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Members of the public are seen shopping for Black Friday deals in Glasgow, Scotland. Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesLONDON — British businesses lost steam and pulled back on hiring last month, as industry reacted to the Labour government’s bumper tax-raising budget, new data showed Monday.Business confidence in the U.K. fell in November to its lowest level since January 2023, fresh data from business advisory and accountancy firm BDO showed.BDO’s Optimism Index fell 5.81 points on the month to 93.49, marking the biggest month-on-month decline since August 2021.The fall — which was recorded across both the services and manufacturing sectors…

Korea stocks drop as impeachment vote fails; China eases monetary policy stance, vows more fiscal spending; US Bitcoin ETF inflows near US$10 billion since Trump election win.Synopsis: Market Focus Daily is a closing bell roundup by The Business Times that looks at the day’s market movements and news from Singapore and the region.Written and hosted by: Emily Liu ([email protected])Recording engineer: Chai Pei ChiehProduced and edited by: Claressa MonteiroProduced by: BT Podcasts, The Business Times, SPH MediaBT in your inboxStart and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.—Follow BT Market Focus and rate…

A multi-stage relaunch begins with the Seamless phase, introducing unified asset management, streamlined airdrop access, a $5M airdrop celebration, and a sleek new design DUBAI, UAE, Dec. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Binance, the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem behind the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and users, today announced the relaunch of the Binance Wallet (formerly Binance Web3 Wallet) to make Web3 more accessible, intuitive, and integrated into the daily lives of users worldwide. The relaunch will be rolled out in several stages over the coming months, with each phase introducing a unique theme to address key challenges in Web3…

Newsweek’s 2025 ranking of America’s Most Responsible Companies highlights the growing importance of corporate responsibility in consumer decisions. This annual list evaluates 600 top U.S. companies across 14 industries based on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance, with leading names like Mastercard, Humana, Intel, and Target setting high standards.  Key ESG metrics assessed include carbon emissions, diversity, labor practices, and financial stability. Companies are scored based on environmental transparency, such as reporting on Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and their commitment to science-based carbon neutral strategies. Social factors like gender pay equity, LGBTQ+ support, employee turnover, and board…

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia’s Tenaga Nasional (TNB), a government-owned integrated power utility company, and Singapore’s licensed electricity importer, Sembcorp Power, have signed an agreement to supply renewable energy to Singapore. The first phase involves 50 megawatts (MW) of renewable-energy exports to Singapore, and will commence this month, Malaysia’s Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation said in a statement on Monday (Dec 9).Under the supply agreement, TNB will deliver the electricity to Singapore via Sembcorp Power, using the existing infrastructure between the two countries.Overall, the renewable energy export programme to Singapore has a total capacity of 300 MW.The inaugural renewable-energy supply from…

In this article, we reflect on current financing needs and how COP29’s key results1 are of relevance to our clients investing in the energy, infrastructure and natural resources sectors.What is driving current financing needs?Each country’s ambition to reduce emissions is reflected in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) which includes both unconditional contributions based on domestic capabilities, and conditional contributions that are achievable with international support (including financial support). The latest report tabled at COP29 shows that current overall NDCs would reduce emissions on average by 2.6% in 2030 compared to 2019. Without conditional contributions, emissions would actually be 0.8% higher…

New York-headquartered BNY has announced the appointment of a global markets trading head for Asia Pacific. BNY has appointed Ashvin Parkash as head of global markets trading for Asia Pacific, according to a statement. Based in Singapore, he will report to head of global markets trading Jason Vitale and head of markets international Nelius De Groot. Parkash has 25 years of industry experience, most recently at Nomura where he was responsible for electronic distribution across fixed income and FX. Previously, he also worked at BNP Paribas, Citibank and Lehman Brothers. «APAC continues to present real opportunities for our business, as…

The cryptocurrency landscape in 2025 has been dramatically reshaped by Trump’s unexpected … [+] endorsement and surging Bitcoin prices nearing $100,000.Adobe Stock Bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrency were all hot topic trends a few years back. But technology waits for no one, and with all the hype around AI, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s been forgotten. Not so. In fact, those who have been keeping up with the news will have noticed that there’s been a resurgence of interest in the decentralized digital currency and the revolutionary distributed ledger technology that it’s built on. So why is this? What impact…

This article is an on-site version of our Unhedged newsletter. Premium subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered every weekday. Standard subscribers can upgrade to Premium here, or explore all FT newslettersGood morning. Friday’s jobs report was middling-to-solid: 227,500 jobs were added in November, and the October number was revised up to 36,000 from 12,000. The unemployment rate ticked up a little, to 4.2 per cent from 4.1. The market took this all as a sign that the Fed will, indeed, cut the policy rate by 25 basis points later this month. The jury is still out…

      The global financial stage is undergoing a subtle yet profound transformation as the Federal Reserve System (the Fed) in the United States shifts gears with a new phase of monetary easing. The Fed’s 50-basis-point rate cut this past September marks a strategic pivot aimed at a more challenging economic environment. This decision has already begun to reshape global capital flows, especially those targeting emerging markets (EMs). With investors continuously on the hunt for better yields, the relative attractiveness of EM debt and equity markets has surged. As interest rate differentials (IRDs) between the United States and EMs…