Year: 2025
The world’s most powerful passport has a clear winner this year — in 2024 it was a six-way tie
Singapore has the world’s most powerful passport, according to the 2025 Henley Passport Index. The nation-state was one of six countries which tied for the top spot in 2024 in the list produced by the migration consultancy Henley & Partners, which ranks passports by the number of destinations that holders can access without needing a […]
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Asia’s central banks face a formidable challenge: An ascendant U.S. dollar
A man looks in the window of a money changer showing the rate of various currencies against the Japanese yen, along a street in central Tokyo on April 29, 2024. Richard A. Brooks | Afp | Getty Images Central banks in Asia face a catch-22 in 2025. A relentless rise in the U.S. dollar has […]
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Biden cancels Italy trip due to California wildfires
US President Joe Biden arrives on the South Lawn of the White House as he returns to Washington, DC, from Camp David, on Jan. 2, 2025. Chris Kleponis | AFP | Getty Images U.S. President Joe Biden canceled an upcoming trip to Italy due to the wildfires in California, the White House said on Wednesday, adding that he wanted to […]
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Australia November retail sales rise by most in 10 months on Black Friday boost
Pedestrians pass shops in the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney, Australia, on Friday, July 26, 2024. Lisa Maree Williams | Bloomberg | Getty Images Australian retail sales saw the biggest increase in 10 months in November as Black Friday discounting drew cost-conscious shoppers, but even so they missed forecasts suggesting consumer demand remains subdued. Analysts also suspect the extra demand was just brought forward from […]
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China’s consumer inflation slows further in December, stoking deflation worries
Customers purchase fruit at a supermarket on December 9, 2024 in Qingzhou, Shandong Province of China. Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images China’s consumer prices in December edged up 0.1% year on year, in line with expectations, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday, but the slower rise from the previous […]
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CNBC Daily Open: Markets shrug off inflation warnings
Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, during a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed […]
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Microsoft confirms performance-based job cuts across departments
Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella speaks at a press briefing on the company’s campus in Redmond, Washington, on May 20, 2024. Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images Microsoft is cutting a small percentage of jobs across departments, based on performance, the company confirmed to CNBC on Wednesday. “At Microsoft we focus on high-performance […]
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Asia markets set to fall as inflation worries may impede Fed rate cuts; China inflation data in focus
Customers shopping for vegetables at a supermarket in Nanjing, China. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets were set to fall Thursday after U.S. stocks ended a choppy session slightly higher as the Federal Reserve meeting minutes signaled interest rates could stay higher for longer due to sticky inflation. Investors in Asia also await […]
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Bernstein says Taiwanese chip supplier behind Nvidia’s tiny supercomputer to benefit in 2026
MediaTek , the Taiwanese semiconductor company collaborating with Nvidia on its small artificial intelligence supercomputer, is expected to see significant financial benefits from the partnership starting in 2026, according to Bernstein. The project, unveiled by Nvidia at the electrics show CES this week, involves MediaTek’s contribution to the Grace Blackwell 10 (GB10) chip design, which […]
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Beyond Tencent: Goldman refreshes its list of top Asian stocks — giving one nearly 50% upside
Goldman Sachs is cautious on Chinese tech behemoth Tencent Holdings , removing it from its Asia-Pacific “conviction list” of top picks. The company was added to the U.S. Department of Defense’s list of “Chinese military companies” on Jan. 7. That means that the government body will be prohibited from procuring goods or services directly from entities […]
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