Business

Alphabet Inc.'s Google said on Monday up to 500,000 Google+ user accounts were potentially affected by a bug that may have exposed their data to external developers, and the company is shutting down the social network for consumers.

Google opted not to disclose the issue partly due to fears of regulatory scrutiny, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. 

A software glitch in the social site gave outside developers potential access to private Google+ profile data between 2015 and March 2018, when internal investigators discovered and fixed the issue, the report said.

Shares of Alphabet Inc. were down 2.6 per cent at $1138.53.

The affected data is limited to static, optional Google+ Profile fields including name, email address, occupation, gender and age, Google said.

"We found no evidence that any developer was aware of this bug, or abusing the API, and we found no evidence that any Profile data was misused," Google said.

A memo, prepared by Google's legal and policy staff and shared with senior executives, warned that disclosing the incident would likely trigger "immediate regulatory interest" and invite comparisons to Facebook's leak of user information to data firm Cambridge Analytica, the WSJ report said.

Allegations of the improper use of data for 87 million Facebook users by Cambridge Analytica, which was hired by President Donald Trump's 2016 US election campaign, has hurt the shares of the world's biggest social network and prompted multiple official investigations in the United States and Europe.

Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai was briefed on the plan not to notify users after an internal committee had reached that decision, according to the WSJ.

In weighing whether to disclose the incident, the company considered "whether we could accurately identify the users to inform, whether there was any evidence of misuse, and whether there were any actions a developer or user could take in response", a Google spokesman told WSJ. "None of these thresholds were met here."

BALI, INDONESIE — Rising protectionism, vulnerable emerging markets and record debt levels —- the International Monetary Fund (IMF) holds its annual meeting this week in earthquake-stricken Indonesia, as it shines a light on tremors in the global economy.

Finance ministers and central bankers from 180 countries will be among 32,000 attendees in Bali for the annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank, which takes place every three years outside of Washington. The gathering will be held from Tuesday to Sunday. 

The resort island of Bali is 1,125 kilometres from Palu, the city on Sulawesi that wracked by an earthquake and tsunami on September 28 that left more than 1,500 dead and 1,000 missing.

Despite the distance, security is a major concern for Indonesian organisers. 

Bali experienced a series of volcanic eruptions over the summer, while the neighbouring island of Lombok was struck by a string of deadly earthquakes.

If there is an earthquake, Jakarta recommends participants stay in the conference centre, which, like many hotels in Bali, is built to withstand such seismic events. 

In case of tsunami risk, attendees would be evacuated to a nearby building.

But the focus of the meeting is averting economic rather than natural disasters.

The trade war launched by US President Donald Trump against China, along with disputes with allies like the European Union, Mexico and Canada, is a key source of concern. 

The dispute caused a proliferation of protectionist measures in recent months that is weighing more and more on international trade. 

 Risks materialise 

Trump has imposed tariffs on $250 billion of annual imports from China, to try to pressure Beijing to change trade policies he calls unfair, including theft of American technology.

Beijing countered by imposing punitive duties on $110 billion of US products.

Washington also has imposed steep tariffs on steel, aluminum, washing machines and solar panels, drawing retaliation from Canada, Mexico, China and others.

Like the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development which lowered its economic growth forecast for the world economy to 3.7 per cent for 2018, IMF chief Christine Lagarde signaled the fund would cut the outlook which in July stood at 3.9 per cent.

After sounding the alarm in recent years about threats to the global economy, Lagarde said last week "some of those risks have begun to materialise" and "there are signs that global growth has plateaued".

The rise in trade barriers is slowing trade, and dampening investment and manufacturing as uncertainty increases, she said.

She repeated the warning about rising debt levels which "reached an all-time high of $182 trillion — almost 60 per cent higher than in 2007".

That creates concerns for emerging market economies which will come under increased pressure as the US central bank raises interest rates, while investors are likely to pull out of those markets seeking higher returns.

Argentina and Turkey already have been hit by headwinds, seeing their currencies collapse and forcing Buenos Aires to go the IMF for help.

The fund recently increased support for Argentina by $7 billion to $57 billion in exchange for tough economic policy reforms, although the loan has not yet been approved by the IMF board.

But economist Monica de Bolle of the Peterson Institute for International Economics said Brazil was likely to see market turbulence next year and South Africa is vulnerable as well.

"This is not going to end well," de Bolle said of the emerging market outlook.

There could be broader repercussions in the event China's economic engine slows sharply amid the trade confrontation. 

