Swift wants to let banks test tokenized transactions on its global messaging network. Beginning next year, financial institutions (FIs) will be able to carry out pilot transactions for settling digital assets and currencies, Swift announced Thursday (Oct. 3), in hopes of demonstrating how FIs can transact interchangeably across asset and currency types using their Swift […]
Physical demand for gold across key markets has tumbled as prices continue to rise, with some retail consumers opting to sell their holdings and book the profit, industry players and analysts said. Spot gold rose to a record $2,685.42 per ounce on Sept. 26, and has gained around 29% so far this year – heading […]
US stocks closed firmly lower on Tuesday after Iran fired over 100 ballistic missiles at Israel, pushing oil prices for West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) and Brent (BZ=F) to their biggest increases in nearly a year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the declines, shedding around 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) moved about 0.4% […]
Saudi Arabia cut its growth forecasts and raised its budget deficit estimates for the fiscal years 2024 to 2026, looking ahead to a period of higher spending and lower projected oil revenues. Real gross domestic product is now expected to grow 0.8% this year, a dramatic drop from a previous estimate of 4.4%, according to […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in August as the American labor market continued to show resilience. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that employers posted 8 million vacancies in August, up from 7.7 million in July. Economists had expected openings to be virtually unchanged. Openings were up in construction and in state and local […]
Mastercard and Amazon have teamed to digitize payment acceptance in Africa and the Middle East. The partnership between Mastercard and Amazon Payment Services, announced Monday (Sept. 30), covers countries that include Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. The collaboration will see Amazon Payment Services adopt Mastercard Gateway […]
DETROIT — Ford Motor is aiming to boost sales of its electric vehicles by addressing potential customer concerns through a new program that includes free home-charging installation and other benefits. The “Ford Power Promise” program begins Tuesday for customers who purchase or lease a new Ford EV such as the F-150 Lightning pickup truck or Mustang Mach-E crossover. Part of […]
The harmonized German consumer price index eased to 1.8% in September, coming in lower than expected, preliminary data from the country’s statistics office Destatis showed on Monday. The September harmonized CPI figure had been forecast to come in at 1.9% according to a Reuters poll. In August, the harmonized CPI had surprisingly eased to 2%. […]
PENNSYLVANIA, USA — On Monday, Pennsylvania Turnpike officials announced that customers can now use Google Pay and Apple Pay as the newest options to pay tolls. “These new payment options deliver what the majority of our customers want: seamless and convenient mobility,” said Pa. Turnpike CEO Mark Compton. “Our customers have a clear preference for […]
KaiOS, the operating system that brings the best of the internet to affordable devices, announced a partnership with Mastercard (NYSE: MA) to integrate a range of digital payments solutions. Mastercard and KaiOS explained in a blog post that they will aim to deliver affordable payment acceptance devices and “stimulate the growth of a more inclusive, connected […]
Donald Trump has identified what he sees as an all-purpose fix for what ails America: Slap huge new tariffs on foreign goods entering the United States. The former president and current Republican nominee asserts that tariffs — basically import taxes — will create more factory jobs, shrink the federal deficit, lower food prices and allow […]
BlackRock’s recent endorsement of Bitcoin highlights the cryptocurrency’s potential to grow for years to come. Bitcoin‘s (BTC -0.35%) evolution over the past 15 years has been nothing short of extraordinary. If you had told someone when Bitcoin first launched in 2009 that the world’s largest asset manager would one day declare Bitcoin a portfolio necessity, they likely wouldn’t […]
