Discover the top business headlines that are trending across the world today!
Amid rising tension concerning US economic growth, the week for Asian stocks began with a decline, with technology shares leading the losses. With supreme chipmakers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. among the top decliners, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dipped to 1.8%, reaching its lowest point in three weeks. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid over 3% prior to a slight recovery as the yen eased the previous week’s strong gains. Hong Kong’s market is leading the way for a fifth consecutive day of losses and Taiwan’s main stock index declined by 2%. Concerns arose regarding Friday’s frail US non-farm payroll data that the Federal Reserve might be acting too slowly in alleviating the world’s largest economy. As the Fed’s potential size of forthcoming rate cuts is being weighed by the investors, The Bank of Japan’s latest policy reinforcement has escalated pressure on the yen, sparking concerns regarding carry trades.
According to CEO Pieter Elbers, with its aim to reach the position of a leading global airline by 2030, IndiGo is gearing up to stretch its international footprint and build up its cargo operations. This time, the goal of the airline is to double its international destinations from 20 to 40 by March 2025, aiming the emerging markets that are visited not often by Indian travelers. The airline also plans on launching wide-body aircraft in 2027 to improve cargo capacity, building on its current operation of three freighters. IndiGo has formed codeshare agreements with leading airlines like Qantas, Air France, KLM, and Virgin Atlantic to fortify its global presence. The airline is on track to meet its capacity growth targets for the fiscal year, with international operations currently making up about 27% of its available seat kilometers.
India is all set to bolster green transport and reduce pollution in its trucking industry by encouraging the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG). As per a draft policy from the Oil Ministry, the government is focused on transforming a third of current long-haul diesel trucks to LNG and decree that one-third of the new trucks use this fuel. In India, the transport sector adds around 15% of energy-related emissions. In a bid to curb air pollution in the country, the government has decided to employ LNG for trucks as this cleaner fuel emits 25% less carbon dioxide than diesel. This move is similar to the efforts being made in China, where LNG trucks now make up nearly 20% of new sales in the segment. To expedite the shift, the policy proposes incentives for vehicle conversion and reduced road tools to prioritize LNG trucks for transport contracts. This initiative is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to increase natural gas’s share in the energy mix from the current 6% to 15% by 2030.
Amid global market challenges, as investors are retreating from riskier assets, since their inception, the US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have witnessed their longest streak of new outflows. According to Bloomberg data, investors withdrew almost $1.2 billion from 12 Bitcoin ETFs throughout eight days ending September 6th. This shift hints at bigger market concerns, like mixed US jobs data and deflationary pressures in China, which are affecting both the commodities and the stocks. Posting a 7% loss in September, Bitcoin has struggled equally. Despite the slump, the cryptocurrency managed adequate gains throughout the weekend, rising around 1% to $54,870 as of 1 pm on Monday in Singapore. Nevertheless, it remains in the face of volatility linked to movements in the broader stock market.
