Month: March 2017

This is how Jeff Bezos became the second richest man on the planet

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, is now the second richest person on the planet.

On Wednesday, his personal fortune jumped to $75.6 billion following a rise in Amazon’s stock. He eclipsed legendary investor Warren Buffett and now stands just below Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

While there’s no playbook for becoming one of the world’s richest individuals, Bezos’ career has been marked by risk-taking and learning from failure, and sheds light on what it takes to be incredibly successful.

After graduating from Princeton University, Bezos joined a startup and then worked on Wall Street before he quit and, against advice from his family and colleagues, ditched his stable job to dive into what was then a little-known gambit called the internet.

In the years that followed, Bezos launched Amazon, the source of his incredible wealth.

This infographic, created by Funders and Founders designer Anna Vital, explores his climb to the top.

In addition to leading Amazon, Bezos plays key roles in some of the most cutting edge companies in space travel, AI, cloud computing and other emerging sectors.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Asia trades mixed, China March manufacturing PMI reveal improvements

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Asia traded mostly higher on the last day of March, as investors digested a mixed set of economic data out of east Asia.

Down Under, the ASX 200 turned positive, to trade up 0.05 percent, dragged by a weaker energy sub-index.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.59 percent, supported by the weaker yen.

Japan’s core consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in February year-on-year, marking the fastest growth in nearly two years. But household spending fell 3.8 percent in February from a year earlier, missing estimates for a 1.7 percent fall. Meanwhile, Japan’s February jobless rate declined to 2.8 percent, its lowest rate since June 1994, and marked an improvement in the labor market.

The atmosphere was tense among Toshiba shareholders at the extraordinary general meeting on Thursday after they agreed to split off its prized NAND flash memory unit, to cover its U.S. subsidiary’s multi-billion dollar losses. Toshiba shares were up 3.81 percent, but still lower compared to its losses of 14.6 percent this year.

The Shanghai composite was up 0.06 percent and Shenzhen composite added 0.29 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up just 0.06 percent.

The full-year earning reports of Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines all missed analyst expectations on Thursday, with their foreign exchange losses totaling 11.04 billion yuan ($1.6 billion). The yuan has depreciated 6.6 percent against the dollar last year.

Shares of Air China fell 1.56 percent, China Eastern Airlines was off 1.14 percent and China Southern Airlines dropped 1.71 percent.

China’s official March manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 51.8 in March, compared to February’s 51.6. The 50 point mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.

In South Korea, the Kospi was up 0.06 percent, after the country’s February factory output fell 3.4 percent from the previous month, the worst in over 8 years. A Reuters poll had expected industrial output for last month to be flat.

A South Korean court approved a warrant to arrest ousted President Park Geun-hye, over accusations of bribery and abuse of power.

The dollar was stronger at 100.51 against a basket of currencies at 9:43 am HK/SIN, higher compared to levels of around 99 earlier this week. The dollar/yen rose broke out of the 111 handle to trade at 112.01, while the Australian dollar fetched $0.7650.

U.S. stocks finished higher on Thursdays, led by financials and energy stocks, after U.S. fourth-quarter gross domestic product was revised up to a growth of 2.1 percent year-on-year, higher than the initial estimate of 1.9 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.33 percent at 20,728.49, the S&P 500 added 0.29 percent to finish at 2,368.06 and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 percent to post a record close at 5,91434.

During Asian trade, Brent crude slipped 0.25 percent to $52.83 a barrel and U.S. crude dipped 0.18 percent to $50.26.

Oil prices surged to their highest in three weeks on Thursday U.S. time after Kuwait Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq said his country was in support of extending the OPEC production cut deal.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Climate change doubters may not be so silly, says Russia President Putin

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Russia President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that climate change doubters “may not be at all silly.”

In an interview by CNBC at the International Arctic Forum in Arkhangelsk, Russia, Putin was asked about the rollback of environmental regulations from US President Donald Trump‘s administration.

“Those people who are not in agreement with opponents (of climate change) may not be at all silly,” Putin replied via an interpreter.

Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to reverse regulations imposed by the Obama administration that had been designed to curb the devastating impact of climate change.

Trump’s Energy Independence Executive Order effectively suspends over six measures ratified by his predecessor, and though businesses have welcomed the move, environmental campaigners and many world leaders have condemned the action.

