Sat, Mar 12, 2022 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  JAPAN

  Household spending falls

  Households pared back their spending in January during the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 and renewed restrictions on activity, adding to the risk that the economy will shrink this quarter. Outlays fell 1.2 percent from December last year for the sixth drop in the past nine months as people cut spending on entertainment, clothing and extra schooling, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported yesterday. Compared with the low levels of a full state of emergency a year ago, spending rose 6.9 percent. Economists had forecast a 3.4 percent gain. The fall in spending from the prior month could contribute to the nation’s recovery slipping back into reverse this quarter. Household spending accounts for more than half of GDP.

  UNITED KINGDOM

  Economy beats expectations

  The economy surged at the strongest pace in seven months in January, surpassing levels prevailing before the COVID-19 pandemic. GDP rose 0.8 percent, recovering from an 0.2 percent in December last year, Office for National Statistics figures showed yesterday. The gain was much stronger than the 0.1 percent pace expected by economists. The increase left output about 0.8 percent higher than in February 2020, with all parts of the economy expanding. The figures might embolden the Bank of England to raise interest rates for a third time next week to control inflation, which has leaped to its strongest pace in three decades.

  COMMODITIES

  Uranium spot prices soar

  Uranium spot prices soared to the highest level since the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster on concern that potential sanctions aimed at Russia are poised to roil an already tight market. The price for benchmark Ux U3O8 uranium jumped to US$59.75 per pound on Thursday, data compiled by UxC LLC showed. That is the highest since March 2011, when meltdowns at the Fukushima facility shut Japan’s fleet of nuclear plants, sent a shockwave across the atomic industry and dashed demand for uranium — the fuel used in reactors. The White House is considering sanctions on Russia’s state-owned atomic energy company, Rosatom Corp, intensifying concerns over disruptions to uranium exports from Russia. Rosatom is a delicate target, because the company and its subsidiaries account for more than 35 percent of global uranium enrichment. Russia accounted for 16.5 percent of the uranium imported into the US in 2020.

  RIDE HAILING

  Didi HK listing denied

  Didi Global Inc (滴滴) has suspended preparations for its planned Hong Kong listing after failing to appease Chinese regulators’ demands that it overhaul its systems for handling sensitive user data, people familiar with the matter said. The Cyberspace Administration of China informed Didi executives that their proposals to prevent security and data leaks had fallen short, the people said. Its main apps, removed from local app stores last year, will remain suspended for the time being, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. The company and its bankers have halted work on the Hong Kong listing by way of introduction originally slated for around the summer of this year, the people said. In addition to dealing with the cyberspace agency’s review, Didi is also working to finalize its fourth-quarter results as required for a listing prospectus, they said. Didi’s American depositary shares plunged as much as 20 percent in US pre-market trading yesterday.
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