NEW YORK - Despite all the hype and buzz, Facebook didn't pop - or even budge. In a sober debut, shares of Facebook, the social network operator, closed just barely above their offering price on Friday (yesterday morning, Singapore time) as the company's...

HELSINKI - Nokia is tearing through its cash reserves at an unsustainable rate, raising what some analysts say are serious questions about the struggling Finnish phone maker's ability to stabilise its finances in the months ahead.

With the cost...

SAN FRANCISCO - The historic initial public offering of Facebook did not go as planned yesterday, as the social networking company's sky-high valuation combined with trading glitches left the stock languishing near its offering price at the market...

Hewlett-Packard's chief executive, Ms Meg Whitman, plans to cut 30,000 or more jobs next week, according to officials familiar with the plan. Her goal, they said on Thursday, is to spend the money she saves on increasing the efficiency of the company's...

SINGAPORE - Singapore companies with manufacturing bases in China have seen their operational costs creep up in recent months amid higher minimum wages, inflation and a shortage of young migrant workers, the essential pool of labour for the "world's...

SINGAPORE - Budget carrier Tiger Airways took another nosedive in its fiscal fourth quarter, chalking up a net loss of S$16.4 million compared with a net profit of S$1.4 million a year earlier as a result of high fuel costs and a costly grounding in...

Deutsche Bank keeps call but cuts target price to S$1.65 from S$1.77. Although Genting posted "decent sequential gaming volume growth in the first quarter", house sees "limited upside potential in the near term" given that fresh gaming ventures and junket...

SHANGHAI - China's home prices fell in a record 46 of 70 cities tracked by the government last month from a year earlier, as officials pledged to keep restrictions on property purchases that have sapped buyer demand.

The eastern city of Wenzhou...

China's annual economic growth could slow to 7.5 per cent in the second quarter, largely due to property sector curbs and headwinds from external demand, the State Information Centre, a government think-tank, said in a report published yesterday.

NEW YORK - The world's most keenly anticipated share sale kicked off yesterday, with Facebook shares opening at US$42.05 in very heavy trading, up 10.7 per cent from its US$38 initial public offering price, before giving up nearly all of those gains in...

LONDON - Asian markets fell heavily yesterday as a deepening Spanish banking crisis, uncertainty about Greece's future in the euro zone and lacklustre United States data prompted a flight from risky assets.

Singapore's Straits Times Index shed...

The ongoing correction in risky asset markets is likely to continue over the coming months. Losses are likely in equities, commodities and growth-sensitive or risk-related currencies.

The dynamics driving this renewed round of risk aversion...

TOKYO - Japan's government took a brighter view of the economy in a report on Friday, thanks to improvements in private consumption and exports, but it warned that Europe's debt crisis and financial market swings could worsen the outlook.

The...

NEW YORK - Moody's Investor Service carried out a sweeping downgrade of 16 Spanish banks on Thursday, including Banco Santander, the euro zone's largest bank, citing a weak economy and the government's reduced ability to support troubled lenders.

TOKYO - Japan's Toshiba said yesterday it aims to more than double its annual operating profit in three years to US$5.6 billion (S$7.1 billion), by expanding its social infrastructure business and boosting sales of electronics devices.

The...

SAN FRANCISCO - Hewlett-Packard is poised to eliminate as many as 30,000 jobs to compensate for dwindling demand for personal computers as more people connect to the Internet on smartphones and tablets, according to reports published yesterday.

NEW YORK - Facebook pulled it off.

As investors raced to get shares, the sprawling social network raised US$16 billion (S$20 billion) yesterday in an initial public offering that valued Facebook at US$104 billion.

The IPO signals a rapid...

NEW YORK - Wal-Mart reported first-quarter profit yesterday that beat Wall Street estimates, but the world's largest retailer also disclosed that it is expanding an internal probe into alleged bribes at its Mexico unit to include other countries.

TOKYO - Japan's Nikkei share average dropped sharply this morning, breaking through the 8,800 support level, as concerns about the health of Spain's banking system and a stronger yen worsen already bearish investor sentiment.

"Even though...

World stocks fell for a fifth day and Brent oil prices dropped 2 per cent yesterday on concerns about the health of Spain's banks and the prospect of Greece leaving the euro zone.

Adding to pressure on Wall Street stocks was a US government...