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Category: General

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest General Retail news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Hong Kong aims for mid-January reopening of border with Mainland China

    Hong Kong aims for mid-January reopening of border with Mainland China

    Hong Kong will reopen its borders with Mainland China by mid-January, city chief executive John Lee said, as Beijing accelerates the unwinding of stringent Covid-19 rules that have battered economic growth.

    Lee, speaking at a press event at the airport in Hong Kong as he returned from a trip to Beijing, said the goal in “gradually, orderly, and fully” reopening the city will be to return the border to its state before the virus outbreak.

    “Our goal is to quickly come to a consensus with the central government, submit our plan to the central government for review and execute on the plan before mid-January,” he said.

    Hong Kong authorities will work with the governments of neighbouring Shenzhen city and Guangdong province to manage the flow of people crossing the border, Lee said.

    Restrictions on travel across the border were imposed in early 2020. The reopening was postponed several times due to outbreaks in Hong Kong or the mainland. Hong Kong and China have lagged most of the world in easing stringent Covid rules.

    People in the Chinese special administrative region of Hong Kong have been able to access the mainland only through the city’s airport or two checkpoints – Shenzhen Bay or the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge.

    Preparations for reopening are underway, including deploying thousands of officers from the city’s customs, immigration and police services, local media say.

    Hong Kong’s government said on December 12 that mainland authorities had allowed cross-border truck drivers to collect and deliver goods directly to their destinations without using designated checkpoints.

    International passengers arriving in Hong Kong since mid-month are no longer subject to Covid-related movement controls or barred from certain venues.

    Arriving travellers may also continue directly to Mainland China or Macau as long as they meet the required criteria, the city government said. Previously they had to wait three days in the city before continuing to the mainland.

  • Emart24 opens its first store in Singapore

    Emart24 opens its first store in Singapore

    E-Mart’s convenience store chain Emart24 has opened its first store in Singapore, becoming the first Korean convenience store chain to operate in the city state amid the retailer’s push for overseas expansion.

    The first store is located in the Jurong Point shopping centre, west of Singapore. The second store is set to open Saturday in Nex Mall, a shopping mall in the city’s northeastern region.

    A joint venture company called Emart24 Singapore Pte Ltd will operate Emart24 convenience stores through a master franchise agreement, it said.

    Singapore-based food and beverage giant Fei Siong Group is one of the investors in the joint venture, the South Korean retailer said.

    The two stores will focus on Korean-style fast foods and ready-to-eat meals, such as tteokbokki and gimbab, seaweed rice rolls with vegetables. The retailer plans to add up to 300 stores over the next five years, it said.

    Singapore is the second country for Emart24 to enter after it opened its first convenience store in Malaysia in June last year.

    Further reading, earlier this year, Emart disclosed its plan to open 20 hypermarkets in Vietnam by 2026 and generate US$1 billion in sales, becoming the hypermarket chain with the largest market share in the country.

  • Google testing new look for Android YouTube app

    Google testing new look for Android YouTube app

    Some Android users employing the YouTube app might have noticed that a change has been made to the progress bar on the video player when in Dark mode. This is the line under the video that appears when watching streaming content in portrait orientation. The bar moves to the right as a video plays and also shows how much of a video has loaded. Typically, the progress bar is red although some Android users, including this writer, now see a white or gray progress bar instead.
    With the white/gray progress bar showing, you will no longer see the part of the line that shows how much of a particular video has been loaded on the app. Touching the line to move ahead or to go back (an activity known as scrubbing) will bring back the red color as will tapping on the video to get back the controls. When the progress bar returns to the original red color, it will once again show how much of the currently selected video has been loaded.
    When watching in landscape orientation, you don’t see the progress bar unless you tap the screen, and then it will appear for a second. The progress bar in landscape is in red and hasn’t been changed-at least not yet. And we need to point out again that the change to the color of the progress bar in portrait is seen only when you are watching YouTube in Dark mode. In Light mode, the progress bar is red so it can stand out. It makes sense that a white/gray progress bar would be more easily seen with a dark background.