Group of 20 finance ministers also are due to meet in Bali on the sidelines of the IMF meeting to discuss topics such as US sanctions against Iran or taxes on digital giants. This will the last meeting prior to the leaders' summit in Buenos Aires at the end of November.

MEXICO CITY — Last-minute changes to a new North American trade deal sank US hopes of making Canada and Mexico allow higher-value shipments to the countries by online retailers, such as Amazon.com, a top Mexican official said on Friday.

The revised pact was set to double the value of goods that could be imported without customs duties or taxes from the United States through shipping companies to Mexico. 

But Canada’s adoption of a more restrictive threshold during its efforts last month to salvage a trilateral deal prompted Mexican negotiators to follow Canada’s lead, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Friday. 

The final version of the trade agreement will insulate retailers in both countries from facing greater competition from e-commerce companies like Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc . 

“It was the solution liked much more by Mexican businesses,” Guajardo told local television.

The change came so last-minute that it was not written into the agreement published last weekend.

The new deal, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), was meant by US President Donald Trump to create more jobs in the United States. Trump had been highly critical of the prior NAFTA agreement since before he ran for president. 

US negotiators originally pushed Mexico and Canada to raise import limits to the US level of $800 from current thresholds of $50 and C$20, respectively. 

Traditional retailers in Mexico opposed such a big hike, fearing online companies would sell cheap imports from Asia through the United States. Even so, Mexico initially agreed in August to raise the threshold on customs duties and taxes to $100 in its bilateral deal with the United States.

Guajardo said that Canada, after Mexico had finished negotiations, set its sales tax exemption at just C$40, about $30, and put a ceiling of C$150, about $117, on custom duties exemptions. 

The Retail Council of Canada said the deal will protect retailers against a “massive change in the competitive landscape.”

Mexico decided to follow suit, Guajardo said, favoring local clothing, footwear and textile industries, as well as the finance ministry that collects duties and taxes. 

Mexican negotiators lowered the sales tax exemption back to the $50 level, while raising the customs duties limit to $117, matching Canada, Guajardo said. 

“Mexico offered a deal where it really didn’t concede anything,” said Adrian Correa, a senior lawyer at FedEx Corp. Mike Dabbs, eBay’s government relations director for the Americas, said separate tax and custom duty thresholds could create confusion. 

“That does not help the experience for small businesses and consumers,” he said.

NEW DELHI — India is cutting prices of gasoline and diesel by 2.50 rupees ($0.03) a litre, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday, the government's latest step to tackle the impact of a sharp rise in crude oil prices and a weak local currency. 

The cut includes a reduction in excise duty of 1.50 rupees per litre, which will reduce government revenue by 105 billion rupees, Jaitley said. State-run refiners will also cut the price they charge by 1 rupee per litre.

Jaitley also asked state governments to cut value added tax on fuel by a further 2.50 rupees per litre.

Taxes on gasoline and diesel, which account for more than a third of retail fuel prices, are one of the biggest sources of income for the government, which is seeking to keep the country's budget deficit in check.

"It certainly has fiscal implications. If the government wishes to stick to its glidepath of fiscal consolidation, then it will have to cut its expenditures significantly," said Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at L&T Finance Holdings. 

Shares in Indian Oil Corp., the country's biggest oil refiner, dropped 11.4 per cent in reaction to the news.

The price cut is likely to result in a loss of margin of 70-72 billion Indian rupees on auto fuel sales, according to K. Ravichandran, senior vice president, corporate ratings, at ratings agency ICRA Ltd. 

Among other state-run companies, shares in Hindustan Petroleum Corp. closed down 13.5 per cent and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. lost 12.4 per cent. The Nifty Energy Index fell 6.14 per cent.

Global crude prices hit near 4-year highs on Wednesday, and a weak rupee has added to the woes of Indians, who have been hit by record high fuel prices. India's fuel demand grew at its slowest pace in the last twelve months in August.

India stopped controlling petrol prices in 2010 and diesel prices in 2014, linking them to global crude markets in a bid to ease pressure on government finances and improve the earnings of oil refiners. But analysts said the announcement on Thursday shows there is still a heavy government hand in the industry.

"By asking the oil marketing companies to absorb the price hike, the government is giving a signal that it can interfere at anytime in a deregulated market in the larger public interest," said Gagan Dixit, a senior analyst with Elara Capital.

Rising gasoline and diesel fuel prices have been a cause of public anger, with people in parts of the country blocking trains and vandalising vehicles in protest.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is facing a tough election in three key states this year, followed by a national election which is due by May.

