UK markets open in 5 hours

  • NIKKEI 225

    29,162.38
    -522.99 (-1.76%)
     

  • HANG SENG

    28,919.16
    -186.99 (-0.64%)
     

  • CRUDE OIL

    63.55
    +0.17 (+0.27%)
     

  • GOLD FUTURES

    1,770.50
    -0.10 (-0.01%)
     

  • DOW

    34,077.63
    -123.04 (-0.36%)
     

  • BTC-GBP

    39,179.25
    -1,584.99 (-3.89%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,227.14
    -71.82 (-5.53%)
     

  • ^IXIC

    13,914.77
    -137.58 (-0.98%)
     

  • ^FTAS

    3,996.65
    -10.11 (-0.25%)
     
JPMorgan:

The money behind the European Super League

Financing for the breakaway club competition is 'one of the biggest ever' deals, according to experts

This orphaned baby boar is best friend with a dog

Two unlikely best friends

Latest stories

  • Former vice president Walter Mondale dies at 93

    Minnesota politician suffered one of worst election defeats in US history to Ronald Reagan.

  • Australia's Afterpay mulls U.S. listing as 'buy now, pay later' takes off

    Australian buy-now-pay-later company Afterpay said on Tuesday it is exploring a U.S. listing after more than doubling its third-quarter sales, offering U.S. investors an easier path to owning a stock that has boomed through the pandemic. Afterpay has tapped Goldman Sachs to advise on the listing, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Goldman declined to comment.

  • Former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale dies at 93

    Walter Mondale, a leading liberal Democratic voice of the late 20th century who was U.S. vice president under Jimmy Carter and lost in a historic landslide to Ronald Reagan in the 1984 presidential election, died on Monday at age 93, his family said. "It is with profound sadness that we share news that our beloved dad passed away today in Minneapolis, Minnesota," the family said in a statement. Mondale, the first major U.S. party presidential nominee to pick a woman running mate, believed in an activist government and worked for civil rights, school integration, consumer protection and farm and labor interests as a U.S. senator and vice president during Carter's troubled one-term presidency from 1977 to 1981.

  • Walter Mondale, Vice President to Jimmy Carter, Dies at 93

    Walter Mondale, the former vice president to Jimmy Carter and staunch democrat who lost the 1984 presidential election to Ronald Reagan, has died. He was 93. Mondale’s family announced his death in a statement on Monday, and did not mention a cause of death, according to the Associated Press. Mondale was a United States Senator, […]

  • Oil Edges Higher Toward $64 on Anniversary of Plunge Below Zero

    (Bloomberg) -- Oil edged higher toward $64 a barrel as traders monitored a patchwork recovery in demand from the coronavirus pandemic a year to the day since futures for the U.S. benchmark went negative.West Texas Intermediate rose 0.3% in Asia after closing modestly higher on Monday. In the U.S., refinery runs climbed to the highest in over a year as economic activity picked up, but oil demand in India is suffering amid a brutal fresh wave of Covid-19 infections. The dollar fell for a sixth straight session on Monday, boosting the appeal of commodities priced in the currency.Crude is up more than 30% in 2021 as investors bet the reopening of economies will stoke consumption and keep draining global inventories. As demand picks up, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies are planning a cautious return of some supply from next month. The OPEC+ grouping may skip a full-scale ministerial meeting planned for next week, possibly indicating members don’t see much need to revise current strategy.“If prices sustain in the current band, they wouldn’t want to make any changes to what’s been agreed for May-July,” said Vandana Hari, founder of Vanda Insights in Singapore. Still, “crude appears to be under-pricing the risk of a demand slowdown in India and Europe countering gains in the U.S.,” she said.Oil’s forward curve suggests growing confidence, with the widely watched spread between WTI’s contracts for December this year and 2022 at the widest backwardation in about a month. That’s a bullish pattern, with prices for the final month of 2021 more than $4 a barrel above those a year further out. Brent’s prompt spread is also backwardated, with a gap of 61 cents a barrel.A year ago today, the global oil market faced an unprecedented crisis, with WTI ending at -$37.63 a barrel. Prices went negative after lockdowns savaged demand and producers Saudi Arabia and Russia had flooded the market in a price war. A restoration of OPEC+ unity marked by deep supply cuts, and the development of vaccines, helped prices to stage a steady recovery.At present, OPEC+ has decided to revive just over 2 million barrels a day of the 8 million it’s been keeping offline, with the supply to be returned in stages over the three months to July. If the ministerial gathering is scrapped, the coalition may go ahead with just a monitoring committee meeting on April 28.Later Tuesday, investors across markets will track a high-profile speech from China’s President Xi Jinping at the Boao Forum on Asia. The address is expected to touch on the risks and challenges that the world is facing, and what solutions China can offer to promote development and prosperity.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Apple event set to be ‘action-packed’

