Posts by Liam Redmond
US stocks close down as oil spikes 12%, job market weakens
The increase in oil prices has fuelled expectations of higher input costs and pressure on corporate profits Published Sat, Mar 7, 2026 · 07:22 AM [NEW YORK] Wall Street’s three main indexes closed down on Friday (Mar 6) amid a sudden setback in the US labour market and a 12 per cent spike in US…
Read MoreEurope stocks mark biggest weekly drop in almost a year as Middle East conflict persists
The Stoxx volatility index has spiked to its highest level since April earlier in the week and remained elevated on Friday Published Sat, Mar 7, 2026 · 07:12 AM [BENGALURU] Europe’s Stoxx 600 marked its biggest weekly drop in close to a year on Friday (Mar 6) as the Middle East conflict showed no signs…
Read MoreWall Street opens lower as Middle East turmoil, weak jobs report weigh
Published Fri, Mar 6, 2026 · 10:42 PM [NEW YORK] Wall Street’s main indexes opened lower on Friday (Mar 6) as the conflict raging in the Middle East threatened to fuel inflation through higher energy costs and data showed the economy unexpectedly shed jobs in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 320.2 points, or…
Read MoreFrom war chest to growth: Hongkong Land eyes new investments after US$3.6 billion capital recycling
The group is ‘very positive’ on the Singapore market, and looks to expand its presence through the new private fund or development opportunities [SINGAPORE] Hongkong Land is preparing to ramp up new investments after recycling US$3.6 billion of capital as the property group moves to boost earnings and shareholder returns. Speaking to The Business Times,…
Read MoreYangzijiang Maritime Development gets shareholder approval for share buyback at EGM
[SINGAPORE] Maritime financial solutions provider Yangzijiang Maritime announced on Friday (Mar 6) that a proposed share buyback mandate has been approved by its shareholders. The resolution to approve the proposed share buyback mandate was passed at the group’s in-person extraordinary general meeting on Friday at Capital Tower along Robinson Road. The resolution received favourable votes…
Read MoreMaritime insurance premiums surge as Iran conflict widens
War premiums spike costs for shippers, traders, and energy firms moving cargo through Hormuz Published Fri, Mar 6, 2026 · 07:22 PM [BENGALURU] As the conflict in the Gulf widens, maritime insurance premiums for war coverage are surging – in some cases by more than 1000 per cent – dramatically driving up the cost of…
Read MoreHundreds of applications, no jobs and AI replacements: California’s brutal tech work landscape
Laid-off tech worker Joseph Tinner has spent almost a year hunting for a job. It has been a depressing crash course on the sea change in Silicon Valley. The former product instructor from the San Francisco Bay Area has ridden the tech wave throughout his career, easily jumping from Verizon to Fitbit to Workday. Since…
Read MoreLawsuit alleges Google chatbot was behind a user’s delusions and death
Google’s artificial intelligence chatbot Gemini encouraged a 36-year-old Florida man to embark on violent missions and to take his own life, a lawsuit alleges. The man, Jonathan Gavalas, started using the chatbot in August 2025 to help write, plan travel and assist with shopping. But after he activated Google’s most intelligent AI model, Gemini 2.5…
Read MoreCommentary: In two new court cases, judges find that AI does not have human intelligence
It’s becoming clearer with every passing day that the only people making a serious effort to come to grips with the implications of artificial intelligence for society aren’t legislators, or business leaders, or AI promoters themselves. They’re judges. Indeed, in recent weeks, judges in two federal cases have drawn a line that seems to have…
Read MoreAsia has limited options to diversify from Middle East energy reliance
Published Fri, Mar 6, 2026 · 06:47 PM [SINGAPORE] Asian energy buyers are scrambling to find alternatives as the Iran war creates unprecedented supply disruption, but the region has limited longer-term options to reduce its heavy reliance on Middle Eastern oil. The world’s top crude importing region buys 60 per cent of its oil and…
Read MoreSingapore stocks close flat on Friday amid cautious calm in Asian markets
[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks finished flattish on Friday (Mar 6), as a “tense” calmness returned to key Asian markets even as missiles continued to rain over the Middle East. The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) grew a marginal 0.03 per cent or 1.69 points to finish at 4,848.25. This brought the blue-chip index down 2.9 per…
Read MoreMTQ resumes Middle East operations; Vallianz not ‘significantly’ affected
This comes after the US and Israel launched their biggest attacks on Iran in decades on Feb 28 [SINGAPORE] MTQ Corp’s Middle East operations have resumed, while Vallianz Holdings has not been “significantly” affected by conflicts in the region, the two Singapore-listed companies said in separate bourse filings on Thursday (Mar 5). MTQ, a mainboard-listed…
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