Asked by a reporter about the economic implications of the move, Jaitley said the decision was "good economics" as it won't impact the fiscal deficit and will allow consumers to boost spending on other goods.

Devendra Kumar Pant, chief economist at India Ratings and Research, said the move could act as a "minor comforting factor" for the central bank during its monetary policy meeting scheduled on Friday, as a fuel price cut will ease retail inflation.

The national reduction translates to a 3 per cent cut in gasoline prices, and a 3.3 per cent fall in diesel prices in India's capital New Delhi. Fuel prices are not uniform across the country due to variable state taxes. 

Gasoline was sold at 83.85 rupees a litre, while diesel was sold at 75.25 a litre on October 3, according to state-run retailer Indian Oil Corp.'s website.

Some states such as Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Maharashtra, ruled by Modi's BJP, cut their own taxes following the federal government's announcement. But it is unclear how many of India's 29 states will meet the request, though some had in recent weeks already reduced their take.

"I hope all state governments do this and they announce this so that consumers benefit by 5 rupees," Jaitley told reporters.

AMMAN — President of the Amman Chamber of Commerce Issa Murad and Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce Ahmed El Wakil on Wednesday discussed means to strengthen Jordanian-Egyptian economic relations, according to a statement of the Amman Chamber of Commerce.

During a meeting at the chamber’s headquarters, Murad and El Wakil stressed the importance of enhanced networking between the two countries’ private sector institutions.

Murad indicated that establishing an information base at the different chambers that highlight promising economic sectors in both countries can be beneficial to allow companies to get acquainted with market needs, according to the statement.

During the last year, Jordan’s exports to Egypt amounted to JD63 million, while its imports from Egypt totalled JD336 million. 

HONG KONG — Oil prices built on gains on Tuesday after another blistering rally, but most markets were in retreat as traders brushed off a positive lead from Wall Street and the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.

Crude has motored in recent weeks on concerns about supplies after sanctions are imposed on Iran next month, while OPEC's decision not to ramp up output, upheaval in Venezuela, a strong dollar and a drop in oil rigs have also pushed prices higher. 

"Right now, we're just in a bull market for oil because of the prospects of a very tight market later on in the year," John Kilduff, founding partner at New York-based hedge fund Again Capital LLC, told Bloomberg News.

Both main contracts jumped almost 3 per cent on Monday and clocked up fresh gains in Asia, with observers and key players in the sector now eyeing $100 a barrel.

Kim Kwangrae, a commodities analyst at Samsung Futures, added: "The market is very keen to figure out the size of the impact from the Iranian supply disruptions and whether Saudi Arabia and Russia are able to make up for the losses.

"At the same time, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement is also improving the overall sentiment on oil."

New York traders sent the Dow and S&P 500 higher after the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement was announced on Sunday to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The deal drew an end to months of uncertainty after Donald Trump had threatened to tear up the decades-old NAFTA.

 Dollar stronger 

However, Asia was unable to follow suit. Hong Kong reopened after a long weekend to fall 2.4 per cent, with data indicating a drop in Chinese manufacturing activity denting sentiment. 

The "HSI is trading with a negative bias, playing catch up from yesterday's holiday, in reaction to the weaker China [manufacturing] data", said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trade at OANDA. "It's more than apparent Hong Kong investors are in no mood to join the revamped NAFTA festivities."

Sydney shed 0.8 per cent, Singapore fell 0.5 per cent and Seoul was off 1.3 per cent.

Wellington, Taipei, Jakarta and Manila were also well down.

But Tokyo edged up 0.1 per cent after the Nikkei on Monday saw its highest close in 27 years with the yen at its weakest since November.

Markets in China were closed for a holiday. 

London fell 0.3 per cent in early trade, while Paris lost 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt shed 0.4 per cent.

In forex trade, the euro faced selling pressure on concerns about Italy's finances after its populist government agreed a massive spending boost that blew out its budget, while eurozone finance ministers warned Rome to abide by fiscal rules.

High-yielding and emerging market currencies were mostly down as dealers looked for safer bets. The dollar broke 15,000 Indonesian rupiah for the first time since 1998 during the Asian financial crisis, while Mexico's peso and the South African rand were more than 1 per cent off against the greenback.

South Korea's won, the Australian dollar and the Russian ruble were also sharply lower.

WASHINGTON — After sounding the alarm in recent years about threats to the global economy, International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde said risks had begun to materialise and were slowing growth.