    The technology firm is holding its first event of 2021 and is expected to reveal a number of new products.

  • Meituan Raises $10 Billion to Fight Alibaba in Grocery Arena

    (Bloomberg) -- Chinese delivery giant Meituan has raised $9.98 billion from a record top-up placement and a convertible bonds sale as it doubles down on efforts to fight the likes of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in newer areas such as online groceries.The nation’s third-largest internet company has sold 187 million shares in a top-up placement at HK$273.8 each, near the top end of its marketed range, and also raised $400 million from shareholder Tencent Holdings Ltd., according to terms of the deal obtained by Bloomberg News. The $7 billion new stock issuance is the largest-ever such sale by a Hong Kong-listed company, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Meituan has also sold $2.98 billion in zero-coupon convertible bonds.Meituan’s shares were volatile in early trading in Hong Kong, falling as much as 1.8%, while the benchmark Hang Seng Index slid 0.7%. The placement price represents a discount of 5.3% to the stock’s closing price Monday. The convertible bonds are divided in two tranches -- $1.48 billion six-year notes and $1.5 billion seven-year paper, the terms showed.The stock and bond sales come as Meituan grapples with the cost of competing against the likes of Alibaba and Pinduoduo Inc. in newer spheres such as community e-commerce and online groceries. The company has warned it will remain in the red for several more quarters despite record revenues as it spends heavily on new initiatives.“It makes sense to raise money to make more of a shift into autonomous delivery, seek to delve into more technology-focused areas especially under the backdrop of the anti-monopoly” drive, said Zhou Luyun, an analyst at Northeast Securities Co. in Shanghai. “The pricing shows that the market buys this blueprint.”Meituan intends to use the proceeds from the offerings for technology innovations, including the research and development of autonomous delivery vehicles, drones delivery, and other cutting-edge technology, and general corporate purposes, the terms showed.“After this placement, some short-term investors could sell the stock and shares could trade in a range of HK$250-HK$300 for a while,” said Paul Pong, managing director at Pegasus Fund Managers Ltd. “In the medium to longer term, online platform operators like Meituan and Tencent still have a solid growth outlook.”Community buying is one of Meituan’s chief expansion areas, where buyers in the same neighborhood enjoy bulk discounts on fresh produce. But the firm faces entrenched competition from other Internet giants.All three main ratings agencies lowered their outlook on Meituan after it reported earnings last month, with S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service saying that its large investments in community e-commerce would come at a heavy cost, generate negative free cash flow and dampen earnings.Meituan’s focus on developing fast-growing new businesses comes as China’s economic recovery has helped the world’s largest meal-delivery service increase orders, while its hotels and travel businesses have benefited from a rebound in domestic travel when the country reined in the pandemic.The company has begun using self-driving vehicles for grocery delivery in the Chinese capital since the Covid-19 outbreak last year, with at least 15,000 orders being completed so far, Wang Xing, the company’s chief executive officer, told analysts during a conference call in March. Wang said Meituan is also experimenting with how to deliver food using drones in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.Tencent is delving deeper into Meituan at a time global investors are souring on the Chinese tech sector due to heightened regulatory scrutiny. Meituan had lost some $123 billion of its value from a Feb. 17 high through Monday, pummeled by fears that Beijing’s crackdown on Jack Ma’s Internet empire will expand beyond Alibaba and Ant Group Co. to engulf other sector leaders like Tencent and Meituan.“They are going into new areas including group purchases and those need a lot of capital and they need a war chest to compete,” said Kerry Goh, chief investment officer at Kamet Capital Partners Pte. “Valuations are still pretty decent compared to a year ago.”Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for both the bond and equity offerings. CLSA Ltd. and UBS Group AG are also joint bookrunners for the top-up placement.(Adds Meituan’s share move in the third paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • AnnaLynne McCord Reveals Her Dissociative Identity Disorder Diagnosis: I'm 'Uninterested in Shame'

