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Asian stocks higher after Fed accelerates stimulus pullback

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Stocks climbed in Asia on Thursday, tracking Wall Street’s gains, after the Federal Reserve said it would accelerate its pullback of economic stimulus.

The Fed said it would likely raise interest rates three times next year to tackle rising inflation and will shrink its monthly bond purchases at twice the pace it previously announced, in line with ending them altogether in March.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 1.8% to 28,979.60 and the Kospi in South Korea picked up 0.2% to 2,996.04. The Shanghai Composite index added 0.3% to 3,657.85. India and Taiwan rose, while Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4% to 7,296.10.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 0.8% to 23,235.98.

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Simmering tensions between Beijing and Washington are casting a shadow, analysts say, after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution to ban imports from China’s Xinjiang region due to concerns about forced labor and other abuses.

Apart from that, the U.S. reportedly is considering sanctions that would prevent companies providing equipment to China’s biggest computer chips maker, SMIC.

The company’s Hong Kong traded shares dropped 3.4% on Thursday. They have declined nearly 22% in the past six months.

“Some concerns on potentially tougher sanctions from the U.S. have kept investors shunning, with China’s SMIC recently under U.S. scrutiny once again, and that may seem to cap gains for China tech sector today,” Yeap Jun Rong of IG said in a commentary.

While the U.S. is hastening its efforts to counter inflation, central banks in Europe are not expected to follow suit, analysts said.

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“ECB doves are not set to budge,” Mizuho Bank said in a market report. “For one, while economic recovery endures, it remains fragile, threatened by the ‘omicron’ variant,” it said.

Germany is in the midst of its worst wave of infections so far. In Asia, South Korea has been struggling to beat back rising caseloads.

Major U.S. stock indexes rose after declining before the release of the Fed’s statement at 2 p.m. Eastern time. They gained momentum toward the end of the day. The S&P 500 rose 1.6% to 4,709.85, nearly recouping all of its losses for the week and ending just below the record high it set last Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to 35,927.43 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 2.2% to 15,565.58. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks rose 1.6%. Bond yields edged higher.

The U.S. central bank said its monthly bond purchases are no longer needed with unemployment falling and inflation at a near-40-year high. The accelerated timetable puts the Fed on a path to start raising rates as soon as the first half of next year.

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The central bank’s policymakers had been expected to announce a faster pullback in their last meeting of the year.

Businesses have been dealing with supply chain problems and higher costs for months. It has been a key concern for investors as big companies pass those costs off to consumers, who have so far been absorbing higher prices on everything from groceries to clothing and other consumer products.

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Bond investors had a more measured reaction to the Fed announcement. Bond yields edged higher, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury rising to 1.46% from 1.44% late Tuesday.

Retailers and other companies that rely on consumer spending recovered from an early slide. The sector sank after the Commerce Department said s ales rose a modest 0.3% in November, but fell short of economists’ forecasts amid concerns that rising costs could crimp consumer spending.

In other trading Thursday, U.S. crude oil climbed 72 cents to $71.59 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 14 cents to $70.87 per barrel on Wednesday.

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Burna Boy apologises to Nigerian bloggers

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Grammy-winning singer, Damini Ogulu, widely known as Burna Boy has apologised to Nigerian blogs as he called out Western blogs over trending posts claiming he faked his age.

Some Western blogs recently shared some photos of Burna Boy, doubting his claim of being 32 years old, saying he is much older.

Reacting via his Instagram account, Burna Boy noted that the photos were old, saying he owes Nigerian blogs apologies seeing that the Western blogs are worse.

He wrote, “To all you weirdos who depend on @theshaderoom @theshadeborough And other weirdo blogs for your daily news. I shaved my beard in 2021 not now. But it’s good to know that for all the history I’ve been making and records I’ve been setting and breaking, You parasites only care about who might have f*ck, who I’m f*cking, and stupid shit like ‘Burna boy shaved his beard’.