In a speech just hours after the United States, Mexico and Canada announced a revised North American trade agreement, Lagarde said the rise in trade barriers "is hurting not only trade itself, but also investment and manufacturing as uncertainty continues to rise".

She signaled that the IMF would downgrade its global growth forecast next week, urged governments to de-escalate disputes and cautioned that they fail to do so at their peril.

"The stakes are high because the fracturing of global value chains could have a devastating effect on many countries, including advanced economies," Lagarde said a speech meant to preview the IMF's annual meeting in Bali next week.

She called on world leaders to work together to fix the global trading system rather than destroy it, to make sure the benefits were felt throughout society.

Avoid the 'shipwreck' 

"History shows that, while it is tempting to sail alone, countries must resist the siren call of self-sufficiency — because as the Greek legends tell us, that leads to shipwreck," she said.

"My key message today is that we need to manage the risks, step up reforms and modernise the multilateral system."

The IMF is due to release its latest World Economic Outlook, to update forecasts in July that estimated world growth of 3.9 per cent this year and next.

But Lagarde said the "outlook has since become less bright, as you will see from our updated forecast next week".

Prior to the meeting of the Washington-based lender in April, the IMF chief issued a caution about "clouds of risk on the horizon". She now says "some of those risks have begun to materialise" and "there are signs that global growth has plateaued". 

Economies in Europe and Japan have slowed, while China is seeing indicators its economy is experiencing "moderation", she said.

Rising US interest rates and a stronger US dollar are causing outflows of capital from emerging markets.

While these factors have not yet hit financial markets, "if the current trade disputes were to escalate further, they could deliver a shock to a broader range of emerging and developing economies", Lagarde said.

But she repeated the warning about rising debt levels which "reached an all-time high of $182 trillion — almost 60 per cent higher than in 2007".

The new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement
(USMCA) that updates the 25-year-old regional pact could be a positive sign.

But the United States remains enmeshed in a confrontation with China that involves more than $500 billion in annual trade between the nations.

The USMCA does address services trade, which Lagarde highlights as a key element needed to modernise the global trading system.

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook revealed on Friday that up to 50 million accounts were breached by hackers, dealing a blow to the social network’s effort to convince users to trust it with their data.

The social network is investigating the extent of harm done when hackers exploited a trio of software flaws to steal “access tokens”, the equivalent of digital keys that enable people to automatically log back into the social network.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said engineers discovered the breach on Tuesday, and patched it on Thursday night.

“We don’t know if any accounts were actually misused,” Zuckerberg said. “This is a serious issue.”

As a precaution, Facebook is temporarily taking down the “view as” feature — described as a privacy tool to let users see how their profiles look to other people.

“It’s clear that attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code,” said vice president of product management Guy Rosen.

“We’ve fixed the vulnerability and informed law enforcement.”

Facebook reset the 50 million breached accounts, meaning users will need to sign back in using passwords.

Democratic US Senator Mark Warner cited the breach as further proof of the privacy danger of companies such as Facebook and Equifax not adequately protecting the massive amounts of information they gather about people.

“This is another sobering indicator that Congress needs to step up and take action to protect the privacy and security of social media users,” Warner said in a statement.

“As I’ve said before — the era of the Wild West in social media is over.”

The breach is the latest privacy embarrassment for Facebook, which earlier this year acknowledged that tens of millions of users had personal data hijacked by Cambridge Analytica, a political firm working for Donald Trump in 2016.

“We face constant attacks from people who want to take over accounts or steal information around the world,” Zuckerberg said on his Facebook page.

“While I’m glad we found this, fixed the vulnerability, and secured the accounts that may be at risk, the reality is we need to continue developing new tools to prevent this from happening in the first place.”

HONG KONG — Asian markets rose on Friday, tracking a rally on Wall Street where investors were buoyed by the Federal Reserve’s positive outlook for the US economy, and oil added to gains with predictions it could be headed back to $100.

While concerns over the China-US trade row hang in the air, equities continue to be supported by optimism that the global economy and companies are in rude health.

That was reinforced by the Fed on Wednesday as it lifted interest rates and indicated more to come over the next year citing the strong labour market and playing down concerns about vulnerabilities in the financial system.

“One thing that’s telling is the current price action which sees investors continually coming back for more. That suggests the gushing US economy and not trade wars, continues to influence investors’ decisions,” said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at OANDA.

All three Wall Street indexes ended with gains and Asia followed suit.