    "All of my roles were splits, but I didn't even realize I was doing it at all until I did a project, 90210," she said of having dissociative identity disorder

  • ‘Mare Of Easttown’ Debuts With 1 Million Viewers On HBO & HBO Max

    The series premiere of the Kate Winslet-starring limited series Mare of Easttown drew 1 million viewers on Sunday across HBO and HBO Max, with the premium network saying it marked the second-best for a series debut on HBO Max behind last week’s strong numbers for The Nevers. The Nevers, the Victorian science fiction drama series […]

  • Rapper Black Rob, known for hit ‘Whoa!,' dead at 52

    Rapper Black Rob, known for his hit “Whoa!” and key contributions to Diddy's dominant Bad Boy Records in the 1990s and early 2000s, has died. Black Rob died Saturday in Atlanta, according to longtime friend and former labelmate Mark Curry, who said he was holding the hip-hop performer's hand at the end. “Rest in power, King,” Diddy wrote on Instagram.

  • These genius Tommie Copper face masks won't fog up your glasses

    They're breathable, odor-resistant and adjustable—and just $18 for two right now.

  • Directing team for Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse sequel revealed

    The sequel is scheduled for release in October 2022.

  • Woman Narrowly Escapes Landslide in North Wales

    A woman filmed the moment she narrowly escaped a landslide at a north Wales beach on April 19.Amanda Stubbs told Storyful she was taking a stroll along Nefyn Beach when she noticed part of the adjacent cliff crumbling.“This [video] was taken on the beach just 200 yards from our holiday home in Nefyn,” Stubbs said, adding, “although I have seen the aftermath of many small landslides I have never witnessed one of this scale first hand.”At the 2’40’’ mark of her video what begins as light crumbling leads to a rapid collapse of an entire section of cliff, sending soil into the water.Police urged the public to “avoid the area until further notice” as emergency and utilities services worked to make the beach safe. No deaths or injuries were reported. Credit: Amanda Stubbs via Storyful

  • Biden ‘to slash amount of nicotine in cigarettes’