While Putin reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to the Paris climate agreement, he also agreed with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö’s comments regarding the inevitability of global warming. It would “continue anyway and anyhow,” Putin said of climate change.

As a compromise to Washington’s environmental position, Moscow would attempt to meet the US halfway to find a solution.

“It is about trying to reach each other half way and seeking trade-offs,” he said. “I would not dramatize things and I wouldn’t use these global factors for the domestic American political struggle.”

Arctic boosts Russian GDP by 10%

Russia’s president also pointed to the economic importance of the Arctic region as he argued global warming and ice melting in the area created beneficial conditions for economic improvement.

“Climate change brings in more favorable conditions and improves the economic potential of this region,” he said. “Today, Russia’s GDPis the result of the economic activity of this region.” Putin explained as he revealed that 10 percent of his country’s GDP is linked to the Arctic region.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Putin says claims that Russia interfered in US elections are ‘lies’

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Accusations that Russia interfered in last year’s US elections are “lies” used for “domestic American politics,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

“We said on numerous occasions and I reiterate that we are confident … and know for sure that opinion polls in the United States show that very many people are … friendly towards the Russian Federation, and I’d like to tell these people that we perceive and regard the United States as a great power with which we want to establish good partnership relations,” Putin said on a CNBC-moderated panel.

“All those things are fictional, illusory and provocations, lies. All these are used for domestic American political agendas. The anti-Russian card is played by different political forces inside the United States to trade on that and consolidate their positions inside,” Putin said in Russian.

Earlier this month, FBI Director James Comey confirmed that it is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 US election, including any links between Moscow and Donald Trump‘s campaign.

The investigation began in July, several months before the election, but Comey did not confirm the probe until his appearance at a House Intelligence Committee hearing this month. In January, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report accusing Russia of meddling in the elections.

“We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary (Hillary) Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump,” the report said, adding that intelligence agencies have “high confidence” in that assessment.

Trump has denied colluding with Russia and said the Democrats “made up and pushed the Russian story as an excuse for running a terrible campaign.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Hyundai Motor working on dedicated platform for electric vehicles: Executive

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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South Korea’s Hyundai Motor is developing its first dedicated architecture for pure electric vehicles, an executive told Reuters, preparing a major push into the growing segment by offering multiple models with longer driving ranges.

While the platform will not be completed at least until next year, Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia Motors plan to roll out small electric sport utility vehicles based on existing platforms, said Lee Ki-sang, a senior vice president at Hyundai Motor.

The subcompact or compact models would have a range of more than 300 km (186 miles) per charge, and would be “more competitive” than rival offerings, Lee, who leads Hyundai-Kia’s green cars operations, said in an interview on the eve of an auto show that kicked off in Seoul on Thursday.

He said he expected electric vehicles to account for about 10 percent of total global vehicle sales by 2025, from some 1 percent now.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

What to watch for in the Samsung Galaxy S8 launch

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

South Korean smartphone maker Samsung Electronics is under pressure to deliver the goods as it launches its latest model, the Galaxy S8, on March 29, in New York.

Besides excitement over new features the Galaxy S8 is expected to debut, all eyes are on whether the electronics giant’s latest offering will restore trust among its customer base as Samsung’s competitors attempt to ramp up their share of the market.

The company has a lot riding on the release after a previous model, the Galaxy Note 7, came under fire for exploding due to battery malfunctions. Samsung followed up with a major product recall and eventually terminated Note 7 production.

Amidst a flurry of leaks and rumors ahead of the launch, a feature the S8 is sure to debut is its new voice assistant Bixby — Samsung’s answer to Apple’s Siri. A blog post from Samsung’s head of R&D InJong Rhee detailed how Bixby would offer a “deeper experience” compared to its competitors.

Analysts said that while Samsung has talked a big game, it remains to be seen how well Bixby will perform. “They’ve talked about it but we need to see it in action. We need to see how well it executes, we need to see how the software works,” said Bryan Ma, vice president at IDC Asia Pacific.

“The bigger thing to watch out for is the Viv acquisition that they made,” said Ma. Viv is a company specializing in artificial intelligence that was founded by the creators of Siri.

