Business

NEW DELHI: New Indian e-commerce rules will raise costs for all online retailers but particularly Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart as they may have to review their business structures, senior industry sources told Reuters. India's Ministry of Consumer Affairs outlined plans on Monday which include limiting "flash sales" by online retailers, reining in a private label push, compelling them to appoint compliance officers and impose a "fall-back liability" if a seller is negligent. The new rules are expected to have an impact across the board in an e-retail market India forecasts will be worth US$200 billion by 2026, with players including from Tata's BigBasket, Reliance Industries' JioMart and Softbank-backed Snapdeal to market leaders Amazon and Flipkart. The rules are the latest in a growing confrontation https://www.reuters.com/world/india/frequent-run-ins-with-india-govt-cloud-us-tech-expansion-plans-2021-06-11 between U.S. tech giants and New Delhi over a host of ... » Learn More about Analysis: India e-commerce rules cast cloud over Amazon, Walmart and local rivals

BRUSSELS: Google was in the EU antitrust spotlight again on Tuesday as regulators opened an investigation into whether its digital advertising business gives the Alphabet unit an unfair advantage over rivals and advertisers. The European Union competition enforcer's move marks a new front against Google and follows more than 8 billion euros (US$9.5 billion) in fines over the past decade for blocking rivals in online shopping, Android smartphones and online advertising. The European Commission said it would investigate whether Google distorts competition by restricting third party access to user data for advertising purposes on websites and apps, while reserving such data for its own use. "We are concerned that Google has made it harder for rival online advertising services to compete in the so-called ad tech stack," European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. Google generated US$147 billion in revenue from online ads last year, more than any ... » Learn More about Google in EU crosshairs again with advertising antitrust inquiry

CARACAS: Venezuelan food delivery driver Pablo Toro has no stake in cryptocurrency or blockchain, but indirectly uses digital tokens every time he sends money to his family. Toro, who emigrated to Colombia in 2019, uses an app called Valiu to receive Colombian pesos from working on Bogota's streets and deposit the corresponding bolivars into a Venezuelan bank account. In Venezuela's economy, mired by hyperinflation and hemmed in by sanctions, the operation is not so straightforward. Valiu uses pesos to buy cryptocurrency that it then sells on LocalBitcoins, a global peer-to-peer site for trading tokens in local currencies. For Toro, the platform is more reliable than informal money changers, the main channel for Venezuelan migrants to send money home. And he need not buy traditional money orders in person. "When the power is out in Venezuela, when internet service is down, it has a huge impact on how long it takes to send a remittance to one's family," said Toro, who quit ... » Learn More about As Venezuela’s economy regresses, crypto fills the gaps

REUTERS: China's Full Truck Alliance Co Ltd raised nearly US$1.6 billion through a U.S. initial public offering on Tuesday, giving it a valuation of around US$20.6 billion and marking another high-profile Chinese float in New York this year. The company, which styles itself as the "Uber for trucks", sold 82.5 million American depositary shares (ADS) at US$19 per ADS, the upper end of its target range of US$17 and US$19 per ADS. Each ADS represents 20 Class A ordinary shares. Backed by high-profile investors such as SoftBank's Vision Fund and Tencent Holdings, Full Truck Alliance was formed in 2017 out of a merger between Chinese digital freight platforms Yunmanman and Huochebang. The company runs a mobile app that connects truck drivers to people that need to ship items within China. It is set to debut on the New York Stock Exchange later on Tuesday and will trade under the ticker symbol "YMM". Several richly valued Chinese tech startups have targeted IPOs in the United ... » Learn More about China’s Full truck Alliance raises US$1.6 billion in US IPO

LONDON/WASHINGTON: World shares struggled to extend a bounce off four-week lows on Tuesday, oil prices flirted with their highest levels over two years, while indecisive bond markets flip-flopped on inflation and interest rate moves. Wall Street opened to mixed results after posting strong gains Monday, regaining ground lost the week prior. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 42.43 points, or 0.13per cent in early trading, while the S&P 500 lost 0.02per cent and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.04per cent. The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 45 nations, was up by 0.14per cent. All eyes are on Fed chief Jerome Powell who appears before the U.S. Congress from 1800 GMT, as investors eyeing the second half of the year juggle his vow to keep up monetary stimulus while the job market recovers with data showing inflation on the rise and Fed officials projecting rate hikes sooner than once thought. "As the cycle evolves, investors will increasingly divert their ... » Learn More about Shares tread water as investors await Powell testimony

