WORLDWIDE : HEADLINES
Australian regulator says Google misled users over data privacy issues
SYDNEY – Australia’s competition regulator on Monday accused Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) of misleading consumers to get permission for use of their personal data for targeted advertising, seeking a fine “in the millions” and aiming to establish a precedent.
The move comes as scrutiny grows worldwide over data privacy, with U.S. and European lawmakers recently focusing on how tech companies treat user data.
In court documents, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) accused Google of not explicitly getting consent or properly informing consumers of a 2016 move to combine personal information in Google accounts with browsing activities on non-Google websites.
“This change … was worth a lot of money to Google,” said commission chairman Rod Sims. “We allege they’ve achieved it through misleading behaviour.”
The change allowed Google to link the browsing behaviour of millions of consumers with their names and identities, providing it with extreme market power, the regulator added.
Full coverage : REUTERS
Huawei cuts India revenue target by up to 50%, laying off staff: ET
Chinese telecom company Huawei Technologies Co has cut its India revenue target for 2020 by up to 50% and is laying off more than half of its staff in the country, the Economic Times reported on Monday, amid calls to boycott Chinese goods in Asia’s third-largest economy.
Huawei is now targeting $350-$500 million in revenue for 2020, compared with roughly $700-800 million it was aiming earlier, the newspaper reported.
Huawei is cutting 60-70% of its Indian staff, excluding those in research and development and the global service centre, the newspaper said, citing people aware of the matter.
The report comes amid a rise in anti-China sentiment in India following the killing of 20 Indian soldiers by Chinese forces in a Himalayan border dispute last month.
Full coverage : REUTERS
WORLDWIDE : ECONOMY / FINANCE
China’s industrial profit growth quickens, signals firming economic recovery
BEIJING – Profits at China’s industrial firms rose for a second straight month and at the fastest pace in over a year, adding to signs the country’s economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis is gaining momentum.
The statistics bureau said on Monday that profits at China’s industrial firms rose 11.5% year-on-year in June to 666.55 billion yuan ($95.27 billion) – marking the quickest profit growth since March 2019.
May marked the sector’s first monthly growth in earnings since November, before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
For January-June, industrial firms’ profits fell 12.8% year-on-year to 2.51 trillion yuan, but easing from a 19.3% dive in the first five months.
Full coverage : REUTERS
Oil slips as rising virus cases, U.S.-China tensions weigh on markets
SINGAPORE – Oil prices edged lower on Monday as rising coronavirus cases and tensions between the United States and China pushed investors toward safe-haven assets.
Brent crude LCOc1 dipped 14 cents, or 0.3%, to $43.20 a barrel by 0242 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 dropped to $41.19 a barrel, down 10 cents, or 0.2%.
The fall in oil mirrored moves in broader financial markets in Asia amid concerns about escalating tensions between the world’s two biggest economies following the closures of consulates in Houston and Chengdu. Global coronavirus cases, meanwhile, exceeded 16 million.
Still, Brent is on track for a fourth straight monthly gain in July and WTI is set to rise for a third month as unprecedented supply cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Countries and its allies including Russia propped up prices. Output has also fallen in the United States.
Full coverage : REUTERS
Dollar struggles amid Sino-U.S. tensions, coronavirus woes
SINGAPORE – The dollar began the week under pressure from all corners as intensifying Sino-U.S. tensions added to worries that the coronavirus resurgence in United States could undermine the recovery in the world’s biggest economy.
In morning trade it fell to a four-month low against the yen and a new 22-month trough on the euro EUR=EBS at $1.1699.
The Antipodean currencies also rose a little and against a basket of currencies the dollar was at its lowest since September 2018. .DXY
The lack of support for the greenback, even as tit-for-tat consular closures marked the latest escalation in U.S.-China tensions, is a shift for the dollar which has been closely tracking global sentiment through the coronavirus crisis.
Full coverage : REUTERS
Bitcoin rises above $10,000 for first time since early June
After several weeks of trading in narrow ranges, bitcoin breached $10,000 on Sunday for the first time since early June.
In addition to suffering pricing blows due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, the virtual currency went through its third so-called halving on May 11, which cut the rewards given to those who “mine” bitcoin to 6.25 new coins from 12.5.
The “halving” has affected the supply side of bitcoin and increased the time needed for miners to find their break-even point.
On Sunday, the cryptocurrency hit highs of $10,200.
Full coverage : REUTERS