“The problem is, it hasn’t been integrated yet. They just made that acquisition … Right now, we can’t get too carried away with how Bixby’s going to be. I’ll believe it when I see it, probably later this year or in the next year,” Ma added.

In light of the Note 7 recall, hardware and battery quality will also be “front and center” for the launch, said Ishan Dutt, research analyst at Canalys. Samsung has done well post-recall in getting the message across that it was taking quality control seriously, Dutt added.

The company developed an “8-Point Battery Safety Check” in response to battery defects in the Note 7 in a bid to redeem consumer trust.

“This phone really can’t afford to have issues,” Dutt said.

As for the leaks, tech insiders are predicting that the Galaxy S8 will no longer have a home button so that there’s more room for a larger display screen. The phone’s fingerprint sensor is also rumored to be moved to the back of the phone.

One aspect of Samsung’s strategy that has confused is the company’s announcement that it would sell refurbished Galaxy Note 7 phones in the same week it launches the new S8.

“Completely baffling,” Ma said, “In their defense, if it’s about helping the environment, … maybe they’re getting a little bit of money out of it? But at the end of the day, it’s a perception thing. Why remind people about it again?”

Dutt agreed, “It seems to be perhaps not the best step in terms of PR to be even … overshadowing (the S8 launch and) also reminding people about the Note 7 at a time when the focus really should be on the new device and starting afresh.”

“I think ultimately, this is going to be something that will get Samsung back on its feet after the problems of last year. The challenge, however, is going to be Apple. Apple’s got a phone that, if you believe the rumor mill, is going to be a tremendous blockbuster later this year,” Ma said.

Apple is expected to launch a new smartphone in September this year — the 10th anniversary of the iPhone. And while the company has not confirmed the name of the new model, many in the market have already begun calling it the iPhone 8.

“In that sense, Samsung still has quite a bit of an uphill battle to go,” Ma said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Why Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and Apple’s iPhone 8 launches could be the most important ever

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Phone launches follow a pretty similar pattern: Flashy press conference, excitement, pre-orders and the investing world keeping an eye on how well these devices sell.

It’s always high stakes for the companies, but perhaps more than ever, the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S8 on Wednesday, and the anniversary edition of the iPhone later this year, could be the most important smartphone launches ever for both companies.

That’s because it comes at a time when the smartphone market is saturating and after both companies have gone through testing periods. The Galaxy S8, which has been extensively leaked, will be released following the Note 7 scandal last year, in which Samsung was forced to recall and eventually discontinued the handset after several caught fire. The South Korean giant apologized and released a full report on what went wrong in January, but the episode is still fresh in consumers’ minds.

At the same time, Samsung Group’s heir-apparent Jay Y. Lee was charged by prosecutors with bribery and embezzlement connected to South Korea’s ongoing corruption scandal which led to the impeachment of the country’s President Park Geun-hye.

A successful and innovative Galaxy S8 smartphone will be key to shifting attention away from Samsung’s current issues, putting the Note 7 saga to bed, and boosting sales and profit in its mobile division.

Meanwhile, Apple has also had a tough time recently. In its fiscal 2016 results, the U.S. technology giant experienced the first annual revenue decline since 2001, after iPhone sales fell for three consecutive quarters. Many have questioned Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook’s ability to innovate pointing to the Apple Watch as the only new product category under his leadership.

While talk of driverless cars and augmented reality (AR) – a technology Cook has said could be as big as the smartphone itself – have yet to materialize in any products. The iPhone 7, Apple’s last flagship got criticized for not being a big change from the iPhone 6s.

But from recent leaks, the Galaxy S8 and the iPhone anniversary addition, potentially called the iPhone 8, may just be the best devices both companies have ever produced. Samsung’s flagship will have a big screen and new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, while Apple’s smartphone is rumored to have a new 3-D camera and AR capabilities. Morgan Stanley said in a recent note that the next iPhone will create a “supercycle” for Apple.

Driving a new wave of users to buy the next flagship devices will also be crucial if Apple and Samsung want their customers to adopt technologies and services that they are staking their future on such as AI and virtual reality.

But competition is tough and Huawei is chasing both Apple and Samsung with the Chinese firm establishing itself as the number three smartphone player in the world.

