Business

SYDNEY: Australia’s central bank held interest rates at a record low on Tuesday even as the economy grows strongly, with officials taking into account soft inflation figures and weak wages growth. The cash rate has been unchanged at 1.50 percent since the Reserve Bank of Australia last cut it in ...

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s central bank surprised the market on Tuesday by leaving its key policy rates unchanged, despite heavy pressure on the rupee currency and foreign outflows from government securities. The central bank kept the standing lending facility rate (SLFR) at 8.50 percent and standing deposit facility rate (SDFR) at ...

TOKYO: The benchmark Nikkei average gained further ground and closed at the highest level in almost 27 years on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, supported by the yen’s drop against the dollar. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 125.72 points, or 0.52 percent, to end at 24,245.76, the best closing since Nov. ...

  WASHINGTON: The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Saturday carmaker Tesla and Chief Executive Elon Musk had agreed to pay $20 million each under a settlement that will also see the billionaire step down as chairman after a tumultuous two months for the company. But Musk, who is ...

  NEW DELHI: State police have arrested two constables in northern India over the fatal shooting of an Apple employee in an incident during a routine patrol. Vivek Tiwari, a sales manager for Apple, was shot dead early on Saturday by a police constable in the Gomti Nagar neighborhood in ...

TORONTO: Canadian and US negotiators reached a deal late Sunday on reforming the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Canadian media reported, after more than a year of talks triggered by US President Donald Trump’s discontent with the 24-year old pact. CTV cited a high-level American source as saying the ...

Two of Hong Kong ‘s biggest banks raised their lending rates on Thursday for the first time in 12 years, ending an age of cheap cash that could hit the city’s famously red-hot property market. The moves by HSBC and Standard Chartered came after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority – ...

MOSCOW: Pakistani and Russian officials signed a historic $10-billion offshore gas pipeline agreement in Moscow. Inter State Gas Systems (ISGS), a state-owned Pakistani company, will work alongside Russia’s energy giant Gazprom, to execute the multibillion-dollar project. According to the agreement, Pakistan will import some 500 million to 1 billion cubic ...

NEW YORK :McDonald’s USA announced that its iconic burgers, including the Big Mac and the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, no longer have artificial preservatives, artificial flavours or added colors from artificial sources. Only the pickle slices still contain an artificial preservative, the American fast food giant said, noting that “customers ...

LAHORE: Uber, one of the biggest names in ride-hailing services worldwide, is hoping to transform the way people commute every day. To accomplish this, the company is eyeing flying cars as the next big step as part of its ‘Uber Elevate’ premier technology platform. What significance does this news have ...