    If your YouTube app doesn’t exhibit this change, don’t fret. This could be the usual A/B test that Google is famous for running. For what it’s worth, the Pixel 6 Pro used by yours truly does have the white/gray progress bar but it is running Android 13 QPR2 Beta 1.

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  • Exports to China no longer subject to Covid testing

    Exports to China no longer subject to Covid testing

    Vietnamese exports to China will no longer be subject to Covid testing from January 8th, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has announced.

    The ministry urged localities and businesses to update goods clearance processes at border gates in order to streamline trade according to the new easing of restrictions.

    The government has asked major agricultural producers and other exporters to coordinate with northern border province authorities to better facilitate the transport of exports — especially fresh and frozen agricultural products – to China.

    The northern neighbor had previously tightened quarantines to curb the spread of the Covid 19 pandemic, leading to congestion and the bottlenecking of Vietnamese exports at border gates in northern provinces, including Lao Cai, Lang Son and Quang Ninh.

    On Dec. 26, China’s National Health Commission announced that it would downgrade it’s “Covid-19 response level,” suspending mandatory isolation for passengers entering the country from January 8, 2023.

    Michael Kokalari, chief economist at investment fund VinaCapital, said China’s reopening would have less of an impact on Vietnam’s economy than other Southeast Asian countries because Vietnam’s exposure to China’s domestic market was still modest.

    The most important upcoming economic event for Vietnam is that the number of tourists is likely to return to normal in the second half of 2023, Kokalari said, adding that this will be a driving force behind Vietnam’s GDP growth for the year.

    Vietnam’s GDP expanded 8.02% in 2022, the fastest pace annually since 1997, backed by strong domestic retail sales and exports. The country has targeted GDP growth of 6.5% in 2023.

    Vietnam is China’s biggest trade partner in Southeast Asia and sixth biggest globally.

    China is Vietnam’s biggest trade partner. Their bilateral trade topped US$165.8 billion in 2021, up 24.6% from 2020.

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  • Streaming in Southeast Asia Gains Pace

    Streaming in Southeast Asia Gains Pace

    Streaming has become a global phenomenon in the last few years, as people from every part of the planet have started watching TV shows and series whenever it suits them. The Asian market has been slower to take off than other places, but recent signs suggest that this is now on the way to becoming a huge industry.

    What Are the Latest Figures?

    Streaming in SE Asia has been in the news lately because Media Partners Asia has released a report that shows a 6% uplift in viewer figures in the third quarter of 2022. They attribute this partly to Amazon Prime Video’s marketing activity, as well as to the excellent content being released by rivals like Netflix and Disney+.

    The number of Netflix viewing hours rose in all of the countries covered in the report, which are Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. This service made up more than 40% of the hours viewed on premium streaming services in the region. Viu is far behind in second place with 13% and WeTv from Tencent got 10% of the market share. Overall, two and a half million new subscribers have joined the streaming revolution here, making a total of over 43 million paying customers.

    The Asian streaming market is still far behind the likes of Europe and North America. This 2022 streaming wrap up confirms the size and importance of the global streaming market, with more than 25 million views for the big-budget production of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power by Amazon Prime. This year has also seen Netflix spend $200 million on their most expensive movie so far and Stranger Things smashed viewing records when the fourth series came out in 2022.

    Sport is often a big driver in the switch to streaming, and this has proven to be the case in Indonesia, where the Video service has been focusing on the national soccer league as well the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga tournament. Vidio was the fastest-growing name in the sector in this quarter, as it rocketed up to four million subscribers, which makes it the fifth-most popular platform overall.

    The localization aspect is also crucial, as global brands like Netflix and Amazon Prime need to find ways to make their content as attractive in Asia as possible. In this respect, the Amazon service has pushed ahead with its local content strategy that helped it gain about 400,000 new subscribers in this quarter.

    Interestingly, viewers here prefer Korean content, particularly drama series, which is ahead of American and then Chinese series and movies. An example comes from Netflix’s Extraordinary Attorney Woo, a Korean series that has been popular across the region.

    <iframe width=”1280″ height=”720″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/MxeXECe2t-c” title=”Extraordinary Attorney Woo | Official Trailer | Netflix [ENG SUB]” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>

    What Can We Expect in the Future?

