United News of Bangladesh

World shares advanced Friday but U.S. futures were lower as Russian troops pressed toward the capital of Ukraine. Market benchmarks rose in London, Paris, Tokyo and Shanghai but fell in Hong Kong. Russian shares gained 15%, rebounding after a nosedive on Thursday as the invasion of Ukraine began. The price of oil hovered just below $100 per barrel and prices of most other commodities fell after surging the day before. Despite uncertainty about the Ukraine and worries over inflation and the pandemic, an overnight turnaround on Wall Street seemed to buoy Asian and European shares. Investors appeared relieved that sanctions against Russia were not as severe as they might have been, even as Ukraine’s president pleaded for international help to fend off an attack that could topple his democratically elected government, cause massive casualties and ripple out damage to the global economy. France's CAC 40 edged up 0.6% in early trading to 6,562.96, while Germany's DAX rose 0.2% to 14,083.92. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 1.2% to 7,295.52. Read: Ukraine's capital under threat as Russia presses invasion But U.S. futures augured a less upbeat start for New York markets, with the future for the benchmark S&P 500 down 1.2% while the contract for the Dow industrials was 1% lower. Russia was pressing its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital Friday after unleashing airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending in troops and tanks from three sides in what amounts to the largest ground war in Europe since World War II. Market players might be betting that the crisis could slow moves by central banks to cool inflation by raising interest rates and unwinding other support for pandemic-burdened economies, said Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote Bank SA. “But in reality, it’s about volatility, high volatility that results from a high-voltage environment," Ozkardeskaya wrote in a commentary. “This morning, the US equity futures are again in the red. It’s impossible to tell what direction the market will take in the next five minutes. The only certainty is uncertainty, and this is how it will be for the next couple of sessions unfortunately." The Russian invasion of Ukraine caused a barrage of new, targeted financial sanctions meant to isolate, punish and impoverish Russia in the long term. But U.S. and European officials have held back on one key financial measure, choosing for now not to boot Russia off SWIFT, the dominant system for global financial transactions. Japan on Friday announced new sanctions on Russia, including freezing the assets of Russian groups, banks and individuals and suspending exports of semiconductors and other sensitive goods to military-linked organizations in Russia. Earlier in the week, Tokyo suspended new issuances and distribution of Russian government bonds in Japan, to reduce financing opportunities for Russia. It also banned trade with the two Ukrainian separatist regions. Read:Explosions heard in Kyiv early Friday as Russia presses Ukraine assault But while most nations in Asia rallied to support Ukraine, China denounced sanctions against Russia, blaming the United States and its allies for provoking Moscow. In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 2.0% to finish at 26,476.50. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost some of its earlier gains to close 0.1% higher at 6,997.80. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.1% to 2,676.76. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.6% to 22,767.18, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.6% to 3,451.41. Russia and Ukraine are major producers of both energy and grains and other commodities and the conflict pushed prices of many higher, adding to inflationary headaches for central banks. Asian economies already reeling from the pandemic are particularly vulnerable to rising energy costs. Japan imports almost all its energy, although its purchases from Russia are limited. On Friday, benchmark U.S. crude was up 59 cents at $93.40 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the basis for international oil prices, added $1.08 to $96.50 a barrel. Prices for energy have surged more in Europe than in the U.S. because its economy is more closely tied to Russia and Ukraine. The spot price in Europe for natural gas has jumped more than 50%. Higher energy and food prices are amplifying worries about inflation, which in January was at its hottest level in the United States in a couple generations, and about what the Federal Reserve will do to rein it in. The U.S. Fed looks certain to raise rates beginning next month for the first time since 2018. Although it sometimes has delayed big policy decisions in times of geopolitical uncertainty, such as the Kosovo war and the U.S. invasion of Iraq, economists say they still expect it to act to tamp down inflation. A major concern is whether it can do that without choking the economy into recession. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 115.25 Japanese yen from 115.48 yen. The euro cost $1.1189, up from $1.1204. The Russian ruble was down 1.5% at 83.75 to the dollar.