With such high-expectations and both companies keen to put recent issues in the past, Samsung and Apple need to deliver with their flagship launches, which can’t be like any other.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Elon Musk is starting another company which connects your brains with devices

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Somehow Elon Musk has found the time to start another company.

The company will be the vehicle for the development of the “neural lace” Musk discussed on Twitter and elsewhere, according to the The Wall Street Journal.

The “neural lace” Musk has talked about is typically described as an implant or an appendage that would be attached to the brain, that would provide a way for brains to interact with devices, or otherwise augment human intelligence.

Speaking at the Code Conference in 2016, Musk said to think of the arrangement this way: “You have your limbic system, the cortex, and then a digital layer, sort of a third layer above the cortex that could work well and symbiotically with you.”

Though the lace would interact directly with a person’s brain, Musk said implanting it might not require extensive surgery, remarking that it could be injected into the veins.

The Journal reports that one of Musk’s co-founders at Neuralink is Max Hodak, who co-founded a company called Transcriptic.

Hodak’s bio at the Transcriptic website says he was a “research assistant at Duke University Medical Center, where he built brain-machine interfaces for monkeys. As a member of the lab, he witnessed on a regular basis the inefficiencies of basic laboratory work that he felt were ripe for robotic optimization.”

Neither Hodak nor Musk were immediately available for comment.

In addition to his responsibilities running Tesla and SpaceX, Musk has taken a keen interest in artificial intelligence, which he has at times characterized as a potential threat to the survival of the human species.

To that end, he is one of the sponsors of the the nonprofit OpenAI project, whose mission is to build AI that is “safe,” and ensure that the benefits of AI research are “are as widely and evenly distributed as possible.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

This Indian woman is shattering the glass ceiling for celebrity pay

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s silver medalist in badminton at the Rio Olympics, 21-year-old PV Sindhu, has become the country’s second-highest-paid sports celebrity for endorsements.

PV Sindhu gets an endorsement fee of up to 12.5 million rupees (about $192,000) a day, according to her agent— that haul is second only to cricket captain Virat Kohli. Last week, Gatorade named Sindhu its first brand ambassador from India, and on Monday she took the stage at a news event for Panasonic.

Those achievements come in a nation obsessed with just one sport, men’s cricket, and it’s against the backdrop of consistently lower pay for women in India and globally. (The gender pay gap in India across all sectors is a gaping 25 percent, according to the 2016 Monster Salary Index.)

Sindhu went to Rio with no sponsorship deals, but she came back with a medal and a star status that will be difficult to beat. Featured in top lifestyle magazines from Elle to Cosmopolitan, Sindhu is one of the most recognizable faces in India today.

“Before the Olympics when we reached out to sponsors, often we were asked ‘Sindhu who?”’ said Tuhin Mishra, the group managing director of Baseline Ventures, the company that takes care of Sindhu’s commercial interests. “The market dynamics were tough. Everyone only wanted to be associated with cricket.”

But Mishra and the team who chose to back Sindhu and badminton in a country crazy about cricket and Bollywood are now reaping the benefits of their conviction. The mega star is already the ambassador for more than half a dozen brands, ranging from a bank to a health drink — and there are several more in the pipeline.

She commands a premium of easily 50 percent over her female peers. And while Kohli, a veritable demigod in India, is a clear winner, no other current cricketer has the X-factor to compete with Sindhu in star power, industry insiders said.

Marketers say Sindhu stands for grit and hard work in their eyes, and her image can be both girl-next-door and glamorous.

“Ours is a new product and Sindhu is also a new star. As she grows stronger so will our brand,” said Amit Anand, joint managing director of the company that markets the Apis Himalaya honey brand, adding that Sindhu was the first time celebrity he’d ever hired.

While sponsors are always on the lookout to cash in on an instant hit, Sindhu’s team said it is looking beyond those seeking a short piggyback on Olympic glory.

“We don’t want advertisers flirting with her success, but who are interested in marriage. She is still to peak in her career — there is still a lot of potential. Sindhu’s endorsement fee can easily go up to 15 million rupees (about $230,000) a day,” said Mishra.

His optimism is based on the fact that Sindhu is still only 21 and could well be the Indian contingent’s flag bearer at the next Olympics in Tokyo.