    It’s clear that the streaming market is heating up here, with the recent arrival of the Disney+ service ramping up the competition levels. This means that all of the big names are now present and ready to battle it out for SE Asian viewers. Each of the major platforms has a plan in place to attract more customers thanks to aggressive marketing, strong content, and a localized approach, so we can expect to see the market grow even more quickly in the future thanks to this investment strategy.

     

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  • Secret Tips for Making Money at Online Casino

    Secret Tips for Making Money at Online Casino

    Online casinos are the latest revolution in the gambling world. The accessibility and fun that comes with an online casino are what makes it popular. Gaming has been made easier than before. If you play it right, situs judi slot online can even be a good source to help you boost your bank balance as you enjoy yourself from the comfort of your home. Why don’t you try your luck and become the next millionaire in town? However, beating the banker needs a lot of strategies and experience. Here are hidden tips that will help you make money at the slot online without struggling to continue reading for more insight:

    Set limits and abide by it

    Having a strong strategy is one of the key factors in the success of online gambling. Unfortunately, sometimes you can have an unprecedented day. When that happens, accept that luck isn’t on your side for that day and leave it for another time. Have a set limit that you’ll deposit each day, week, or even month, and stick to it. By so doing, you won’t get a shock when you check your bank balance at the end of the day.

    Be satisfied with what you get

    The greatest mistake that people make with online casinos is not quitting when they’re ahead. Winning big can be exciting and it can make you thirst to push your luck for the chance of a bigger jackpot at the end. Chances are that you will gamble away all the winnings you have made. Hence, it’s advisable to bet wisely and pocket your winnings instead of reinvesting them into the online machine.

    Make use of the offers given

    Online casinos often post offers, promotions as well as gifts to entice you to sample their casino games; therefore, you don’t have to be afraid to take them up on the offer. There is no problem with that at all; what they simply want is your custom and this can be a free shot at the jackpot for you.

    Have a definite gambling strategy

    Winning online casino games is often easier with the lower jackpots since they tend to pay out more frequently. If you decide to master two games, select one high and one low jackpot game to strike the balance between big wins and those smaller bonuses that will improve your bank balance. Work out the strategy for each one and play it at its own game by finding the odds and evaluating how much you can afford to deposit against your odds of winning.

    Select the best game to bet

    Rather than taking many different approaches when playing slot online terpercaya, games. It’s ideal to concentrate on one or two games that you really love and learn them well. Read properly on the terms and conditions, including the rules. Once you do that and practice more and more, you will find a system that will increase your chances of winning. This approach can work in different games.

    Conclusion

    Creating real money at online casinos comes down to game selection. Provided you follow the above tips, there are millions of dollars to be made from online casinos. However, you must also understand that there are a few other rogue sites whose aim is to rob your hard-earned money. So choose wisely.

     

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  • Rich Asians on the Lookout for Easier Alternatives to Acquire EU Residency and Citizenship

    Rich Asians on the Lookout for Easier Alternatives to Acquire EU Residency and Citizenship

    Immigration is something that has happened for centuries, with people moving around the globe and putting down roots in a different country. But residency and citizenship can be very difficult to come by depending on the country a person wants to move to, which has led to people being a bit more creative.

    One of the biggest trends of the moment is wealthy Asians who are now on the lookout for easier alternatives to getting EU residency and citizenship, but do those alternatives exist? Let’s take a closer look.

    The Malta Residency by Investment Program is Proving Very Popular

    It’s not every country that offers people a simplified way to move there and get citizenship but thanks to the Malta residency by investment program, this is the door that has been opened to those that have money for it. And because Malta is a part of the EU, it has positioned itself as a very attractive option.

    The Malta citizenship by investment program may not be something you’ve even heard of, and much of that can be attributed to the fact that it is relatively new. The program makes it possible for individuals and family dependents to make a direct investment in the country and then become naturalised as Maltese citizens. Wealthy Asians looking to get their foot in the door can immigrate to Malta and enjoy all it has to offer.