U.S. markets pointed toward a sharply lower open, following a global plunge in stocks and a surge in oil prices Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched military action in Ukraine, prompting Washington and Europe to vow sanctions on Moscow that may roil the global economy. Oil prices jumped by more than $7 per barrel and futures for Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were off by more than 2.5%. Market benchmarks in Europe and Asia fell as much as 5% as traders tried to figure out how large Putin's incursion would be and the scale of Western retaliation. Energy prices surged, fueling inflation fears. The spot price in Europe for natural gas, for which the continent relies on Russia to supply, jumped as much as 31%. Brent crude oil jumped above $100 per barrel in London for the first time since 2014 on unease about possible disruption of supplies from Russia, the No. 3 producer. Benchmark U.S. crude was close behind at $99 per barrel. Prices of wheat and corn also jumped. Also read: Asian stocks rebound after Wall St falls on Ukraine tensions The ruble sank as much as 7.5% against the dollar overnight but recovered slightly, down about 5% in the morning. Financial markets are in a “flight to safety and may have to price in slower growth" due to high energy costs, Chris Turner and Francesco Pesole of ING said in a report. In Brussels, the president of the European Commission said Thursday the 27-nation European Union planned “massive and targeted sanctions” on Russia. “We will hold President Putin accountable,” Ursula von der Leyen said. The FTSE 100 in London fell 3.3% after Europe awakened to news of explosions in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, the major city of Kharkiv and other areas. The DAX in Frankfurt plunged 5.4% and the CAC in Paris lost 4.9%. Moscow’s stock exchange briefly suspended trading on all its markets on Thursday morning. After trading resumed, the ruble-denominated MOEX stock index tumbled more than 20% and the dollar-denominated RTS index plunged by more than a third. That was on top of Wednesday's 1.8% slide for the S&P 500 to an eight-month low after the Kremlin said rebels in eastern Ukraine had asked for military assistance. Moscow had sent soldiers to some rebel-held areas after recognizing them as independent. Some analysts expect the conflict to push investors out of many tech stocks, with the exception of the cybersecurity sector. Also read: Stocks slump, oil surges over Ukraine conflict “Growing concern that massive cyber warfare could be on the near-term horizon which would certainly catalyze an increase in spending around preventing sophisticated Russian-based cyber attacks,” analysts with Wedbush Securities wrote in a note to clients. Putin said Russia had to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine, a claim Washington had predicted he would make to justify an invasion. President Joe Biden denounced the attack as “unprovoked and unjustified" and said Moscow would be held accountable, which many took to mean Washington and its allies would impose additional sanctions. Putin accused them of ignoring Russia’s demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and to offer Moscow security guarantees.   Washington, Britain, Japan and the EU earlier imposed sanctions on Russian banks, officials and business leaders. Additional options include barring Russia from the global system for bank transactions. The price for oil on international markets rose to $101.27, while West Texas Intermediate soared $7.65 to $99.75 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 25 cents to $92.10 on Wednesday. In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 1.8% to 25,970.82 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 3.2% to 22,901.56. The Shanghai Composite Index shed 1.7% to 3,429.96. Asian economies face lower risks than Europe does, but those that need imported oil might be hit by higher prices if Russian supplies are disrupted, forecasters say. The Kospi in Seoul lost 2.6% to 2,648.80 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 fell 3% to 6,990.60. India's Sensex fell 4.7% to 54,529.91. New Zealand lost 3.3% and Southeast Asian markets also fell. Investors already were uneasy about the possible impact of the Federal Reserve's plans to try to cool inflation by withdrawing ultra-low interest rates and other stimulus that boosted share prices. The dollar weakened to 114.69 yen from Wednesday's 114.98 yen. The euro fell to $1.1168 from $1.1306.

