U.S.-China trade tensions are set for more predictability after Joe Biden’s presidential win — which likely means calmer rhetoric in a continued tough stance on Beijing. Following years of brewing U.S. complaints about unfair business practices by China’s state-dominated system, President Donald Trump stepped up pressure on Beijing with policy measures that were often abruptly first floated through […] Read more
U.S. stock futures tumbled early Friday after some of the technology heavyweights came under pressure following their quarterly reports. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average pointed to an opening drop of about 300 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 also traded in negative territory. Earlier in the session, Dow futures were down more […] Read more
Homebuyer demand had mortgage lenders incredibly busy over the summer, but that may have peaked. Mortgage applications to purchase a home, which had fallen for four straight weeks, were essentially flat last week, rising just 0.2%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Refinances helped to push total mortgage application volume up 1.7% […] Read more
Chinese technology giant ByteDance is in early stage talks to list some of its businesses including Douyin, a person familiar with the matter. Last week, ByteDance spoke with investment bankers to explore the possibility of an initial public offering (IPO) for some of its divisions, the person said, without wanting to be named because the […] Read more
Sterling jumped more than 0.8% against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday after the EU signaled that a trade deal with the U.K. is still possible. “Despite the difficulties we’ve faced, an agreement is within reach if both sides are willing to work constructively, if both sides are willing to compromise and if we are able to make progress […] Read more
China — Foxconn, the Taiwan company that assembles Apple’s iPhone, has launched an platform to help automobile companies make electric cars. The technology giant is best known for being a major assembler of consumer electronics products such as smartphones. But the latest announcement pushes Foxconn into a market which could be worth over $800 billion by 2027, […] Read more
Residents and businesses in the city of Liverpool — known for its tourism, night life and music scene as the birthplace of The Beatles — were put into a strict lockdown Wednesday, with a backlash already underway against the government’s new rules. The city region is now the only part of the country that is […] Read more
Paris and its surrounding suburbs have been put on “maximum alert” Monday as coronavirus cases surge in the city. Bars in the French capital will close on Tuesday as part of a new package of restrictions designed to stop the spread of the virus but restaurants will be allowed to stay open, with “reinforced precautions,” […] Read more
The number of mortgages in active pandemic-related bailout plans rose by 21,000 in the past week after declining for six straight weeks, according to Black Knight, a mortgage technology and analytics firm. The increase was not across all mortgage types but among bank-held and private-labeled security loans (28,000), and, to a lesser extent, among FHA/VA […] Read more
European countries are likely to impose more restrictions on public life in the coming days as the number of daily coronavirus infections rises rapidly, analysts said. France reported 10,569 new cases Sunday (down from more than 13,000 new cases reported the day before), Reuters reported, while the U.K., reported almost 4,000 new cases on Sunday. […] Read more