    The program is described as an “expedited route for citizenship” which benefits Malta in a couple of ways. First, there is the investment portion, wherein the country will benefit from the influx of money and there is the fact the people the program is attracting can come from anywhere in the world and tend to be quite affluent – as they need to be able to afford this option.

    There are a few direct investments that are required, which are the government contribution, a property investment, and a compulsory donation. It’s important for anyone considering this route to look at the full costs/investment involved to ensure they have the full picture. It’s also worth noting there is a 12 or 36-month route to residency, which affects the steps and costs involved.

    Malta’s Location Makes It a Convenient Option

    The residency through investment program can make EU citizenship a much more viable option, but what about Malta itself? Why move to a small country that for some may seem very removed from mainland Europe?

    Malta boasts many benefits for those looking to immigrate to the EU. Take, for example, its location, which is the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. This makes it easy to travel to all kinds of other cities such as Rome, London, Barcelona, Paris, and Frankfurt. The furthest is London, which is only a three-hour flight. From each of these key airports, you can then get connecting flights to other major cities around the world.

    Wealthy Immigrants Will Appreciate the Fast Growing Economy

    While the main reason to move to Malta may be to get EU citizenship, it’s well worth noting that Malta’s economy is doing very well. From 2014 through 2016, Malta had one of the fastest-growing economies in the EU. The biggest industries in the country are finance, tourism, and online gaming.

    Let’s Talk Real Estate

    This category is especially important since you will need to purchase a property to qualify for citizenship by investment. There is a minimum amount that must be spent on the property too, which wealthy Asians should have no problem meeting. Relatively speaking, property prices are considered quite affordable, with higher-end exclusive properties also being available.

    Just like with most other countries, property prices have risen in the past decade but remain on the lower end in comparison with some other European countries.

    What About a Language Barrier?

    Concerned about a potential language barrier when moving to Malta? While it’s true that Maltese is spoken, so is English. English is widely used across all the Maltese islands which makes a language barrier much less likely.

    Enjoy Beautiful Weather Year-Round

    One would be remiss to talk about moving to Malta without also mentioning its weather. For those who enjoy sunny days with comfortable temperatures, Malta will be perfect. You can be outdoors year-round and the country boasts a whopping 3,000+ hours’ worth of sunshine per year. The daytime highs reach 30°C in the middle of summer (July) and dip to about 15°C in the middle of winter (January).

    Rich Asians Have Found the Door Worth Opening

    So for rich Asians who are keen on EU citizenship and are looking for an easier, faster, and more direct solution, Malta’s residency by investment program is well worth looking into. It provides people with all the comfort and security of living in the EU in a rather timely manner.

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  • Apple’s Crash Detection sent 71 notifications to one 911 center last weekend

