- Wall Street suffered its worst day last Monday in almost two years after a global stock market sell-off sparked by fears of recession in the US. America’s leading share indices – the S&P 500, Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq Composite – tumbled in volatile trading as the day started in New York, before pulling back slightly. (Read more on The Guardian)
- Travel companies including Airbnb and Marriott International are forecasting a slowdown in leisure travel as U.S. consumers wait longer to book vacations in a time when the economic outlook remains uncertain. After several years in which robust demand padded the industry's bottom line while regions in other parts of the world were still recovering from the pandemic, travel companies have warned investors that U.S. bookings in the third quarter will be flat. (Read more on Reuters)
- Italy will double a flat levy on foreign income for wealthy new residents who’ve been flocking to the country to take advantage of it. The €100,000 ($109,000) a year payment — which exempts people moving to the country from taxes on overseas earnings, gifts and inheritance for 15 years — will rise to €200,000, Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said Wednesday. (Read more on Bloomberg)
- Hargreaves Lansdown has agreed a ￡5.4bn takeover by private equity suitors that will give hundreds of millions of pounds to its billionaire founders and result in the investment supermarket becoming the latest company to leave the London stock market. Board members of the FTSE 100 company recommended the ￡11.40-a-share offer, which requires shareholder approval. (Read more on The Guardian)
- Japanese stocks collapsed last Monday in their biggest single day rout since the 1987 Black Monday sell-offs, driven by last week's plunge in global stock markets, economic concerns and worries investments funded by a cheap yen were being unwound. The Nikkei share average shed a staggering 12.4% as Friday's dismal jobs data heightened worries of a possible recession, and as the yen rallied to 7-month highs versus the dollar. This was the index's worst showing in percentage terms since the October 1987 crash. (Read more on Reuters)
- The Bank of Japan's influential deputy governor said on Wednesday that the central bank won't hike interest rates when markets are unstable, playing down the chance of a near-term hike in borrowing costs. The remarks by Shinichi Uchida, which contrasted with Gov. Kazuo Ueda's hawkish comments made last week when the BOJ unexpectedly raised interest rates, boosted the 225-issue Nikkei average and sent the yen sharply lower. (Read more on The Japan Times)
- Ethiopia's securities exchange is expected to start operations in October, its chief executive was quoted as saying by state-affiliated media on Thursday. The establishment of a bourse is part of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's push to open up the country - which is heavily controlled by the state - to greater private investment. All human resource and technological requirements for the bourse will be in place by October, the bourse's CEO Tilahun Esmael Kassahun was quoted as saying by Fana Broadcasting. (Read more on Reuters)
- Kenya’s central bank surprised financial markets by cutting its benchmark interest rate for the first time since early 2020, providing some respite to consumers who have become increasingly frustrated by the high cost of living. The monetary policy committee lowered the key rate to 12.75% from 13%, Governor Kamau Thugge said in an emailed statement Tuesday. Only one of nine economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted the move. (Read more on Bloomberg)
- The headline inflation for the 12-months ending July 2024 in Mauritius worked out to 4.3%, compared with June 2024's reading of 4.5% and July 2023’s reading of 10.0%.On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose by 0.2% in July, as a result of price increases in vegetables and other food products. (Read more on the Official Website of Statistics Mauritius)
- The Bank of Mauritius intervened on the domestic foreign exchange market on Monday 5th August 2024 and sold a total amount of USD 20.0 million at the weighted rate of MUR 46.40/USD. (Read more on the Official Website of The Bank of Mauritius)
Source: The Guardian, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Japan Times, Statistics Mauritius, Bank of Mauritius
Source: Yahoo Finance, Investing.com, Stock Exchange of Mauritius