Warren Buffett’s company placed a rare bet on a technology company late last year and it has already paid off in a big way. Berkshire Hathaway revealed in documents filed with regulators on Monday that it bought near 15 million shares in game publisher Activision Blizzard during the last three months of 2021. The purchase came not long before Microsoft’s announcement in January that it was acquiring Activision for $68.7 billion, sending the stock soaring. Activision’s shares are up 22.5% so far this year. Berkshire estimated that its 14.7 million shares in Activision Blizzard, the maker of Candy Crush and Call of Duty, were worth roughly $975 million at the end of 2021. At the close of trading Monday, they were worth $1.19 billion. The investment by Buffett’s firm was a surprising move by the famously tech-averse investor. Buffett has long avoided investing in tech companies because he says it is too hard for him to pick the long-time winners in that sector. Also read: How India plans to spiff up economic growth The other changes to Berkshire’s roughly $330 billion portfolio revealed Monday were more typical for Buffett, such as increasing an investment in oil giant Chevron, eliminating a stake in Teva Pharmaceuticals and trimming its investments in several other drugmakers. Buffett and other Berkshire officials don’t comment on these quarterly stock filings, and the reports don’t state whether either one of Berkshire’s two other investment managers made the moves. Buffett typically handles all the company’s larger investments worth more than $1 billion apiece such as its major stakes in Apple, Bank of America and Coca-Cola, so the size of the Activision Blizzard investment suggests Buffett made that decision. Berkshire continued rebuilding its Chevron investment in the fourth quarter when it picked up nearly 10 million shares, but the stake of 38.2 million shares remains smaller than the 48.5 million shares it held when it first revealed the investment a year ago. Berkshire sold off a large chunk of its Chevron investment in the first half of last year. Buffett’s firm sold off the 42.8 million Teva shares it held and trimmed its holdings in other pharmaceutical companies Bristol Myers Squibb, Abbvie and Royalty Pharma. Also read: Alibaba appoints new CFO, reshuffles e-commerce businesses Berkshire also eliminated a $266 million investment in Sirius XM during the quarter. It revealed a new investment in Brazilian fintech NU Holdings that went public in December. Buffett’s company held 107 million shares of NU Holdings at the end of the year. In other moves, Berkshire cut down its investment in professional services firm Marsh & McLennan and trimmed its holdings in Mastercard, Visa and Charter Communications. Besides investments, Berkshire owns more than 90 companies outright, including Geico insurance, BNSF railroad, and several major utilities. The conglomerate also owns manufacturing, furniture, shoe, jewelry, chocolate, underwear and brick companies.

India on Tuesday unveiled a growth-oriented budget aimed at boosting infrastructure like highways, cargo terminals and airports, and proffering its credit guarantee scheme to small firms to help them tide over the Covid-induced losses. In her budget speech in Parliament, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the budget for the next fiscal -- from April 2022 to March 2023 -- had been raised to USD 540 billion (40 trillion Indian rupees) from USD 477 billion in the ongoing financial year. “The economy has shown resilience to come out of the pandemic. We need to sustain the level of growth. The new infrastructure investments are part of the government's economic blueprint for the next 25 years," Sitharaman said. The new infrastructure investments included a masterplan for some expressways (a high-speed corridor on a state or national highway), 25,000km of new highways, 100 new cargo terminals and some new greenfield airports. Also read: Incentives for green hydrogen in India likely in Union Budget On the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for small businesses, the Finance Minister said that it would be extended for one more year, up to March 2023. "The allocation for the scheme aimed at providing credit to micro, small and medium-sized businesses, or MSMEs, will be expanded by Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 5 lakh crore," she said, adding that the extra amount would be earmarked for sectors such as hospitality. In another big announcement, the Finance Minister said that the country's central bank would soon issue a new digital currency, powered by blockchain technology. At the same time, she proposed a 30% tax on any income from digital or virtual assets. "A currency is a currency if it is issued by the central bank. Anything outside is not a currency. Everything that exists outside the central bank's ambit is an asset and we are taxing it at 30%," she said. In July 2021, the Reserve Bank of India said it was working towards its own digital currency. "The Central Bank Digital Currency will be the same as a fiat currency and exchangeable one-to-one with the fiat currency," the bank's deputy governor T Rabi Sankar had said. Moreover, in a first, the Finance Minister announced a plan to set up a National Tele-Mental Health programme in India under which 23 tele-mental health centres would be launched to address mental health issues plaguing many during the pandemic. “To better the access to quality mental health counselling and care services, a National-Tele Mental Health programme will be launched. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Bengaluru, will provide tech support for the mental health programme,’’ she said. However, no changes were announced in personal income tax rates this year. The government also did not announce any additional taxes on the country's wealthy, which brought cheers to the country's bourses. Post-budget presentation, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his televised address, described it as "people-friendly and progressive". "The budget has brought new hopes and opportunities for the common people," he said, congratulating his Finance Minister. India's main opposition Congress party, however, slammed the government, saying there was nothing in the budget for the middle classes, youth, farmers or women. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to say that it was a "zero sum budget".