    Apple’s Crash Detection sent 71 notifications to one 911 center last weekend

    Last September, a new feature was introduced for these devices while unveiling the iPhone 14 series, the Apple Watch Series 8, the Apple Watch Ultra, and the Apple Watch SE (2022). Any of these products will detect when you have been in a severe car, SUV, or pickup truck crash. Unless you shut down the process with a tap, after 10 seconds the phone will contact your emergency contacts and give them your current location.
    Two days after introducing the feature, Apple turned Crash Detection into an ad for the new iPhone 14 line that shows an iPhone flying through the air amid a shower of broken glass. “It looks like you’ve been in a crash,” says the screen. “iPhone will trigger Emergency SOS if you don’t respond.” Apple states that the Crash Detection feature is driven (no pun intended) by advanced Apple-designed motion algorithms trained with over a million hours of real-world driving and crash record data.”
    We should point out that a similar feature was made available to the Google Pixel line in 2019. Regardless, while this sounds like a useful, helpful, and potentially life-saving feature, technology can backfire every now and then. For example, at the Summit County 911 Center, dispatchers received an incredible 71 automated crash notifications this past weekend from skiers carrying an iPhone or wearing one of the three newest Apple Watch models.
    The notifications came in from the area’s four ski areas but none of the notifications received had to do with a real emergency. Skiers making quick stops and falling into the snow set off the Crash Detection feature even though there was not one true emergency in the bunch. And if Crash Detection wasn’t set off by a fall into the snow, the Apple Watch’s fall detection feature, which essentially has a similar process to run through when someone wearing the timepiece hits the ground, was responsible for unnecessary notifications.
    None of the 71 notifications could be disregarded. And if the device owner did not respond to a return call, a special operations deputy had to contact ski patrol to visit the location where the impact happened to make sure no one was seriously hurt. This was a time-consuming activity but had to be done.
    Trina Dummer, the interim director of the Summit County 911 Center, said, “We are not in the practice of disregarding calls,. These calls involve a tremendous amount of resources, from dispatchers to deputies to ski patrollers. And I don’t think we’ve ever had an actual emergency event.” All 71 notifications were set off by an impact…into the soft snow.
    And since calls are handled by the 911 Center based on the time the call is received, a bogus accident that sends out a notification from an Apple device could delay the arrival of medical help to a real emergency in the area. Dummer notes that “We are absolutely diverting essential resources away from people who need it toward a feature on a phone.” A comment worded like that sounds like someone is upset with Apple.
    Another 911 Center, this one in Pitkin County, receives 15 to 20 calls a day from Apple’s Crash Detection feature that come from the county’s four main ski areas. The 911 Center’s director, Brett Loeb, says every notification generates a return call although sometimes a skier’s phone is too deep inside a coat pocket for the user to hear it ringing. At that point, the ski patrol has to check out the area which delays things.
    Similar to what happened in Summit County, in Pitkin County not one notification from Apple’s Crash Detection was the result of a real emergency.
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  • Vietnam consumes 50 tons of gold annually

    Vietnam consumes 50 tons of gold annually

    Vietnam consumes nearly 50 tons of gold jewelry each year, with 80% absorbed by HCMC, according to the Saigon Jewelry Association (SJA).

    The country imported more than 1,000 tons of gold in the 1991-2012 period.

    Businesses have not been allowed to import raw gold since May 2012, but consumption of the precious metal has still increased stealthily every year, said SJA.

    In recent years, the export turnovers of Vietnamese gold jewelry have stood at $20-30 million per year.

    The jewelry is mainly exported to Asian and European markets such as Germany, Denmark and France.According to the World Gold Council, Vietnam’s demand for gold bars, coins and jewelry ranks first in Southeast Asia.

    Vietnam gold companies churn out more than 11 million gold products weighing over 40 tons, thanks to an industry that employ over 38,000 jewelers, according to SJA.

    However, the ban on importing raw gold has caused difficulties for gold companies because there are differences between gold prices in international and local markets.

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  • Land compensation for Alibaba victims unlikely

    Land compensation for Alibaba victims unlikely

    Victims of property firm Alibaba, which faces fraud accusations, are unlikely to get compensation in land since the projects it advertised were nonexistent, lawyers familiar with the case said.

    Obtaining cash compensation would be time-consuming due to a large number of victims, they said.

    The Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Court has identified around VND1.6 trillion ($67.7 million) worth of assets related to allegedly fraudulent activities carried out by Alibaba leadership, namely the company of chairman Nguyen Thai Luyen and his wife Vo Thi Thanh Mai.

    The couple have been accused of fraud and money laundering in relation to 58 property projects in three southern localities. The VND1.6 trillion in question was allegedly obtained by selling illegal and/or non-existent land projects to 4,000 alleged victims.

    This VND1.6 trillion could be used to compensate the victims, said lawyer Truong Anh Tu, but he emphasized that the complex process of distributing the restitution to thousands of allegedly defrauded people – each with their own claims – would be complicated and extremely difficult to put into practice and complete.

    Tu said that some victims are demanding they be compensated with land, meaning they still want to receive land that they bought from Alibaba as part of what were advertised and sold as residential development projects.

    The problem is that Alibaba had no right to sell them the land in the first place. Even though the properties were sold as part of “residential development projects,” the land sold was actually zoned as agricultural land, a fact that can’t be overturned to compensate the alleged victims.

    In Vietnam, agricultural land is eligible only for agriculture. It can’t be sold as anything else and nothing non-agricultural may be built on it without undergoing a long process of rezoning via the process of applying for approval with the government.