“In a way, [advertisers] are associating with the captain of the Indian Olympic contingent,” added Mishra.

For her part, Sindhu said she stays focused on the game.

“I don’t follow these number games and I am happy focusing only on my performance on the court, and the rest — as they say — follows,” the ace shuttler told CNBC.

Sindhu has followed her Olympic performance with wins at the China Open, second place at the Hong Kong Open and a quarterfinal place in the prestigious All England Championships.
Try getting the lion’s share

Sindhu, has accomplished something that few Indian women could ever dream of — even beyond winning an Olypmpic medal. It could go unnoticed, but she is commanding an endorsement price higher than all but one of her male peers.

In India, the most glaring pay disparities are seen in the movie industry, where female stars are paid less than half of what their male counterparts get — even if they have more hit films. For example, the Forbes 2016 list of top Indian celebrity earners has only two women stars in the top 10.

Another closely-followed Indian industry, the start-up sector, is also notorious for underpaying women. Female entrepreneurs attract only a minuscule percentage of the overall funding that goes into tech start-ups, according to investors and entrepreneurs.

Given this environment, 34-year-old entrepreneur Akanksha Hazari, founder of mass-market consumer and retail data company m.Paani, said she views Sindhu’s commercial success as great motivation for girls to take up sports as a career.

Hazari, who herself has faced questions from prospective investors like “why don’t you find a male co-founder,” said the conversation surrounding gender pay inequality is getting louder in India and “only if you have more women leaders will this gap narrow.”

Sindhu may have broken through pay barriers, but she hasn’t changed everything yet.

“While what she has achieved is stunning, one Sindhu does not make a summer. We need to see a broader trend to talk about gender comparability. We seem too content with this one story,” said Shiv Visvanathan, a social anthropologist at the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Asia markets shrug off Trump concern to climb higher

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Asia markets gained on Tuesday morning as investors shrugged off the disappointment from the current US administration’s ability to push through legislation to repeal and replace the Obama-era health-care law.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.82 percent, recovering most of its losses of 276 points, or 1.44 percent, seen yesterday.

Fujitsu and Lenovo Group announced the postponement of their target date for a final deal on their personal computer business tie-up to sometime in the first-half of 2017, the Nikkei business daily reported. Shares of Fujitsu were up 2.32 percent and the Hong Kong-listed Lenovo was up 0.61 percent.

Down Under, the ASX 200 added 1.02 percent, underpinned by strength in its energy sub-index, which was up 1.22 percent, and the materials sub-index, which was up 0.81 percent.

In South Korea, the Kospi was up 0.28 percent, after the country revised its fourth-quarter gross domestic product up 2.4 percent year-on-year, from the 2.3 percent expected gain. For the full year, the economy grew by 2.8 percent, expanding at a similar rate to 2015, Reuters reported.

The Shanghai composite was down 0.09 percent and Shenzhen composite slipped 0.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.61 percent in early trade.

In Hong Kong , Guotai Junan Securities will kick off its IPO subscription. It plans to raise HKUSD 16.04 billion (USD 2.1 billion), and has priced the IPO already, at HKUSD 15.84 per stock.

Related securities such as Shanghai-listed Guotai Junan Securities fell 0.32 percent and Hong Kong-listed Guotai Junan International was down 0.37 percent.

“This is a Teflon market where literally nothing sticks,” Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG, in a Tuesday note, said of the market’s concern about Trump’s first legislative reform failure.

US major indexes closed mostly lower on Monday as investors reassessed whether the Trump administration cam deliver on reforms.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.22 percent, to close at 20,550.98, and posted its eight day of losses. The S&P 500 dropped 0.1 percent, to end at 2,341.59, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.2 percent, to close at 5,840.37.

The dollar traded at 99.205 against a basket of currencies at 9:40 am HK/SIN. Against the greenback, the yen was stronger at 110.65 and the Australian dollar was at USD 0.7626.

Oil prices continued to slide on Monday as investors remained uncertain about whether the OPEC and non-OPEC supply curb deal would continue beyond June.

During Asian hours, Brent crude was up 0.1 percent at USD 50.80 a barrel, and US crude was up 0.19 percent at USD 47.83.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow