Browsing: Business

The agreement brings the Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming together with the Ministry of Youth and Sports on business licensing. It also covers investment promotion and services for companies operating in sports-related fields. The ministries will coordinate through Indonesia’s Online Single Submission system, known as OSS. Their cooperation also includes compliance monitoring, regulatory coordination and data sharing. The framework applies to investment development across Indonesia’s sports sector rather than establishing a US$521 billion domestic industry target.

Oil prices recovered modestly on Tuesday after Brent crude and WTI fell more than 2% in the previous session. Brent futures rose 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $92.44 a barrel by 0330 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained 37 cents, or 0.4%, to $85.38. The rebound followed Monday’s sharp pullback, which ended six consecutive sessions of gains across the two benchmark crude contracts.

Alibaba Group has priced an HK$80 billion share placement to fund artificial intelligence investment and expand its AI infrastructure. The Chinese technology group will issue 710 million new ordinary shares at HK$112.70 each. The deal is worth about US$10.2 billion at current exchange rates. Alibaba expects the transaction to close on Aug. 26, subject to customary conditions.

PanStar Line Dot Com operates the vessel, which is carrying 837 TEU during the Arctic shipping trial. About 737 TEU consists of commercial cargo, including chemical products, used vehicles and automotive parts. The load also includes 100 empty containers. The vessel is scheduled to enter Arctic waters around August 30 and complete that section around September 7. Officials estimate the Arctic portion of the voyage at about 6,400 kilometers.

July marked the second consecutive monthly record for imports by value. Crude oil played a major role in the increase as Japan faced higher energy costs. Crude import volumes rose 5.5% from July 2025, ending three months of year-on-year declines. The value of those crude shipments jumped 87.8% over the same period. Japan remains heavily dependent on imported energy, making changes in oil prices and exchange rates important factors in its merchandise trade figures.

U.S. stocks ended modestly higher Wednesday as long-term Treasury yields fell sharply. The S&P 500 rose 16.22 points, or 0.21%, to 7,707.98, ending a three-session losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 119.65 points, or 0.22%, to close at 53,463.05. The Nasdaq Composite added 41.38 points, or 0.16%, finishing at 26,331.09. Falling government bond yields helped major indexes recover after several sessions of pressure from rising borrowing costs. Bond prices climbed after the U.S. Treasury Department announced larger liquidity support buybacks for longer-dated government debt. Starting September 9, the maximum purchase size will increase from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. The change covers nominal coupon securities in the 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year maturity sectors. The increased amounts will remain in effect through November 4. The department said strong volumes of high-quality offers supported the decision to increase liquidity operations in those sectors.

Eco-friendly vehicles provided the strongest lift to South Korea’s auto exports during the month. Their export value increased 25.5% from a year earlier to US$2.59 billion. Electric and hydrogen vehicle exports rose 31.9% to US$940 million. Hybrid exports advanced 22.2% to US$1.65 billion. By contrast, exports of internal combustion engine vehicles fell 3.1% to US$3.65 billion. Eco-friendly models accounted for about 41.5% of the country’s total automobile export value in July.

Diesel prices remained elevated on Wednesday as tighter refined-product supplies kept pressure on fuel markets in the United States and Europe. U.S. ultra-low sulfur diesel futures jumped 7.4% on Monday to settle at $4.19 a gallon. That marked the contract’s biggest daily gain since July 13. Early Wednesday trading put the contract near $4.28 a gallon, while European diesel refining margins remained at historically high levels after rising nearly 10% on Monday.

Triodos Bank assessed four main channels: labour productivity, agriculture, energy production, and transport and logistics. It estimated lower labour productivity could reduce EU GDP by about 0.6%, making it the largest single factor. The bank also expects EU agricultural output to fall 3% to 7% because of heat and drought. Reduced power generation, higher electricity prices and transport disruptions add to the estimated economic damage across Europe.

The July consumer price index reached 102.92, with 2025 set as the index base of 100. Holiday home rentals and package holidays accounted for 1.24 percentage points of the monthly increase. Food added 0.15 percentage point. Lower clothing, hotel accommodation and footwear prices reduced the monthly rise by a combined 0.34 percentage point. Rent provided the largest positive contribution to annual inflation, adding 0.55 percentage point. Holiday home rentals added 0.51 point, while fuel added 0.39 point. Electricity prices cut 0.68 point from the annual rate. Food prices reduced it by 0.26 point, and package holidays subtracted 0.06 point. The combined movements left headline inflation below June’s 1.9% reading.