Tokyo led the way, ending 1.4 per cent higher as exporters were boosted by the weaker yen, which is at its lowest level against the dollar this year.

Shanghai gained 1.1 per cent, Sydney rose 0.4 per cent and Singapore climbed 0.6 per cent. Wellington added 0.7 per cent while there were also solid performances in Manila, Mumbai and Jakarta.

Hong Kong added 0.3, but property firms were again hit after the city’s banks on Thursday lifted commercial lending rates for the first time in 12 years following the Fed hike. 

Seoul and Taipei ended lower.

While the prospect of higher US rates has lifted the dollar, the upbeat mood is also helping emerging market and high-yielding currencies, which have been swiped in recent weeks by the trade war fears.

The South Korean won, Indonesian rupiah, Thai baht and Mexican peso were all being well bought while the Turkish lira jumped more than 1 per cent, despite ongoing concerns about the country’s economy.

The euro continued to fall further after losing almost 1 per cent on Thursday, as Italy’s government agreed on a budget deficit target of 2.4 per cent of gross domestic product for next year, fuelling fears of a bust-up with Brussels.

On Friday, those fears looked to be coming to fruition when EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici hit out at the Italian move, which he called “beyond the limits of our shared rules”.

In early trade London shed 0.2 per cent, while Paris and Frankfurt were 0.5 per cent lower as traders were rattled by the brewing row.

Crude prices extended gains on growing concerns about supplies following a decision not to increase output by key producers, just as Iran faces export sanctions and Venezuela continues to be dogged by political and economic crises.

Also, the US energy secretary this week ruled out using the country’s emergency stockpiles to ease prices.

Bloomberg News reported that the chief executive of oil and gas major Total, Patrick Pouyanne, saw prices swinging to the $100 levels last seen in mid-2014. 

“Everyone’s worried about the tightness in supply at the moment and that’s continuing to push up prices,” Will Yun, a commodities analyst at Hyundai Futures, said. “But volatility is coming as we’re still waiting for further response from the US.”

NEW YORK — The US dollar rose to touch a one-week high against a basket of major currencies on Thursday following a hike in US interest rates, while a robust economy and surging shares of Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. boosted the US stock market.

The Federal Reserve (Fed) on Wednesday raised rates for the third time this year, indicating its confidence in the US economy.

That sentiment carried the dollar higher into a second day and dented the euro, which was further pressured by worries about Italy’s budget.

“The Fed is moving faster than most central banks and that’s dollar-supportive,” said Erik Nelson, currency strategist, at Wells Fargo Securities in New York.

The dollar index, tracking it against six major currencies, rose 0.68 per cent, while the euro dipped 0.6 per cent to $1.1668.

The greenback hit a two-week peak against the Swiss franc and Canadian dollar.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 117.28 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 26,502.56, the S&P 500 gained 15.89 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 2,921.86 and the Nasdaq Composite added 68.42 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 8,058.79.

Apple rose 2.5 per cent, the biggest boost to the three main indexes after JP Morgan started coverage of the stock with an “overweight” rating.

Amazon.com rose 1.5 per cent after brokerage Stifel talked up its businesses.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.17 per cent.

Italy

Reports that Italy’s long-awaited budget was facing delay initially dented European shares, which then recovered. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 Index rose 0.48 per cent. 

Italy’s main Milan bourse slumped as much as 2 per cent, and was last down 0.6 per cent, with the country’s big banks sinking even more as the country’s borrowing costs hit a three-week high in the government bond markets. 

Rome confirmed that a cabinet meeting over budget targets was still planned for later, dismissing an earlier report in the Corriere della Sera newspaper that it could be delayed.

Still, Italy’s economic ministry was forced to deny that its chief Giovanni Tria, an academic who does not belong to any one party, had threatened to resign.

“It is very fluid and it is changing by the minute it seems,” head of EMEA macro strategy at State Street, Tim Graf, said.

“Even if things get resolved positively today, Italy is not a situation that is going to go away,” he added, pointing to the growing popularity of the country’s fractious anti-establishment coalition government.

Japan’s Nikkei briefly touched an eight-month high as signs that the United States may not impose further tariffs on Japanese automotive products for now lifted carmakers, though the index eventually ended down nearly 1 per cent.

Oil edged higher, driven by the prospect of a shortfall in global supply once US sanctions against major crude exporter Iran come into force in just five weeks’ time.

US crude rose 0.43 per cent to $71.88 per barrel and Brent was last at $81.01, up 0.27 per cent.