    White House also considering ban on menthol cigarettes

  • Tencent Dangles Billions in Aid As Antitrust Scrutiny Grows

    (Bloomberg) -- Tencent Holdings Ltd. founder Pony Ma pledged $7.7 billion toward curing societal ills and lifting China’s countryside out of poverty, echoing Xi Jinping’s priorities at a time Beijing is tightening its grip on internet giants.The billionaire chief executive officer on Monday pledged to set aside 50 billion yuan for a “sustainable social values” program, in what would be one of China’s largest corporate philanthropic initiatives. Tencent promised to tackle a plethora of issues from renewable energy and scientific education to health care and rural revitalization -- a centerpiece of Xi’s over-arching policy framework. The gaming and social media giant intends to fold its existing foundation and philanthropic activity into a new unit to oversee the initiative, which also encompasses carbon neutrality, the provision of food, water and energy, and general public welfare.The program coincides with a period of intensified scrutiny over the growing power and influence of China’s largest corporations from Tencent to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which received a $2.8 billion fine for allegedly abusing its market dominance. Regulators are now said to be eyeing Tencent, China’s largest publisher of games and content for a billion-plus people on WeChat. Last week, the Shenzhen-based company pledged to comply with antitrust laws and eradicate monopolistic practices.“Tencent should continue to respond to the ever-changing needs of the public and of the era, so as to develop and prosper together with society as a whole,” Ma said in a memo to employees published online.Tencent’s ear-marked budget could rank among the world’s largest corporate philanthropic endeavors -- total U.S. charitable giving from individuals, non-profits and corporations surpassed $449 billion in 2019, according to the Giving USA foundation. The Chinese company has only just completed one of the year’s biggest Asian dollar-bond deals and had about $23 billion of cash and equivalents at the end of December.Corporations around the world have in recent years stepped up philanthropy and so-called ESG or environmental, social and governance efforts, in part because investors are paying more attention to this area. China itself has launched campaigns to clean up the environment, worried about the toll pollution could take on the economy as well as its people.Ahead of an annual meeting of top officials this year, Ma led research into low-carbon industries and submitted a proposal to lawmakers regarding carbon neutrality for tech companies. Tencent also organizes an annual online charity campaign and awards prizes to young scientists in China.Read more: Jack Ma’s Double-Whammy Marks End of China Tech’s Golden Age(Updates with Tencent’s other efforts in the last paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Australia's Woolworths takes controlling stake in data analytics firm for $173 million

    The company said on Tuesday it will increase its shareholding in Quantium for A$223 million ($173.25 million). The deal implies a valuation of A$796 million for Quantium, nearly 20-times the value when it took a 50% stake in 2013. Woolworths, which benefited from COVID-19-induced stockpiling in 2020, had warned in February that sales growth would slow in the months ahead as travel restrictions eased and vaccinations increased.

  • Derek Chauvin trial: Jury begins verdict deliberations as state and defence finish their closing arguments

    ‘You were told George Floyd died because his heart was too big but he died because Derek Chauvin’s heart was too small,’ prosecutor says

  • Vaccine hopes boost euro, dollar on back foot as yields off highs

    The dollar had already been losing traction as U.S. bond yields have hovered below a 14-month peak touched last month, reducing the greenback's yield attraction. Some analysts say support for the euro likely came from the announcement that the European Union has secured an additional 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by BioNTech and Pfizer. "The U.S. got ahead of the curve in the first quarter, but other countries are going to be quickly catching up."

  • GeoPark Limited Announces the Successful Early Tender Results of Its Cash Tender Offer for up to US$255,000,000 of Its 6.500% Senior Notes Due 2024 and Solicitation of Consents for Proposed Amendments to the Related Indenture

    GeoPark Limited ("GeoPark" or the "Company") (NYSE: GPRK), an exempted company incorporated under the laws of Bermuda announced today the early tender results of its previously announced (i) tender offer to purchase for cash (the "Tender Offer") up to US$255,000,000 aggregate principal amount outstanding (the "Maximum Tender Amount") of its 6.500% Senior Notes due 2024 (the "Notes") (CUSIP Nos. 37255B AA7 / G38327 AA3 and ISIN Nos. US37255BAA70 / USG38327AA30) and (ii) solicitation of consents (the "Consent Solicitation") for proposed amendments (the "Proposed Amendments") to the related indenture (the "Indenture") under which the Notes were issued. The Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation are being made on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation Statement dated April 6, 2021 (as amended, the "Statement"), and related consent and letter of transmittal (the "Letter of Transmittal" and, together with the Statement, the "Offer Documents"). Capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Statement.

  • Radio Host Delilah Rene on the Conversation with Rory Feek that 'Gave Me Hope' After Her Sons' Deaths

    "I can't stop living just because they did," the beloved radio host tells Janine Rubenstein on the latest episode of the PEOPLE Every Day podcast