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“I gotta apologise to Nigerian blogs now cuz I thought their stupidity was unique, I didn’t know they learned all they know from the West.”

Burna Boy had a few months ago threatened to sue Nigerian blogs if they didn’t desist from posting about him after they refused his offer to buy their silence on matters concerning him.

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Afrobeat artiste Yemi Alade – I hardly win awards because I’ve always turned down requests for sex

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Yemi Alade, the renowned Afrobeat artiste affectionately referred to as Mama of Africa has shed light on the reasons behind her infrequent wins at award ceremonies.

She expressed that when she first started in the musical scene, all the men had wanted to sleep with her.

Her refusal to comply with such advances may have adversely affected her chances of receiving awards in Nigeria.

Alade expressed that a lot of times she is not nominated in award categories and that it largely has a lot to do with men.

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Alade also stated her confusion that even though she is one of the most viewed and most subscribed Nigerian female artistes on YouTube, she still constantly feels overlooked by the award shows.

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N2.3bn suit: Davido settles with Pinnick, agrees to perform at Delta concert

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Nigerian music sensation, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has reached an agreement to settle the breach of contract lawsuit filed against him by the Amaju Pinnick-led Brownhill Investment Company Limited out of court.

In October 2023, Theheute reported that Pinnick, a former president of the Nigeria Football Federation, called out Davido for not fulfilling his performance obligations at an event despite receiving $94,600.

Brownhill Investments Company Limited filed a suit marked EHC/183/2023 before the Delta State High Court in Effurun. The firm initiated legal action against Davido, seeking N2.3bn.

Davido faced allegations of breaching a contract when he did not fulfil his performance obligations at the 19th edition of the ‘Warri Again’ concert, even though he had been paid the requested fees.

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The claimant requested that the court grant a sum of N150m for legal and professional fees, along with an additional N30m for the cost of filing the suit against Davido.

Pinnick also mentioned that a chartered plane was organised to transport the singer to Warri, resulting in an additional expenses of $18,000.

But The Cable reported that the two parties reached a mutual agreement to resolve the issue outside of the courtroom.

The High Court in Delta subsequently approved their request on Thursday.

As part of the agreement reached, Davido has also agreed to pay the claimant N30 million within seven days of finalising the settlement.

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This payment will serve as a partial contribution towards the claimant’s outstanding legal fees.

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As part of a resolution reached outside of court, the defendant has agreed to make a live performance at the upcoming ‘Warri Again’ concert on October 4, 2024.

It was also decided that the $94,500, which the claimant had already paid to the defendants, would be considered as payment for the event’s performance.

As reported by The Cable, the parties also agreed as follows, “The parties have resolved the miscommunication issues that occasioned this dispute and the 1st defendant shall immediately post on his social media platforms including X, Instagram, Facebook, Snap Chat, etc. the following statement:

“All issues regarding ‘Warri Again 2023 Concert’ have been settled between Mr. Amaju Pinnick and myself, and I am happy to announce that I shall be performing live at the ‘Warri Again 2024 Concert’ on 4th October, 2024 in Warri, Delta State.

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“The defendants shall, within seven days of execution of these Terms of Settlement, pay the sum of N30,000,000 to the claimant, being a part contribution to the Claimant’s outstanding legal fees in this suit.

“The defendants shall, in view of these terms of settlement, withdraw the appeal filed against the ruling of this honourable court dated 16th January, 2024.

“The claimant shall provide a private jet to convey the defendants, as well as provide accommodation and other logistics for the defendants’ performance at the ‘Warri Again’ concert slated to be held on 04 October 2024.

“These terms of settlement shall be binding on the parties to this suit, their agents, privies, successors in title, or any person or entity howsoever described acting at the behest or authority of any of the parties to this suit, upon adoption of same.

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“The parties have agreed that these terms of settlement shall be binding and shall have immediate effect from the date of execution and shall be adopted by the parties’ respective counsel when the matter comes up in court.”

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