CNA938 Rewind - Training Employment Pass under scrutiny following alleged misuse
CNA938 Rewind - Iran-Israel truce: Possibility of a violation and what would Trump do?
A truce appears to have taken hold between Israel and Iran, despite initial violations by both sides. Meanwhile, a preliminary US intelligence assessment says the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities may have set back Tehran's programme by only a matter of months. What is the possibility of another ceasefire violation and what would US President Donald Trump do in response? Andrea Heng and Hairianto Diman chat with Professor Lawrence Rubin from the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology to find out.
15 mins
CNA938 Rewind - Training Employment Pass under scrutiny following alleged misuse
The Training Employment Pass has come under scrutiny of late, following allegations of misuse. Errant employers and agents have for years attempted to illegally bring in foreign workers for rank-and-file roles under the TEP. Andrea Heng and Hairianto Diman chat to Jaya Dass, APAC Managing Director at Randstad Enterprise to look at what can be done to curb this misuse.
14 mins
CNA938 Rewind - Is a share buyback scheme the best solution Income can come up with?
Following up on Income's proposal of a possible share buyback programme for its shareholders, Andrea Heng and Hairianto Diman find out if it is the best solution the Singapore insurer can come up with at this point and what other options could actually appease shareholders. They chat to Victor Lai, Principal Consultant at Citadelcorp.
13 mins
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International Business Times
an hour ago
- International Business Times
Nvidia Becomes World's Most Valuable Company Again as AI Boom Lifts Stock
Nvidia stock soared to new heights on Wednesday, allowing the company to once again become the most valuable publicly traded firm in the world. The California-based chipmaker saw its shares climb more than 4%, hitting a record price of $154.10. That surge brought Nvidia's total market capitalization to $3.76 trillion, pushing it ahead of Microsoft, which was valued at $3.65 trillion after a smaller 0.2% gain in its share price. The recent rally in Nvidia's stock was largely driven by a positive report from Loop Capital. The financial firm raised its price target for Nvidia to $250, up from $175, while maintaining a strong "buy" recommendation. Loop Capital analyst Ananda Baruah wrote that the market is entering what he described as a "Golden Wave" of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) adoption. He added that Nvidia is in a leading position to benefit from the next major phase of AI-driven demand for advanced computing hardware. This enthusiasm for Nvidia reflects renewed investor interest in artificial intelligence, a trend that has sparked enormous gains in technology and semiconductor stocks over the last few years. Nvidia's chips are considered among the best for running complex AI models, and demand continues to climb as industries adopt AI tools more widely. Interestingly, despite its steep rise, Nvidia's valuation still appears reasonable to some investors. The company is currently trading at around 30 times projected earnings for the next year, based on data from LSEG. That is below its five-year average price-to-earnings ratio of 40, indicating that Nvidia's strong earnings growth is keeping pace with its rising stock price. Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple have been competing for the title of the world's most valuable company over the past year. Microsoft recently held the top spot after overtaking Nvidia earlier in June. Meanwhile, Apple's stock also edged up by 0.4% on Wednesday, placing its total valuation at $3.0 trillion. Nvidia's rebound has been especially notable considering it had dropped significantly in April. The fall came after comments from former President Donald Trump about global tariffs, which triggered market jitters. However, Nvidia has since gained over 60% from its April low, fueled by investor optimism that the U.S. government will resolve trade disputes and avoid damaging tariffs on tech imports.