LONDON: Hedge funds have rarely been more bullish about the outlook for oil in the last three years, even as prices have climbed to levels that have induced a strong response from producers in the past. Hedge funds and other money managers purchased the equivalent of 26 million barrels in the six most important petroleum futures and options contracts in the week to June 15, according to exchange and regulatory data. Last week's purchases were focused on Brent (+22 million barrels) and NYMEX and ICE WTI (+9 million), with small buying in European gas oil (+4 million), although there were sales of U.S. diesel (-1 million) and U.S. gasoline (-8 million). The combined position rose to 945 million barrels, only exceeded twice in the last 140 weeks – at the end of 2019 and start of 2020 after the trade truce between China and the United States but before the pandemic. Net positions in both crude (746 million barrels) and products (199 million barrels) were in the 83rd-84th ... » Learn More about Column – Oil bulls bet on restraint by OPEC+ and US shale firms: Kemp

DUBAI: Iranian police have seized 7,000 computer miners at an illegal cryptocurrency farm, their largest haul to date of the energy-guzzling machines that have exacerbated power outages in Iran, state media reported on Tuesday. In late May, Iran banned the mining of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for nearly four months as part of efforts to reduce the incidence of power blackouts blamed by officials on surging electricity demand during the searingly hot and dry summer. Tehran police chief General Hossein Rahimi said the 7,000 computer miners were seized in an abandoned factory in the west of the capital, the state news agency IRNA reported. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are created through a process known as mining, where powerful computers compete with each other to solve complex mathematical problems. The process is highly energy-intensive, often relying on electricity generated by fossil fuels, which are abundant in Iran. According to blockchain analytics firm ... » Learn More about Iran seizes 7,000 cryptocurrency computer miners, largest haul to date

NEW YORK: The dollar edged higher on Tuesday before Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will testify before Congress, with investors anxious to see whether Powell pushes back against the view that the Fed is likely to raise rates sooner than previously expected as inflation rises. The dollar has surged since the U.S. central bank on Wednesday said that policymakers are forecasting two rate hikes in 2023. That led investors to re-evaluate bets that the U.S. central bank will let inflation run at higher levels for a longer time before hiking rates. “I think today Powell is going to be able to reset his message,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York. “Investors want to get a better view to see whether or not Powell does pull back a little bit of that extra hawkishness that we got last week.” The dollar index gained 0.11per cent to 91.998, but is holding below a two-month high of 92.408 reached on Friday. The euro fell 0.09per cent to US$1.1906 and the ... » Learn More about Dollar edges higher before Powell; Bitcoin drops

REUTERS: Chinese online grocery startup Missfresh Ltd is planning to raise as much as US$336 million from its US initial public offering, which is expected to value the company at up to US$3.8 billion at the top end of the range. Missfresh, which is backed by an affiliate of Chinese gaming and social media giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, is offering 21 million American Depositary Shares (ADSs) at a price range of between US$13 and US$16 each. Founded in 2014, Missfresh is a mobile e-commerce platform that offers delivery services of fresh produce, including fruits, vegetables, dairy products, meat, beverages and drinks, and other daily dining and living items. The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled online demand for fresh produce in China, with e-commerce companies including Dingdong Macai, Alibaba Group and Pinduoduo competing aggressively to grab a major slice of that vast market. Earlier this month, Dingdong also filed to list in the United States. Missfresh also counts Abu Dhabi ... » Learn More about Tencent-backed Missfresh eyes US$3.8 billion valuation in US IPO

LONDON/HANOI: Buoyed by powerful demand expectations as the world moves away from reliance on fossil fuels, prices of many industrial metals rocketed, but future price rises are likely to be limited to a select few energy transition ingredients. The narrative of a synchronised upswing, characterised by some as a supercycle, is at odds with expectations shortages of materials will occur at different times. "Energy transition metals will take off big time, but not all at the same time," Wood Mackenzie analyst Julian Kettle said. The easing of coronavirus restrictions and robust manufacturing demand for industrial metals ignited a speculative rally that has cooled. Copper, aluminium and tin prices are above the levels needed to incentivise new capacity. Rare earths are not yet at incentive levels. COPPER Wood Mackenzie estimates that copper demand from renewables, energy storage and transmission and electric vehicles and charging infrastructure will more than double ... » Learn More about Energy transition metals poised for uneven, explosive run higher