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THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020
Global shares
mixed as pandemic
uncertainty
squelches buying
TOKYO (AP) - Global shares were
mixed yesterday as uncertainty
over the coronavirus pandemic
sapped the buying enthusiasm that
has been driving prices higher.
France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.6 per
cent in early trading to 5,015.65,
while Germany’s DAX was down 0.3
per cent at 12,581.38. Britain’s FTSE
100 edged up nearly 0.2 per cent to
6,200.27. United States (US) shares
were set to drift higher with Dow
futures up 0.3 per cent at 25,856.0.
The S&P 500 future contract gained
0.3 per cent to 3,146.12.
Given the current murky out-
look, investors are likely to cash in
on recent gains, analysts said.
“Investors are trying their
best to look through the knotty
COVID19 economic entangle-
ment. Still, you can see why they
might be more prone to booking
some proits on upticks,” Chief
Market Strategist at AxiCorp Ste-
phen Innes said in a report.
But the recent bullish mood re-
mains on shaky ground, and could
easily sour, he said.
“It is impossible for investors
not to grow weary and eventually,
at some point, fall prey to the end-
less drip of negative COVID19 sto-
ries and how the second wave virus
will crush the market,” he added.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225
dropped 0.8 per cent to inish at
22,438.65. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
dipped 1.5 per cent to 5,920.30.
South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.2 per
cent to 2,158.88. Hong Kong’s Hang
Seng rose 0.6 per cent after luc-
tuating during much of the day to
26,129.18, while the Shanghai Com-
posite bounced higher, adding 1.7
per cent to 3,403.44.
Although some Asian bench-
marks fell, trading overall was
relatively calm, said Senior Market
Economist at Oanda Jeffrey Halley.
Much of the regional concern is
focussed on the rising cases in the
US as Asia needs a recovery there
to attain growth, he said.
“Unfortunately, when America
catches a cold, the world catch-
es the lu; that maxim has not
changed. It does have the potential
to delay and depress the world’s
nascent recovery,” said Halley.
Optimism that the US econo-
my is on the mend as businesses
reopen has helped drive stocks
higher. But the recent surge in new
coronavirus cases has clouded
hopes for a relatively quick eco-
nomic turnaround. Investors are
also girding for what the next few
weeks will reveal about the health
of corporate America as compa-
nies begin reporting their second-
quarter results.
“It’s not unusual for these ive-
day runs to be met with a bout of
proit-taking, especially given the
headlines on the virus,” said Chief
Market Strategist at Prudential Fi-
nancial Quincy Krosby. “When you
move toward overbought conditions
it doesn’t take much for the market
to burn off some of the froth.”
Unprecedented amounts of aid
from central banks and govern-
ments around the world are help-
ing to prop up markets. But the
worsening infection levels across
much of the US are countering
that support.
Benchmark US crude lost 17
cents to USD40.45 a barrel in elec-
tronic trading on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. It slipped
a penny to settle at USD40.62
per barrel on Tuesday. Brent
crude, the international stan-
dard, fell five cents to USD43.03
per barrel.
The dollar inched down to
JPY107.50 from JPY107.53 on Tues-
day. The euro rose to USD1.1287
from USD1.1274.
Currency traders at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea.
PHOTO: AP
Brazil corporations urge action
on illegal logging in Amazon
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Dozens
of Brazilian corporations are
calling for a crackdown on il-
legal logging in the Amazon
rainforest, expressing their con-
cerns in a letter on Tuesday to
the Vice President, who heads
the government’s council on
that region.
The letter to Gen Hamil-
ton Mourão said the country’s
business interests are being
hurt by the “negative percep-
tion of Brazil’s image abroad in
relation to socio-environmen-
tal issues in the Amazon”. It
urged that immediate actions
be taken to allay the negative
reactions of foreign investors
and consumers.
The letter was signed by the
Brazilian mining giant Vale, the
Ambev company, Itaú bank and
dozens of other companies. It
was also sent to Brazil’s prosecu-
tor general and the heads of the
Supreme Court and both hous-
es of Congress.The plea was the
first collective action by Brazilian
business leaders in urging the
government do more to protect
the environment.
President Jair Bolsonaro
took office in 2019 with pledges
to unlock the riches of the vast
Amazon and has repeatedly op-
posed large territories being re-
served for Indigenous peoples.
As a result, some members of
European legislatures have said
they would vote against ratifi-
cation of a free-trade deal be-
tween the European Union and
the Mercosur customs union
that includes Brazil, which was
signed in June 2019 after two
decades of negotiation.
Deforestation in the Ama-
zon increased 22 per cent in
the irst ive months of this
year, compared to the same
period of 2019, the govern-
ment agency that monitors the
rainforest reported on June 6.
The government also came un-
der international criticism last
year over widespread ires in
the Amazon.
Facebook civil rights audit: ‘Serious
setbacks’ mar progress
AP - A two-year audit of Facebook's
civil rights record found "serious
setbacks" that have marred the so-
cial network's progress on matters
such as hate speech, misinforma-
tion and bias.
Facebook hired the audit's lead-
er, former American Civil Liberties
Union executive Laura Murphy, in
May 2018 to assess its performance
on vital social issues. Its 100-page
report released yesterday outlines a
"seesaw of progress and setbacks"
at the company on everything from
bias in Facebook's algorithms to
its content moderation, advertis-
ing practices and treatment of
voter suppression.
The audit recommends that
Facebook build a "civil rights infra-
structure" into every aspect of the
company, as well as a "stronger in-
terpretation" of existing voter sup-
pression policies and more con-
crete action on algorithmic bias.
Those suggestions are not binding,
and there is no formal system in
place to hold Facebook account-
able for any of the audit's indings.
"While the audit process has
been meaningful, and has led to
some signiicant improvements in
the platform, we have also watched
the company make painful deci-
sions over the last nine months with
real world consequences that are
serious setbacks for civil rights,"
the audit report states.
Those include Facebook's de-
cision to exempt politicians from
fact-checking, even when US Presi-
dent Donald Trump posted false in-
formation about voting by mail. Fa-
cebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has
cited a commitment to free speech
as a reason for allowing such posts
to remain on the platform, even
though the company has rules in
place against voter suppression it
could have used to take down — or
at least add warning labels to —
Trump's posts.
Lastmonth, Facebookannounced
it would begin labelling rule-breaking
posts—even frompoliticians—going
forward. But it is not clear if Trump's
previous controversial posts would
have gotten the alert. The problem,
critics have long said, is not so much
about Facebook's rules as how it en-
forces them.
"When you elevate free expres-
sion as your highest value, other
values take a back seat," Murphy
told
The Associated Press
. The
politician exemption, she said, "el-
evates the speech of people who
are already powerful and disadvan-
tages people who are not."
More than 900 companies have
joined an advertising boycott of
Facebook to protest its handling of
hate speech and misinformation.
Civil rights leaders who met vir-
tually with Zuckerberg and other
Facebook leaders on Tuesday ex-
pressed scepticism that recom-
mendations from the audit would
ever be implemented, noting that
past suggestions in previous re-
ports had gone overlooked.