Global smartphone brand vivo recently brought its newest flagship phone V23 5G to the Bangladesh market. The phone will be available in stores now from Saturday, the company said. A combination of a 50MP AF Portrait Selfie and an 8MP Super Wide-Angle Camera enables V23 5G users to capture hyper-clear portraits. Read: Vivo V23 5G launched in Bangladesh The high-resolution 50MP AF Portrait Selfie front camera features the latest ISOCELL 3.0 technology that increases light sensitivity to deliver perfect images even in low light conditions. The 8MP Super Wide-Angle Camera in the front delivers a 105° wide-angle field-of-view for the perfect group portraits. Stylised portraits are also maximised with the new Party Portrait feature to capture captivating party scenes. The new Natural Portrait feature meets a diverse range of selfie needs. Read: Vibrant to open flagship store at JFP V23 5G also features 4K Selfie Video. Also, the phone's triple rear camera module consists of a 64MP GW1 Super-Sensing Camera, an 8MP wide-angle camera and a 2MP macro camera that supports Super Night Mode. The device is designed to deliver a unique look and feel with a diverse appeal to suit multiple styles, all within a 7.39mm ultra-slim body. The design is complemented by Color Changing Fluorite AG Glass to provide a super fine and textured feel that is soft to touch yet resistant to fingerprints. Read Vivo phones in Bangladesh vivo V23 5G is equipped with MediaTek Dimensity 920 processor, 8GB RAM in addition to the 4GB extended RAM 2.0, 128GB ROM, and a 4200mAh battery. The phone is selling for Tk39,990.

Iraq has expressed its interest to boost trade and investment with Bangladesh and renew the trade agreements between the two countries. Iraqi Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdulsalam Saddam Mohaimsen expressed interest at a meeting with Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi at his official residence on Thursday. The ambassador also invited the Commerce Minister to visit Iraq at a convenient time to discuss trade and investment issues. In response, Tipu Munshi said, "Bangladesh has an opportunity to enhance trade and investment with Iraq. To this end, it will be easier to identify trade and investment sectors if trade delegations from both the government and business levels of the two countries exchange visits.” Read: India seeks FBCCI's cooperation in boosting bilateral trade “Bangladesh signed a trade agreement with Iraq in 1971 to facilitate trade and commerce. It has the potential to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries,” he added. He said under the initiative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina the work of setting up 100 special economic zones in some important places of Bangladesh is progressing fast. "Iraqi investors will benefit if they invest in Bangladesh's special economic zones. Bangladesh has made conducive environment for the investors and providing a number of attractive facilities. Iraq can take advantage of all these opportunities,” Tipu said. Read: Chevron signs deal with Rock Energy to market its lube products in Bangladesh Bangladesh exported goods worth USD $3.80 million to Iraq in the fiscal year 2020-2021. At the same time, it imported goods worth $53.42 million from Iraq.

