional support at San Francisco airport to carry out clearance formalities for passengers upon arrival, the tweet added. […]

By Shrivathsa Sridhar PARIS (Reuters) -Alexander Zverev returned to the semi-finals of the French Open on Wednesday a year after leaving Roland Garros in a wheelchair, while defending champion Iga Swiatek also maintained her quest for a third title in four years. Zverev had suffered a season-ending ankle injury in his last-four match against eventual champion Rafa Nadal on Court Philippe Chatrier in 2022 and had surgery, but complications later […]

By Takaya Yamaguchi and Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan is committed to putting economic growth before fiscal reform, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government said in its draft mid-year policy framework, while signalling an end to crisis-mode stimulus spending to return to one in “peacetime”. The draft plan, which was presented at Kishida’s top economic advisory panel on Wednesday, underscored the challenge for the leader, who is seen as a […]

By Joe Cash BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s exports shrank much faster than expected in May while imports extended declines with a grim outlook for global demand, especially from developed markets, raising doubts about the fragile economic recovery. The world’s second-largest economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter thanks to robust services consumption and a backlog of orders following years of COVID disruptions, but factory output has slowed as rising […]

By Kantaro Komiya TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s economy grew more than initially thought in January-March, revised data showed on Thursday, as a post-pandemic pickup in corporate and consumer spending helped offset the hit to exports from slowing global demand. With inflation running at a four-decade high, further growth in the world’s third-largest economy will depend on sustained wage hikes, which the Bank of Japan and the government regard as core […]

By Frank Pingue (Reuters) – The announcement that the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf will merge under common ownership will go down as one of the most consequential moments in the sport’s history but there is plenty of uncertainty about how it will impact the game. After over a year of discord, the rival circuits announced a shock truce on Tuesday that will see the Saudi Arabia […]