COST Financial News

Indian American has been arrested in New Jersey on charge of being part of a technical support scam that targeted more than 7,000 victims defrauding them of more than USD 13 million, a US Attorney announced Thursday. Charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Manoj Yadav appeared before US Magistrate Judge Jose R.

Manufacturing activity in Asia’s major export powerhouses slumped further in August as weak demand persisted in the region’s key trade markets, particularly in China. Factories in North Asia experienced weaker new orders, output and export sales, according to manufacturing purchasing managers’ surveys published Friday by S&P Global and au Jibun Bank. The purchasing managers’ index for trade bellwether Taiwan was little changed at a subdued level of 44.3 last month from 44.1 in July, while South Korea’s gauge slumped to 48.9 from 49.4 during the same period. Seoul reported a similarly gloomy reading on industrial production on Thursday, showing a bigger-than-expected drop in July, marking its longest stretch of output decline yet. Japan’s PMI was unchanged at 49.6, below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction.Southeast Asia, which until recently was a bright spot, showed the weak sentiment was rubbing off on factories in the region.

Saugata Bhattacharya, Chief Economist, Axis Bank, says “manufacturing, if it actually stalls, in addition to the agricultural uncertainty, given the low rains that we have seen in August, might actually pull GDP growth even lower than the 6.2% that we have been expecting and forecasting for Q2. That is likely to pull down overall annual growth for GDP from our current estimates of 6.4% to 6.3 or 6.2%.”Is the GDP number, in line with your expectations?Very much in line with our expectations. We had expected 7.9%.

A former boss of Australia’s competition regulator says big ASX-listed companies with too much market power have “taken advantage” of the sharp rise in inflation to aggressively lift prices which has led to a supercharging of profits.

Gold rose on Friday and was poised for a second straight weekly gain, helped by diminished chances of U.S. interest rate hikes this year after a data-filled week that concludes with the pivotal jobs report later in the day. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold gained 0.2% to $1,942.56 per ounce by 0130 GMT, looking set for a more than 1% weekly gain after prices touched one-month highs on Wednesday.

rising wages. The yen has come under pressure in recent months, weighed by the Bank of Japan's ultra-loose monetary policy, which has in turn inflated the costs of imported goods. The final au Jibun Bank Japan manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) was at 49.6, unchanged from the previous month and slightly down from the flash reading of 49.7. It was the third month the index has come in below the 50.0 threshold that separates growth from contraction. Output and new orders, which contribute the most to the headline figure, remained in contraction, although the reduction in orders was slower than in July, data by S&P Global Market Intelligence showed. Input cost inflation re-accelerated for the first time since September, while output price inflation slowed, squeezing companies' profits. Rising wages also fuelled cost pressures, according to the survey, with the subindex for employment showing the weakest growth in 29 months. «Firms noted that the filling of existing vacancies due to staff shortages were offset by a number of voluntary resignations as staff looked for higher paying jobs,» said S&P's Usamah Bhatti. The soft PMI reading comes a day after government data showed Japanese factory output falling more than expected in July, dented by weak demand for capital goods and electronic devices in China.

mutual fund (MF) houses are busy launching new schemes. At least six MF houses new fund offers (NFOs) will close this month. Navi S&P BSE Sensex Index Fund, Shriram Multi Asset Allocation Fund NFOs will close today, while Quant Teck Fund, Quant Teck Fund, WhiteOak Capital Multi Cap Fund, and DSP Multi Asset Allocation Fund NFOs will close later this month.

LPG) from 15% to zero. The LPG imported by private companies used to attract 15% import duty and 15% agri and infra cess. The new rates will be effective from September 1, a Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs notification said. On July 1, the government had raised the basic customs duty on domestic LPG cylinders to 15% from 5%.

Google Doodle on Friday celebrated Singapore's first presidential elections in over a decade with a special illustration. The elections to the largely ceremonious position are being viewed as a show of support for the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) amidst a rising cost of living crisis and rare political scandals. The incumbent, Halimah Yacob, ran unopposed for her six-year term in 2017, but the election to replace her is a three-way contest between former deputy prime minister and finance minister in the PAP government, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and two political outsiders.

G20 summit. Also read: ‘G20 leaders are going to ask…’: Rahul Gandhi attacks PM Modi on OCCRP allegations against Adani Group The Treasury said Yellen also will rally America's G20 allies to maintain economic support for Ukraine and increase costs on Russia over Moscow's continuing war in Ukraine. This includes supporting the G7-led price cap on Russian oil exports and efforts to strengthen global food security in the face of restrictions on Ukrainian grain exports.

An inflation gauge closely tracked by the Federal Reserve remained low last month, adding to signs of cooling price increases and raising the likelihood that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged when it next meets in late September

RBI) liberalisation of borrowing for Infrastructure Debt Funds is unlikely to infuse much life into the industry unless the central bank allows the funds to borrow cash for the short term and not expressly tie borrowings with the asset profiles financed by the debt. The industry neither wants the RBI to enforce curbs on borrowing maturity profiles, nor regulate asset-liability management. Last month, the RBI relaxed IDF norms by allowing them access to funds through the issue of rupee or dollar-denominated bonds of a minimum five-year maturity. While IDF-NBFCs can now raise funds through the loan route under external commercial borrowings (ECBs) with a requirement for a minimum tenor of five years, these loans cannot be sourced from foreign branches of Indian banks, fund managers are not enthused. The industry wants RBI to not impose controls on IDF maturity or regulate asset and liability management (ALM) for them.

With the City of Sydney council voting last week to consider banning gas connections to new homes, it is now heading down the path of the Victorian and ACT governments which have already flagged a ban on all new gas hook-ups.

Food ads have long made their subjects look bigger, juicier and crispier than they are in real life

Orsted, the global wind energy developer, says its first offshore wind farm in New Jersey will be delayed until 2026

Australian solar innovator SunDrive is determined to build Australia into a solar power manufacturing powerhouse with the help of heavyweight investors in its corner.

energy storage technologies has taken on a relevance that has never been witnessed in the ever-changing environment of renewable energy adoption. Energy storage systems' durability and dependability, a crucial aspect that depends on batteries' toughness, are at the core of the matter.

Future Retail (FRL) have put to vote the sole plan to take over the company by Space Mantra, promoted by former NBCC chairman Anoop Kumar Mittal, even as they are uncomfortable with the poor offer for what was once a leader in India's retail market. On Thursday, the committee of creditors (CoC) extended the timeline for voting to September 7 from August 31 as some lenders wanted more time to get internal approvals from their top management. Lenders are closely weighing their options with some preferring liquidation of the company rather than assigning the debt for next to nothing. «The offer is very close to the liquidation value and some lenders are uncomfortable with selling it so cheap but our choices are limited.

By Clara Denina and Sarah McFarlane

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

MUMBAI : The once-booming startup ecosystem in India is facing a much more severe job crisis than expected. According to staffing firms and headhunters, lay-offs at new-age businesses are estimated to be at least three times higher than publicly disclosed. In the past 24 months alone, more than 1,400 companies have handed out pink slips to around 91,000 employees.