AsiaOne
2 hours ago
- AsiaOne
EU to canvass leaders at summit on resolving US tariff conflict, World News
BRUSSELS — European Union leaders are to tell the European Commission on Thursday (June 26) if they want a quick trade deal with the United States at the cost of Washington getting better terms, or to escalate the fight in hope of something better. A quick deal seems to be the preferred option for most, officials and diplomats said, as the EU can then seek to address the unfavourable bias with some rebalancing measures of its own. The Commission, which negotiates trade agreements on behalf of the EU, will ask leaders of the EU's 27 members meeting in Brussels how they want to respond to President Donald Trump's July 9 deadline for a deal, now less than two weeks away. The bloc has said it is striving for a mutually beneficial agreement, but as Washington looks set to stick to its 10 per cent across-the board tariffs on most EU goods and threatening higher rates with prolonged talks, EU diplomats said a growing number of EU countries were now favouring a quick resolution. "It is ...in everyone's interest that the trade conflict with the United States does not escalate further," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday in parliament. "I know that the European Commission is negotiating with great caution in this regard, and it has our full support. I hope that we will reach a solution with the United States by the beginning of July," Merz said. The bloc is already facing US import tariffs of 50 per cent on its steel and aluminium, 25 per cent for cars and car parts, along with a 10 per cent tariff on most other EU goods, which Trump has threatened could rise to 50 per cent without an agreement. The United States' only completed trade deal to date is with Britain, with the broad 10 per cent tariff still in place. US officials say it will not go lower for any trading partner. Some 23 of the leaders will come to Brussels straight from the Nato summit in the Hague. Few will want to follow accord there with an economic war. "There is a group of EU countries that want to protect companies by seemingly accepting something they have gotten used to — a 10 per cent baseline," one EU diplomat said. Rebalancing measures One question EU leaders face is whether it should respond with its own measures to such a baseline tariff. "We are also prepared for that with a range of options," Merz said. [[nid:719163]] The European Union has agreed, but not imposed, tariffs on 21 billion euros (S$31 billion) of US goods and is debating a further package of tariffs on up to 95 billion euros of US imports. Some EU countries favour watering it down. "The Commission has rightly said that some member states are nibbling away too much, which would weaken these rebalancing measures," one EU diplomat. Among the EU rebalancing options is a tax on digital advertising, which would hit US giants like Alphabet Inc's Google, Meta , Apple , X or Microsoft and eat into the trade surplus in services the US has with the EU. The bloc has a trade surplus with the US in goods. The Commission has proposed an EU-US deal to cut respective tariffs on industrial goods to zero, along with potential further EU purchases of liquefied natural gas and soybeans. Washington has shown little obvious interest, preferring to highlight items it considers as barriers, such as EU value-added tax, environmental standards and rules on online platforms, on which the EU does not want to move. On the sidelines of the summit, EU leaders will also seek to allay the concerns of Slovakia and Hungary over ending their access to Russian gas as foreseen by the EU's plan to phase out all Russian gas imports by the end of 2027. EU diplomats said EU leaders' assurances over gas should allow the two countries to back the EU's 18th package of sanctions against Russia, which they are now blocking. The sanctions could be adopted by EU governments on Friday. But the EU might have to drop from the package its proposal to lower the price cap on Russian seaborne oil to US$45 (S$53) per barrel from the current US$60, because the measure has failed to win the support of the US and EU countries with big oil shipping industries — Greece, Malta and Cyprus — are also against it. [[nid:719106]]
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Dollar slips on Fed credibility concerns, euro close to 4-year high
SYDNEY :The dollar slipped to multi-year lows against the euro and Swiss franc on Thursday as concerns about the future independence of the U.S. Federal Reserve undermined faith in the soundness of the country's monetary policy. According to a Wall Street Journal report, U.S. President Donald Trump had toyed with the idea of selecting and announcing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's replacement by September or October, aiming to undermine his position. "Markets are likely to bristle at any early move to name Powell's successor, particularly if the decision appears politically motivated," said Kieran Williams, head of Asia FX at InTouch Capital Markets. "The move would raise questions about the potential erosion of Fed independence and potentially weaken credibility," he added. "If this was the case it could recalibrate rate expectations, trigger reassessment of dollar positioning." Trump on Wednesday called Powell "terrible" for not lowering interest rates sharply, while the Fed Chair was telling the Senate that policy had to be cautious as the President's tariff plans were a risk to inflation. Markets have nudged up the chance of a rate cut at the Fed's next meeting in July to 25 per cent, from just 12 per cent a week ago, and are pricing in 64 basis points of cuts by year-end, up from around 46 basis points last Friday. "While this stands to be the latest hammer blow to the dollar delivered by the hands of the White House, I do expect it to gain some support in the coming sessions from month-end and quarter-end rebalancing flows," said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG. NOT SO EXCEPTIONAL For now, though, the dollar was under broad pressure as the euro gained 0.4 per cent to $1.1710, its highest since September 2021. The break of resistance at $1.1692 was brief, however, and it was later back at $1.1680. Sterling rose 0.3 per cent to $1.3723, its highest since January 2022, while the dollar was at its lowest in more than a decade on the Swiss franc at 0.80255 . The franc also struck a record peak on the yen around 180.55 overnight. The dollar lost 0.4 per cent on the yen to 144.57, while the dollar index sank to its lowest since early 2022 at 97.265 . Trump's chaotic tariff policies are also coming back into focus as the clock ticks down to his July 9 deadline for trade deals. JPMorgan on Wednesday warned the hit from tariffs would slow U.S. economic growth and lift inflation, resulting in a 40 per cent chance of a recession. "The risk of additional negative shocks is elevated, and we expect U.S. tariff rates to move higher," JPMorgan analysts said in their report. "The upshot of these developments is that our baseline scenario incorporates the end of a phase of U.S. exceptionalism." The ending of "exceptionalism" has been a major theme in the dollar's decline in recent months, as investors question its dominant reserve currency status and as the main safe haven among currencies. The euro has been a big beneficiary, with investors also hoping that massive new investment in European defence and infrastructure will bolster economic growth across the continent.