A delegation of Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI), led by its president Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury,  met German Ambassador to Bangladesh Achim Troster at the German Embassy in the city on Thursday. The other two members of the delegation were BCI director K. M. Rifatuzzaman and its secretary general Ardhendu Shekhar Roy, according to a BCI press release. The BCI leaders discussed various economic issues with the German envoy and sought his country’s cooperation to create skilled manpower for micro and small industries in Bangladesh. The BCI president said that his organisation is the only chamber in entire Bangladesh representing all types of industries in both public and private sectors and it has been making significant contribution to the industrialisation and economic development of the country. BCI has been working together to create and develop new entrepreneurs in micro and small scale industrial sector, he said adding that it has been working to overcome all obstacles in all local industries. Read: Businesses urge BSEC to enlist goof companies in stock market The BCI president further said that cottage, micro and small scale industries have been a potential sector in the country but there is a dearth of skilled manpower in the sector.  “Providing training to manpower for the micro and small scale industries, light engineering, agro-processing industries and other potential sector could play an important role in addressing the shortage of skilled manpower”, said the BCI president. He mentioned the BCI wants to use the existing infrastructure of the country’s Technical Education Department to bring in skilled trainers from technically rich countries like Germany to create trainers who will later provide training to create skilled workers and managers across the country to address the problem. The German Ambassador appreciated the BCI initiative and assured of his country's cooperation in bringing various trainers from private sector including GIZ of Germany to Bangladesh.

Calling him a “clown, genius, edgelord, visionary, industrialist, showman,” Time magazine has named Tesla CEO Elon Musk as its Person of the Year for 2021. Musk, who is also the founder and CEO space exploration company SpaceX, recently passed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the world’s wealthiest person as the rising price of Tesla pushed his net worth to around $300 billion. He owns about 17% of Tesla’s stock, which sold for almost $1,000 each on Monday. Read: Elon Musk tweets to ask if he should sell some Tesla stock Time cited the breadth of Musk’s endeavors, from his founding of SpaceX in 2002, to his hand in the creation of the alternative energy company SolarCity in addition to Tesla, the most valuable car company in the world. The magazine emphasizes that its annual acknowledgement is not an award, but rather, “recognition of the person who had the most influence on the events of the year, for good or for ill.” The magazine also noted the sway Musk holds over an army of loyal followers (and investors) on social media, where he skewers the powerful and also regulators attempting to keep in check an executive that is far from traditional. Before his 66 million followers on Twitter, he offers outlandish assistance to the world and drives even his own followers and investors mad by roiling markets. Though it only became profitable in recent years, Tesla is far and away the world’s most valuable car company, at one point this year crossing the $1 trillion market capitalization threshold. Detroit heavyweights Ford and General Motors are worth less than $200 billion combined. Read:Elon Musk: Some Amazing Facts Musk said last month that SpaceX will attempt to launch its futuristic, bullet-shaped Starship to orbit in January. NASA has contracted with SpaceX to use Starship for delivering astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2025. Musk said he plans to use the reusable ships to eventually land people on Mars. Time highlighted Musk’s recent admission to his 66 million Twitter followers that half his tweets were “made on a porcelain throne.” In its profile of the provocative CEO, Time went on to chronicle one of those toilet tweet storms in detail before concluding: ”This is the man who aspires to save our planet and get us a new one to inhabit.”

