Markets

BEIJING: China’s Citic Bank and AIBank will lend 2.1 billion yuan (US$298.77 million) to hotpot chain Haidilao International to help it manage the plunge in demand during the coronavirus outbreak, according to a statement on AIBank’s official WeChat account on Friday (Feb 21). AIBank is a digital ...

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is jailed in Britain fighting extradition to the United States for espionage and computer hacking, may seek asylum in France, his lawyer Eric Dupond-Moretti said on Friday.

Chinese automaker Geely has launched a service for customers to buy cars online and get them delivered directly to their homes, in a bid to drum up sales as the coronavirus outbreak prompts buyers to stay away from showrooms.

Listed Chinese companies are queuing up to issue shares and have already announced plans to raise more than US$10 billion in the past week after fundraising rules were relaxed to help ease cash strains caused by the coronavirus.

SWEPT into fresh uncertainty from the virus outbreak, Singapore banks are cautious over the next three to six months, with about 10 per cent of their total loan portfolio seen to be exposed to vulnerable sectors for now.

Shares in Italy's biggest bank UniCredit fell more than 1per cent at open on Friday following reports Chief Executive Jean Pierre Mustier is being considered for the top job at rival HSBC .

Government measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus in China look set to delay the rollout of next-generation 5G telecom networks, a key technology initiative for the country's leadership.

INSURANCE provider Gigacover on Friday said it is extending its Covid-19 coverage further, at no additional cost, to freelancers on their income protection insurance plans, a key group of which includes Gojek drivers. 

Walmart's Flipkart has filed a legal challenge against an antitrust investigation ordered against the company in India, a court filing seen by Reuters showed, following a similar petition by its rival Amazon.com Inc.

: In the days after a new virus was identified in China on Dec. 31, global central bankers fell back on past experience for a comforting early analysis.