    “The contracts that the victims signed are void because they bought into fake residential projects that were made up. They are not real,” Tu said.

    However, many of those who bought land from Alibaba say they still want to use it for the residential development projects that were advertised to them.

    But attorney Vo Dan Mach from Ta Pha Law Firm said the alleged victims can’t use the land they bought for residential development projects because the projects that Alibaba presented to them exist only on paper.

    He added that another major problem is also that because the majority of accusers are actually seeking cash compensation, the VND1.6 trillion in assets simply won’t be enough to compensate all 4,000 of them.

    “Figuring out a way to divide this figure for over 4,000 victims will be complicated,” he said.

    Alibaba was established in 2016 by Luyen, who also formed 22 subsidiaries to invest in 58 residential projects in the southern provinces of Dong Nai, Ba Ria – Vung Tau and Binh Thuan.

    Investigators have concluded that these projects were fake. On paper, each of the projects was attached to agricultural land ineligible for development. But Luyen and his staff advertised and sold them as residential development investments, all the while knowing that launching such developments on agricultural land would be impossible.

    Luyen ordered his employees to illegally collect nearly VND2.4 trillion from 4,560 customers, of which investigators were able to contact 4,065 who had invested a total of VND2.1 trillion.

    A ruling on the case is set to be announced Thursday.

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  • Consumer price index up 3.15% in 2022

    Consumer price index up 3.15% in 2022

    Vietnam recorded year-on-year growth of 3.15% in the 2022 consumer price index (CPI) while core inflation increased 2.59%, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said on December 29.

    The Vietnamese economy has recovered in 2022. Surging production demand to serve consumption and export, added with soaring global commodity prices, has fueled prices of goods and essential services, but prices are basically still under control, GSO General Director Nguyen Thi Huong told a press briefing in Hanoi.

    Pointing out some contributors to the CPI growth, the GSO said domestic petrol and oil prices have been adjusted for 34 times, increasing 28.01% from a year earlier, while gas prices were up 11.49%.

    Rice prices have fluctuated in line with export prices and market demand to go up 1.22% from 2021. Foodstuff price also increased 1.62%. Besides, housing and construction material prices climbed up 3.11%.

    Meanwhile, there are also some factors curbing the CPI uptrend, including pork prices down 10.68% thanks to the African swine fever containment and guaranteed supply, house rent down 1.83% due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the first months of 2022, and prices of postal and telecommunications services down 0.37% as a result of lower mobile phone prices.

    This year’s core inflation increased 2.59% from 2021, lower than the CPI growth of 3.15%, showing that changes in consumer prices have been driven mainly by food, petrol, oil, and gas prices, according to the GSO.

    The office added domestic gold prices have seen mixed changes in line with the global market, rising 5.75% this year. Prices of the US dollar also hiked 2.09% from 2021.

    In December alone, CPI dropped slightly, by 0.01% month on month, but still grew 4.55% from December 2021. While two of the 11 categories of main consumer goods and services witnessed month-on-month price declines, nine experienced higher prices.

    The December core inflation inched up 0.33% from November and 4.99% from the same period last year.

    General Director Huong said to actively cope with surging inflationary pressure, the Government has ordered ministries, sectors, and localities to issue many timely policies and implement concerted measures to minimise adverse impacts on socio-economic development.

    Appropriate policies and drastic moves in governance have considerably helped ease pressure on prices and stabilise production and business activities and people’s life, she added.

  • Vietnam Airlines adds more flights for Tet

    Vietnam Airlines adds more flights for Tet

    Vietnam Airlines has announced it will increase the number of flights during Tet (Lunar New Year holidays) by a further 500 after informing increases in August and early December.

    The 500 flights will be between Jan. 6 and Feb. 5, 2023, and have over 90,000 seats. Most of them will be from HCMC and Hanoi to Vinh, Thanh Hoa, Dong Hoi, Chu Lai, and other places.

    Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways have sold nearly all tickets on their Tet extra flights. Vietravel Airlines has increased the number of daily return flights between HCMC and Hanoi to three.

    Airlines will altogether operate nearly 33,700 flights with 6.7 million seats during Tet, which falls in late January, up 33% from the previous year.

