Business and technology quick bites

Updated version at 8.30 am

The highlighted words in red are links to the news article.

April 5, 2021,

Business News

1. Oil prices edged down in early Asian trade on Monday after OPEC+ agreed last week to gradually ease some of its production cuts between May and July.
2. Stung by the collapse of Asia’s top independent oil trading firm, Hin Leong Trading, liquidators and creditors are hunting for assets from the city-state to China to Australia belonging to the Lim family, after the Singapore-based company was wound up in March.
3. China’s central bank asked lenders to rein in credit supply on concern the surge in loans is fueling asset bubbles, the Financial Times (FT) reported.
4. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd likely saw a 45% jump in profit for January-March on robust sales of smartphones, TVs and home appliances, though chip division earnings are seen tumbling after a storm suspended production at its US plant.
5. H&M‘s woes in Asia deepened after a “problematic” map on its website drew the attention of Chinese authorities, with the retailer’s attempts to resolve the matter then angering consumers in Vietnam.
6. Malaysia’s richest man Robert Kuok added some US$155 million to his fortune as of today to take his total tally to US$20.7 billion and was ranked 87 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Technology News

1. Tesla‘s estimate-smashing deliveries of electric vehicles in the first quarter suggest boss Elon Musk’s bet on growth in China and Europe is starting to pay off.
2. Singapore-based neo-banking startup StashFin said it has raised US$40 million in a series B extension funding from Altara Ventures and Uncorrelated Ventures.
3. Europe is ramping up global EV-car battery production as more automakers go electric. Prospective manufacturers are popping up in the Nordic region, Germany, France, the UK and Poland in a transcontinental competition to reduce the dominance of China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution.