Business

___ US jobless rate sinks to 4.2% as many more people find jobs WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s unemployment rate tumbled last month to its lowest point since the pandemic struck, even as employers appeared to slow their hiring — a mixed picture that pointed to a resilient economy that’s putting more people to work. The government reported Friday that private businesses and other employers added just 210,000 jobs in November, the weakest monthly gain in nearly a year and less than half of October’s gain of 546,000. ___ Growth in US service sector reaches new heights in November WASHINGTON (AP) — Growth in the services sector, where most Americans work, hit an all-time high in November, surpassing the previous record set in October. The Institute for Supply Management reported Friday that its monthly survey of service industries increased by 2.4 percentage points in November from October record to a reading of 69.1 percent. Some of the strength in the services sector is …

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India’s services sector activity expanded at the second-fastest pace in more than a decade during November, driven by sustained rise in new work and improvement in market conditions, a monthly survey said on Friday. The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index was at 58.1 in November, fractionally down from 58.4 in October. The November figure points to the second-fastest rise in output since July 2011. For the fourth straight month, the services sector witnessed an expansion in output. In Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) parlance, a print above 50 means expansion while a score below 50 denotes contraction. “The recovery of the Indian service sector was extended to November, with a robust improvement in sales enabling the second-fastest rise in business activity in nearly ten-and-a-half years,” Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at IHS Markit, said. Although companies forecast higher business activity volumes over the course of the coming year, …

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KUALA LUMPUR: PhillipCapital Group has announced that its derivatives broking arm in Malaysia, Phillip Futures Sdn Bhd has entered into a business sale and purchase agreement with Alliance Investment Bank Bhd for the purchase of the bank’s stockbroking business. This corporate exercise has received conditional approval from Bank Negara and the Securities Commission. Lam Choon Jin, executive director of Phillip Futures shared that “this exercise will allow Phillip Futures to expand its Futures, Options and Contract for Difference (CFDs) broking services to include stocks and exchange traded funds to the Malaysian investors.” Under the corporate exercise, Phillip Futures will enter a strategic partnership arrangement with Alliance Bank (M) Bhd, the holding company of Alliance Investment Bank to enable Alliance Bank to enhance its services to its customers by leveraging PhillipCapital’s global trading platforms and market access. Concurrently, both parties will proactively explore …

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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s digital economy growth is gaining traction with e-commerce income rising close to US$190bil (RM803bil), an increase of 23%, for the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period last year. Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said digitalisation has always been of strategic importance to Malaysia as it seeks inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In 2020, Malaysia’s digital economy made up 22% of gross domestic product and is expected to generate around 500,000 jobs by 2025. “So we are approaching digitalisation strategically, we have collaboration with the private sector, incentivising people to go digital as well as providing grants and assistance to smaller businesses so that they can benefit from e-payments and expand their customer reach on e-platforms,” he said in a virtual Infinity Forum on the Bloomberg terminal. In line with this, he said Malaysia has also seen digital payment solutions grow significantly last …

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HONG KONG: Just five months after its debut, ride-hailing giant Didi Global said it plans to withdraw from the New York Stock Exchange and pursue a Hong Kong listing, a stunning reversal as it bends to Chinese regulators angered by its U.S. IPO. Reaction from investors was swift: the company's shares fell 22.17%, losing about $8.4 billion in market value. At their Friday close of $6.07, Didi shares have fallen about 57% since their June 30 IPO price. "Following careful research, the company will immediately start delisting on the New York stock exchange and start preparations for listing in Hong Kong," Didi said on its Twitter-like Weibo account. Didi did not elaborate but said in a separate statement it would organize a shareholder vote at an appropriate time and ensure its New York-listed stock would be convertible into "freely tradable shares" on another globally recognized exchange. Market participants said the decision ramps up uncertainty for investors in U.S.-listed …