    But with many people still unable to buy tickets to return home for the New Year, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam and airlines are considering adding even more flights.

  • Gold prices rise

    Gold prices rise

    SJC gold prices increased 0.15% from an 11-week low Tuesday to VND66.7 million ($2,779) per Tuesday Wednesday afternoon.

    Gold ring prices dropped 0.19% to VND53.85 million per tael. A tael equals 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces.

    Global spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,807.80 per ounce as the U.S. dollar ticked, but prices moved in a tight range in subdued trading due to the lack of fresh triggers.

    Gold is seeing limited price action as trading activity is light ahead of the New Year holiday and there is no major economic data scheduled this week, said Hareesh V., head of commodity research at Geojit Financial Services.

    Gold has risen nearly $200 from a more-than-two-year low in late September as the dollar’s appeal was dented by expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would slow its pace of interest rate hikes.

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  • WhatsApp will soon stop working on these iPhone and Samsung devices

    WhatsApp will soon stop working on these iPhone and Samsung devices

    WhatsApp periodically phases out older smartphones, so it’s no surprise that around 50 devices will no longer be able to run the messaging app this year. This is the second time in the last three months that WhatsApp is phasing out support for many Android and iOS devices.

    The last time happened in October when WhatsApp revealed it will no longer support iPhone SE, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, and no less than 40 Android devices from Samsung, Huawei, LG, Sony, ZTE, HTC, Lenovo, and Alcatel.

    This time around WhatsApp confirmed it will no longer support nearly 50 phones, including the Apple iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c. The rest of the phones on the list are made by Samsung, Huawei, LG, Sony, Lenovo, and ZTE.

    These phones will no longer be supported because they haven’t been updated in a very long time. It looks like WhatsApp has upped the requirements for its app, so phones that don’t run at least Android 5.0 Lollipop or iOS 12.

    WhatsApp’s FAQ still mentions that it supports Android phones running OS 4.1 and newer. However, many (if not all) of the phones that will lose WhatsApp support at the end of the year are running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, so we’re a bit on the fence regarding the accuracy of the information.

    The list includes mostly entry-level and mid-range smartphones. If you’re using one of these devices, you’ll probably want to upgrade to a newer phone to continue to use WhatsApp and receive new updates.

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  • Asian markets up after China ends travel quarantine

    Asian markets up after China ends travel quarantine

    Asian markets rose on Tuesday after China said it would end quarantine for arrivals, spurring hopes for the revival of the world’s second-largest economy and boosting oil which continued its upward surge on fears of Russian production cuts.

    China has abruptly reversed its strict pandemic restrictions even as a surge in infections overtakes the country.

    The latest easing will see three years of border controls end on January 8 when Beijing downgrades Covid-19 to a Class B infectious disease.

    People in China have since gone rushing to search for overseas flights, with the reopening set to be a boon for the travel industry.

    China’s benchmark Shanghai index and the second index in Shenzhen both posted healthy gains, while Tokyo ended a shade higher with Seoul, Singapore and Mumbai all also up.

    Markets in Hong Kong and Sydney were still closed for a holiday.

    “Global equities climbed Tuesday while the dollar declined amid positive sentiment from China upping the speed limits on zero-Covid off ramps and the softening of a key inflation measure in the U.S.,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said.

    “Inbound tourism is not a huge economic bounty for China relative to domestic tourism but policy fast-track and early zero-Covid exit means growth could recover enormously,” he added.

    Markets have also been buoyed by fresh data last week that indicated a slowing of U.S. inflation, as well as an uptick in consumer spending, which saw Wall Street take gains into the Christmas break.

    But the news was not definitive and all eyes will be on how the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to balance inflationary concerns alongside the possibility of a recession caused by increased borrowing costs.

    Following a holiday for commodities traders on Monday, oil continued its surge after a senior official said Russia could cut up to 7% of its production next year.

    Production was also curtailed by freezing conditions in the United States, where more than 1.8 million barrels a day of oil processing capacity in Texas was hit by the extreme weather.

    Both Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate jumped around 0.5% on the supply shortfalls and expectations of renewed demand from China.