British businesses are more pessimistic about their economic prospects than those in heavily sanctioned Russia as bosses plan mass job cuts in the wake of Rachel Reeves’s record tax raid.

A closely watched survey suggested that UK sentiment had plunged faster than any other major economy since October, when the Chancellor used her maiden Budget to announce a record £40bn of tax rises.

The poll by S&P Global suggested the UK was headed towards stagflation, with bosses planning to shed jobs faster than other major economies against a backdrop of the weakest global hiring plans since lockdown.

The UK economy has barely grown since Labour took power last summer, while inflation now stands at 3pc, which is almost at the level at which Andrew Bailey will have to write to the Chancellor explaining why price rises are so far away from the Bank of England’s 2pc target.

Businesses are concerned by a raft of cost increases from April that will see their National Insurance bills increase sharply alongside big rises in the minimum wage, which several business surveys have indicated will lead to higher prices and unemployment.

Source: FINANCE.YAHOO

Insilico Medicine Inc. is considering an initial public offering after securing funding at a valuation of more than $1 billion, reflecting growing interest in the potential use of AI to discover ground-breaking new drugs.

US-based Insilico, which has extensive operations in China, secured $110 million in a financing round led by Value Partners Group. Existing backers including Warburg Pincus, US biotech investor OrbiMed Advisors Llc and the venture arm of Eli Lilly & Co. participated, the company said in a statement.

Investor interest in generative AI startups has soared around the region since the emergence of China’s DeepSeek demonstrated advances made outside the US, the Series E funding took Insilico’s valuation to well above $1 billion.

Insilico, which earns revenue from licensing assets in its pipeline to clients such as Fosun Pharma and Exelixis Inc., is considering an eventual listing but is no hurry to do so, Zhavoronkov said over a Zoom call, speaking from the US. It’s also struck agreements on drug discovery with Sanofi SA, Saudi Aramco Oil and others, with a contract value in aggregate of about $3.5 billion on which the company receives certain payments and royalty fees.

Source: FINANCE.YAHOO

Oil gained as the US cut its forecast for global oversupply while traders continued to assess the wider outlook for economic growth after a recent slump in equities.

Brent crude rose around $70 a barrel after a modest gain on Tuesday, while West Texas Intermediate was just below $67. The Energy Information Administration slashed its prediction for a surplus for this year and halved its outlook for a glut in 2026, citing the prospect of diminished flows from Iran and Venezuela.

Crude recouped early losses on Tuesday even as fresh trade salvos from US President Donald Trump threatened to prolong a plunge in risk assets. Futures have fallen from a high in mid-January on the chaotic rollout of tariffs, OPEC+ plans to add supply and weakening demand in China.

Source: FINANCE.YAHOO

One ex-capital city is home to 4,200 millionaires and two billionaires, making it the richest city in West Africa, and the fifth wealthiest city in the whole continent. In this sprawling city, 4,200 residents have over $1million to their name, 12 have more than $100million, and there are two billionaires, according to the Africa Wealth Report 2024 by Henley and Partners.

Lagos, the capital of Nigeria until 1991 and the most populated city in Africa, is the base for the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and multi-national giants like the Dangote Group, owned by Aliko Dangote – a man estimated to be worth over $23.9billion (£18.8billion).

Nearly half of Nigeria’s wealthiest live in Lagos, as the country itself has 8,200 millionaires and three billionaires, making it Africa’s third wealthiest country, behind South Africa and Egypt. However, in the decade from 2013 to 2023, Lagos’ millionaire population shrunk by 48%, the biggest drop seen among all the top 20 cities on the list.

Source: EXPRESS

The Hang Seng Index rose 2.6 per cent to 24,216.93 at the noon break, heading for the highest close since February 21, 2022. The Hang Seng Tech Index surged 4.7 per cent, poised to close at a level not seen since December 2021.

On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index climbed 1.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index added 1.1 per cent. The tech-heavy Star Market 50 index advanced 3.5 per cent.

ALROSA, which produces about 90% of diamonds in Russia, increased sales of investment-grade diamonds by a multiple of three times in 2024, to more than 1,000 units, the company has said.

The investment category includes diamonds from 2 carats with certain colour and purity characteristics. Their price point starts from ₽2 million (over US$20,000) per gem.

Russia is the world’s largest producer of diamonds, contributing to about 25% of the global supply, and also has the world’s largest and richest diamond reserves.

VTB Private Banking says that the number of transactions for the sale of diamonds in 2024 increased by 60% year-on-year. This year, the bank expects further growth in interest in diamonds as a protective instrument, says Yulia Bezmenova, vice president and head of VTB’s business development.

Alfa Bank notes that wealthy investors around the world tend to invest about 5% of their portfolio in collection properties, or approximately US$300 billion per year. The weight of investment stones in such a portfolio varies across countries, but in general it is about 1%, or US$1.5–2 billion.