China’s largest e-commerce group Alibaba said Monday it is appointing a new chief financial officer and reorganizing its e-commerce businesses amid a regulatory crackdown in the technology industry. The company said in a statement Monday that Toby Xu will succeed Maggie Wu as its new CFO from April 1, 2022. Xu joined Alibaba from PricewaterhouseCoopers three years ago and was appointed deputy group CFO in July 2019. Wu, who has been Alibaba’s CFO since 2013 and has helped lead three Alibaba-related company listings, will continue to serve as an executive director on Alibaba’s board. She will also remain as a partner in the Alibaba Partnership – a group of senior executives who have the right to nominate a simple majority of Alibaba’s board of directors. “We are focused on the long-term, and succession within our management team on every occasion is always in the service of ensuring Alibaba will be stronger and better positioned for the future,” said Daniel Zhang, chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group. Read: Alibaba fined $2.8 billion on competition charge in China Separately, Alibaba said that it would be creating an International Digital Commerce team to handle its e-commerce businesses in international markets. A China Digital Commerce team will be in charge of e-commerce operations inside China, according to a post on the company’s Alizila news hub. The international and domestic digital commerce teams will be led by executives Jiang Fan and Trudy Dai respectively. Jiang has been in charge of Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba’s core e-commerce sites in China. Dai was the firm’s chief customer officer. The Hangzhou-based firm was fined a record $2.8 billion for antitrust violations and is under scrutiny as regulators step up oversight of the technology industry at a time when the economy is slowing. Read: E-commerce giant Alibaba's shares jump 8% in Hong Kong debut Last month, Alibaba cut its sales outlook for the year amid mounting competition from rivals such as Pinduoduo. It expects growth for its current year to be the slowest since it listed in New York in 2014. Alibaba’s flagship Singles’ Day shopping extravaganza also posted its slowest-ever growth this year, amid muted marketing campaigns and a shift to sustainability and philanthropy amid Chinese President Xi Jinping’s calls for “common prosperity.” Alibaba’s New York stock price has plunged more than 50% over the last 12 months. The company’s Hong Kong-traded shares were down 4.9% Monday.

Nissan said Monday it is investing 2 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) over the next five years and developing a cheaper, more powerful battery to boost its electric vehicle lineup. The Japanese automaker’s chief executive, Makoto Uchida, said 15 new electric vehicles will be available by fiscal 2030. Nissan Motor Co. is aiming for a 50% “electrification” of the company’s model lineup, under what Uchida called the “Nissan Ambition 2030” long-term plan. Electrified vehicles include hybrids and other kinds of environmentally friendly models other than just electric vehicles. Read: Elon Musk tweets to ask if he should sell some Tesla stock The effort is focused mainly on electric vehicles to cut emissions and meet various customers’ needs, said Uchida. Nissan also will reduce carbon emissions at its factories, he added. The company has been struggling to put the scandal of its former Chairman Carlos Ghosn behind it. Ghosn, who led Nissan for two decades, after he was sent to Japan by French alliance partner Renault, was arrested in Tokyo in 2018 on various financial misconduct charges. Uchida made no mention of the scandal but referred to “past mistakes” he promised won’t be repeated at Nissan. Nissan’s “electrification” rests on developing a new ASSB, or all solid state battery, that it categorized as “a breakthrough” for being cheaper and generating more power than batteries now in use. That means electric powertrains can be more easily used in trucks, vans and other heavier vehicles because the batteries can be smaller. The ASSB will be in mass production by 2028, according to Nissan. The costs of electric vehicles will also fall thanks to the battery innovation to levels comparable with regular gasoline cars, Uchida said. Read: Dutch court orders former Nissan boss Ghosn to repay salary “Nissan has emerged from a crisis and is ready to make a new start,” he said. All top automakers, including Nissan’s Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp., are working on electric vehicles, amid growing concern over climate change and sustainability. Global consumers are also demanding more safety features. Uchida said Nissan was hiring 3,000 engineers to strengthen its research, including digital technology for vehicles. Nissan, based in Yokohama, Japan, has suffered recently from the computer chips shortage that’s slammed all automakers because of lockdowns and other measures at chip factories to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The maker of the Infiniti luxury models, Leaf electric vehicle and Z sportscar is projecting a return to profitability for the fiscal year through March 2022 after racking up two straight years of losses.