Business

India and China are working closely on common trade concerns, including cooperation in buying oil and gas, against the backdrop of a US squeeze through tariffs and sanctions on Iranian oil imports, officials with direct knowledge of the matter said. Efforts have been made by the world’s second- and third-largest oil importers to find common ground and energy cooperation is ...

Shares in India’s second-largest airline Jet Airways jumped almost three percent Wednesday following reports that salt-to-steel conglomerate Tata Group might invest in it.   Tata is reviewing Jet’s accounts with a view to potentially buying a stake, Bloomberg News reported, while on Tuesday the Mint daily said Tata’s finance chief and Jet’s chairman were leading the talks.  A spokesperson for ...

A China-backed bid to complete the world’s largest trade deal — without the United States — was pushed back to next year after Asia-Pacific trade ministers failed to agree key terms at a Singapore summit.   The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), covering half the world’s population, is billed as an antidote to President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda, which ...

After years of low, low prices, fed by near-zero interest rates in a convalescing economy, Americans are waking up to costlier consumer living. Everyday household staples like diapers, toothpaste, shampoo and dishwashing liquid — not to mention soft drinks, cookies, chocolate, cat litter and autos — have all started getting more expensive, a trend expected to continue early next year. ...

Expatriate Bangladeshis sent US$ 5,108 million remittances during the first four months of the current fiscal 2018-19, which is apparent 12.17 per cent higher than the same period of the preceding year, a Bangladesh Bank (BB) data said today. The country received US$4,553.79 million remittances during July to October in 2017-18 financial year, the data added.   “The flow of ...

The boss of struggling Toshiba said Thursday he would cut 7,000 jobs over the next five years as the Japanese engineering firm pulled out of foreign investments and downgraded its annual profit forecasts.   Toshiba also expects to scrap or consolidate some factories and reduce its subsidiaries by 25 percent — announcing the withdrawal from a US-based liquid natural gas ...

Asian markets enjoyed another rally on Friday after Donald Trump hailed positive talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and a report said he had asked officials to draw up a draft bill as he eyes a potential trade deal between the two.   Hong Kong jumped almost four percent in the afternoon, while Shanghai and the yuan soared as dealers ...

China says it will allow trading in products made from endangered tigers and rhinos under “special circumstances,” reversing a previous ban and bringing condemnation from conservation groups. A notice from the Cabinet issued Monday avoided mentioning any change in the law, saying instead that it would “control” the trade and that rhino horns and tiger bones could only be obtained ...

IBM announced Sunday it will acquire North Carolina-based open-source software company Red Hat in a $34 billion stock deal that the technology and consulting giant’s chief executive says will advance the company to the next step in cloud computing.   IBM and Raleigh-based Red Hat said in a joint statement that IBM would buy all Red Hat common shares at ...

The leaders of Japan and India are reaffirming their ties amid growing worries about trade and regional stability.   Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived Saturday, was meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a resort area near Mount Fuji on Sunday. Modi is also visiting a nearby plant of major Japanese robot maker Fanuc.   Relations with China ...