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In a major move, American banking company Citigroup announced on Thursday that it will be exiting 13 international consumer banking markets, including India and China as part of its global strategy. The company said it will focus its global consumer banking business on four markets: Singapore, Hong Kong, London and the United Arab Emirates. India Impact Citi India’s Chief Executive Ashu Khullar has assured that there will be no immediate impact of the decision on its employees and operations in India. “There is no immediate change to our operations and no immediate impact to our colleagues as a result of this announcement. In the interim, we will continue to serve our clients with the same care, empathy and dedication that we do today," he told PTI. However, the company has said that it has begun looking for a buyer, officials told Moneycontrol.com. “Citi is not closing down its consumer business here, but only exiting. There will not be any impact on the existing customers …

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Pune-based upskilling start-up Vani.Coach, which helps enterprises enhance their employees’ ‘communication fitness’, especially in the post-pandemic digital communication world, plans to raise $2 million to fund expansion plans. The B2B firm started operation about six-months back and counts companies such as L&T, Lupin, CEAT, Cipla, Reckitt Benckiser and Kotak Mahindra Bank as its clients. “We have a little under 2,000 active users currently. We are looking to sign up about 18,000-20,000 people by the end of March 2022. Subsequently, next year we are aiming at 1,50,000 people and 1.5 million users by 2025,” Ashish Jha, Co-founder and CEO, Vani.Coach, said. Vani.Coach is a “tech plus human” mobile application. When an employee/user downloads the application, they are assigned a human coach, who through a one-on-one interaction evaluates them and sets a goal and roadmap for each individual user. “The training content is personalised based on each user’s industry and personal …

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Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 262 points in early trade on December 3, tracking gains in index majors Infosys, ICICI Bank and HDFC amid mixed cues from Asian markets. The 30-share index was trading 262.86 points or 0.45% higher at 58,724.15 in initial deals. Similarly, the Nifty rose 68.45 points or 0.39% to 17,470.10. Infosys was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 1.86%, followed by L&T, Axis Bank, NTPC, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, M&M and HDFC. On the other hand, Nestle India, Dr. Reddy’s, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto and Asian Paints were among the losers. In the previous session, the 30-share equity benchmark soared 776.50 points or 1.35% to finish at 58,461.29. On similar lines, the NSE Nifty surged 234.75 points or 1.37% to 17,401.65. Also Read Business news live | Musk sells Tesla shares worth $1.01 billion Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong and Tokyo were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Shanghai and Seoul …

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The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki on Thursday said it will increase the prices of its vehicles next month. While the company did not share the quantum of increase planned, it said it will vary for different models. “Over the past year, the cost of the company’s vehicles continue to be adversely impacted due to an increase in various input costs. Therefore, it has become imperative for the company to pass on some impact of the above additional costs to customers through a price hike,” the company said in a communique to the stock exchanges. It added that the price rise had been planned for January. Maruti Suzuki has undertaken multiple price hikes in 2021 with the total increase in vehicle prices amounting to about 5%. Separately, German luxury carmaker Audi announced a price increase of up to 3% across its entire model range owing to rising input and operational costs. “The Audi India strategy focuses on a sustainable business model,” said Balbir Singh Dhillon, …

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Friday, Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) weighed in on the Trump-era Remain in Mexico policy that has been reinstated. Although the policy is supposed to go into effect on Monday, Fox Business Network “Mornings with Maria” host Maria Bartiromo noted that some at the border don’t think President Joe Biden would actually enforce it. Gonzales said the Biden administration would enforce the policy “because they have to.” “I think it’s good news that the Biden administration is finally looking at the Trump Remain in Mexico policy that worked,” Gonzales outlined. “I think that’s a good step in the right direction. This is also about House leadership, House Republican leadership. Under Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, the House Republicans have pushed hard on this Remain in Mexico policy, but we can’t stop now. We’ve got to make sure that they do roll it out. We’ve had over 100 members of our caucus go to the border. You yourself were at the border to see it firsthand. We need to bring …

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