July’s sales in China of alternative-fuel vehicles, including hybrids, all-electrics, and hydrogen fuel-cell cars and trucks, jumped 164 percent year over year to 271,000 units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported. Those vehicles made up 10 percent of all passenger vehicles sold in China for the month, even though wholesale deliveries sank 12 percent...
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CHINA’S CONSUMER ECONOMY LOSING MOMENTUM
China’s retail sales gained 8.5 percent in July from a year earlier, disappointing analysts polled by Reuters who had forecast a median rise of 11.5 percent, CNBC reported. “The impact of multiple factors including the growing external uncertainties and the domestic COVID-19 epidemic and flooding situation” around China weakened consumer spending, the National Bureau of...
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SHIPPER BOOKS TENFOLD INCREASE IN NET PROFITS
Global shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd reported a tenfold increase in net profits during this year’s first six months, year over year, to €2.7 billion, almost triple the company’s net profit of €977 million booked over the past ten years, the Financial Times reported. Shipping costs have skyrocketed over the past 16 months as containers have been...
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SKIES NOT CLEARING FOR CATHAY PACIFIC
Due to “restrictions and quarantine requirements in Hong Kong and many of our key markets,” Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific airline, a carrier with no domestic market, is unable to predict when its financial troubles will end and must wait for other countries, especially China, to reopen their borders to travelers, board chair Patrick Healy said...
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COVID WAR 2.O HITS ASIAN EQUITIES
Asian share prices fared less well than Europe’s as the Delta variant has spread through the region, largely under the weight of China’s new restrictions on movement. In addition to cracking down on its tech sector, China also had imposed a “zero tolerance” policy regarding COVID’s Delta version, which spurred authorities to close down one...
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EUROPEAN STOCKS LOG RECORD RUN
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index gained another 0.2 percent on 13 August to notch its 10th consecutive record high in as many sessions, a record unmatched since at least 1990, the Financial Times reported. Consumer and financial stocks led gainers. Earnings reports on the continent so far have averaged 11 percent above expectations, according...
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IEA SLASHES OIL OUTLOOK FOR REST OF 2021
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has cut 550,000 barrels a day from its forecast for global oil use for the rest of this year, as several major oil-importing countries imposed new restrictions and lockdowns in attempts to control the COVID virus’s Delta variant, the Financial Times reported. The world will burn an average of 96.2...
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GAS STATION OWNERS SKEPTICAL OF EV BOOM
Gas station owners have begun to weigh the cost of installing fast charging stations—typically costing at least $100,000—for electric vehicles (EVs) against the risk of sitting pat on a fading technology: the petrol-powered vehicle. The prime market for chargers is the nation’s 121,000 convenience stores that now sell gasoline and diesel, The Wall Street Journal...
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STATE STREET QUITS TWO MANHATTAN OFFICES
State Street, a $12-billion banking and financial services firm with $3.5 trillion under management, is vacating its two offices in midtown Manhattan as it allows employees to work from home much of the time. The change frees about 500 employees from a daily commute, CNN Business reported. The company is adding a shared workspace in...
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SOUTHWEST AIRLINES LOWERS FORECAST
With ticket sales slipping and cancellations climbing with the surging rate of COVID cases, Southwest Airlines no longer expects to make a profit in this year’s third quarter, despite turning a profit in July, the airline said in a statement. The revised outlook is a dramatic change from earlier this summer, when several airlines reported...