Source: RUSSIAPIVOTTOASIA

US President Donald Trump’s claim that China controls the Panama Canal has placed a Hong Kong tycoon and his conglomerate at the heart of a showdown between the US and China.

That sprawling company, CK Hutchison Holdings, is one of Hong Kong’s most valuable publicly listed companies and counts some of the world’s biggest investors as shareholders.

One of its subsidiaries, Hutchison Ports, has been involved in the Panama Canal since 1997.

Of Panama’s five ports, Hutchison’s are the biggest – one at each end of the canal.

According to the Panama Maritime Authority, Hutchison’s ports in 2024 served vessels carrying 39 per cent of the cargo containers that passed through the canal, one of the world’s most vital waterways. (The other ports are owned by a Taiwanese company, a Singaporean company and a US-Panama joint venture.)

The company’s role brings to the surface unresolved questions for Washington about Beijing’s influence over Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, which has become more pronounced in recent years.

Source: STRAITTIMES

Mainland Chinese investors have ploughed US$35.9 billion into stocks listed in Hong Kong this year in some of the most aggressive purchases on record, as a re-rating of the nation’s biggest technology companies helped fuel a world-beating market rally.

Onshore funds and traders spent HK$152.8 billion (US$19.7 billion) on stocks in February through the Stock Connect programme in addition to HK$125.6 billion invested in January, according to data compiled by the stock exchange. The inflows trailed only the record HK$310.6 billion in January 2021.

E-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the Post, China’s biggest chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), and smartphone maker Xiaomi were among investors’ top 10 favourite bets, the data showed.

Chinese start-up DeepSeek took the tech world by storm in late December and January after introducing two new artificial intelligence (AI) models, which were developed at a fraction of the cost typically incurred by US pacesetters. Its breakthrough sparked a rout on Wall Street and powered a bull run in Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong.

Source: SCMP

Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector continued its strong growth in February, driven by strong customer demand, increased hiring, and a positive economic outlook.

According to the latest Riyad Bank Purchasing Managers’ Index report, the score stood at 58.4, reflecting sustained increases in business activity despite a slight dip from January’s decade-high reading of 60.5. The Kingdom’s PMI drop comes as Kuwait’s index slowed to 51.6 with job cuts, while Egypt’s fragile recovery saw a slight decline to 50.1, marking its second month above the neutral level of 50.

The PMI measures non-oil sector health using key factors. A score above 50 signals growth, and below 50 indicates decline. Although there was a slight decline in February, business conditions stayed robust, supported by consistent new orders and growing exports.

Companies across various industries reported flexible demand conditions, with 35 percent of surveyed firms experiencing an increase in new business orders, compared to just 5 percent reporting a decrease.

Additionally, new export orders rose sharply, reflecting strong international demand for Saudi non-oil goods and services. Some firms also underlined that promotional pricing strategies helped attract new customers.

Source: ARABNEWS

The founder of Infini, a stablecoin digital bank, Christian Li, has extended a 20% bounty offer to a hacker following a $49.5 million heist. In a blockchain transaction, Li sent 0.1 ETH to the hacker’s wallet, acknowledging their skills in identifying vulnerabilities in Infini’s protocol.

The message reiterated the company’s offer: if the hacker returns the stolen funds, they can keep 20% as a bounty, with no legal repercussions. This marks Infini’s second direct message to the hacker. The first message, sent on February 24, the day of the attack, warned that the company was monitoring the compromised wallet and set a 48-hour deadline for a response, threatening further investigation and possible law enforcement action.

This attack occurred shortly after Infini announced reaching $50 million in total value locked (TVL). Unauthorized transactions linked to an Infini-affiliated contract on Ethereum were identified by blockchain security firm CertiK.

• The attacker exploited a privileged account labeled “0xc49b…” to withdraw 49.5 million USD Coin (USDC), which was then converted to Dai (DAI) and used to purchase 17,696 Ethereum (ETH). The Ethereum was reportedly transferred to a different wallet identified as “0xfcc8…6e49.”  
• According to cybersecurity firm Cyvers, the incident was attributed to an insider threat, as a developer setting up Infini’s smart contracts retained administrative rights and later used them to drain funds. The wallet used in the transfer had previously interacted with Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer known for obscuring transaction trails.
• This method of attack differentiates the Infini breach from other recent high-profile crypto heists, such as Bybit’s, which stemmed from weaknesses in wallet security rather than insider manipulation.

In the aftermath of the attack, Infini’s co-founder assured customers they would be reimbursed. Meanwhile, the company continues to negotiate with the hacker, hoping to recover some stolen funds through the bounty offer.

Source: NAIRAMETRICS