The international jury of the Venice Biennale resigned Thursday amid tensions over Russia's participation and the panel's decision to bar prizes for countries accused of crimes against humanity. (Image credit: Antonio Calanni)
The international jury of the Venice Biennale resigned Thursday amid tensions over Russia's participation and the panel's decision to bar prizes for countries accused of crimes against humanity. (Image credit: Antonio Calanni)
The S&P Global Japan Manufacturing PMI increased to 55.1 in April 2026, surpassing the flash estimate of 54.9 and rising from 51.6 in March. This was the highest level since January 2022, with significant growth in output and new orders, influenced by the Middle East war prompting customers to stock up to avoid supply issues and costs. In contrast, inflationary pressures in the capital eased; Toky...
The S&P Global Japan Manufacturing PMI increased to 55.1 in April 2026, surpassing the flash estimate of 54.9 and rising from 51.6 in March. This was the highest level since January 2022, with significant growth in output and new orders, influenced by the Middle East war prompting customers to stock up to avoid supply issues and costs. In contrast, inflationary pressures in the capital eased; Tokyo’s core consumer prices rose 1.5% year-on-year in April, down from 1.7% in March and trailing market expectations of 1.8%. This marks the slowest pace of growth since March 2022 and keeps inflation below the Bank of Japan’s 2% target for the third consecutive month. The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.4% to above 59,500, while the broader Topix slipped 0.5% to 3,708 in choppy trading on Friday . The Japanese yen traded around 157 per US dollarafter surging as much as 3% to 155.5 overnight. More on Japan economy JPY Intervention - Unilateral Or Joint Will Be Key The Yen Recovers On Verbal Intervention EWJ: Why Japan Is At Risk From Surging LNG And Oil Prices Asian equities retreat as hawkish Fed cues, energy volatility, and mixed tech earnings sour sentiment Japan economic update: Retail sales surge 1.7% on stimulus while industrial output stumbles
Season two of the Oregon hospital series starts with the launch of a birthing centre. Plus, Bill Bailey’s moving portraits series. Here’s what to watch this evening 11.10pm, BBC One If the nonstop emergencies of The Pitt are a bit too unnerving, why not try a dose of Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin’s good (and occasionally excellent) mockumentary, set in an underfunded hospital in Oregon? As season...
Season two of the Oregon hospital series starts with the launch of a birthing centre. Plus, Bill Bailey’s moving portraits series. Here’s what to watch this evening 11.10pm, BBC One If the nonstop emergencies of The Pitt are a bit too unnerving, why not try a dose of Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin’s good (and occasionally excellent) mockumentary, set in an underfunded hospital in Oregon? As season two kicks off, Joyce is stressed about the launch of the new birthing centre, while Alex desperately tries to cling on to her blissful Hawaii holiday vibes. And Bruce’s aikido training proves useless when he’s attacked in the car park. Hannah J Davies Continue reading...
Earnings Call Insights: iRhythm (IRTC) Q1 2026 Management View "We delivered a strong first quarter, exceeding expectations on both the top and bottom line" (President, CEO & Director Quentin Blackford), adding that "Revenue grew 26% year-over-year" and performance was "broad-based across Zio Monitor and Zio AT" with progress across "cardiology, primary care, innovative channels and international....
Earnings Call Insights: iRhythm (IRTC) Q1 2026 Management View "We delivered a strong first quarter, exceeding expectations on both the top and bottom line" (President, CEO & Director Quentin Blackford), adding that "Revenue grew 26% year-over-year" and performance was "broad-based across Zio Monitor and Zio AT" with progress across "cardiology, primary care, innovative channels and international." "Approximately 53% of our volume now flows through EHR integrated accounts and more than 3/4 of our top 100 customers are now integrated" (President, CEO & Director Blackford), and he framed primary care as upstream expansion: "This is not a shift away from cardiology. Rather, it expands the overall market." "In the U.K., we had our best quarter in company history" (President, CEO & Director Blackford); in Japan, "we recently received an update to the reimbursement framework that introduces a modest supplemental payment for longer duration monitoring." "We now have more than 3 billion hours of curated ECG data" (President, CEO & Director Blackford), and he said early predictive pilots show "more than 85% accuracy in pre-identifying patients with clinically relevant arrhythmias" as the company starts "our first health system deployment of predictive identification workflows." "We remain subject to an FDA warning letter" (President, CEO & Director Blackford), but he said a third-party quality review "did not identify any material observations" and added: "While the timing of any action by the FDA remains with the agency, we believe the work completed to-date positions us well." "We reaffirm our first half 2027 release time line" for next-generation MCT (President, CEO & Director Blackford), noting FDA process changes: "the preferred path is to provide a complete package once all elements are finalized later this year." "We delivered revenue of $199.4 million" (CFO & Principal Financial Officer Daniel Wilson) and said results included "880 basis points of improvement to adju...
Australia’s final demand Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.4% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2026, down from a 0.8% increase in the previous quarter and below market expectations of 0.9%. This marked the 23rd consecutive quarter of producer inflation but was the slowest since Q1 2021, with strong demand in the residential property sector contributing to growth. Separately, the S&P Global Australia Manuf...
Australia’s final demand Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.4% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2026, down from a 0.8% increase in the previous quarter and below market expectations of 0.9%. This marked the 23rd consecutive quarter of producer inflation but was the slowest since Q1 2021, with strong demand in the residential property sector contributing to growth. Separately, the S&P Global Australia Manufacturing PMI was at 51.3 in April 2026, up from flash data of 51.0 and March's 49.8, but this increase was mainly due to longer delivery times caused by the war in the Middle East and international freight delays. On an annual basis, producer prices increased 3.0% in Q1, slowing from a 3.5% rise in Q4 and marking the softest pace since Q3 of 2021. The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 62 points, or 0.7%, to 8,727 in early deals on Friday, the first trading day of May . The Australian dollar held its gains around $0.72 on Friday. More on Australia: EWA: Australian Financials May Struggle With A Flattening Yield Curve Australia’s Q1 export prices slow to 0.5% growth as iron ore weakness weighs; iImport prices increased by 0.1% Australia March CPI accelerates to 4.6% amid Middle East energy volatility Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on iShares MSCI Australia ETF Dividend scorecard for iShares MSCI Australia ETF
FabioIm Petrobras ( PBR ) reported record oil and gas output in Q1, supported by strong growth in its pre-salt fields and improved refining performance. The company said total production of oil, natural gas liquids and gas reached an all-time high of 3.23M barrels of oil equivalent per day, rising 16% from a year earlier and 3.7% from the previous quarter. Petrobras ( PBR ) also posted broader ope...
FabioIm Petrobras ( PBR ) reported record oil and gas output in Q1, supported by strong growth in its pre-salt fields and improved refining performance. The company said total production of oil, natural gas liquids and gas reached an all-time high of 3.23M barrels of oil equivalent per day, rising 16% from a year earlier and 3.7% from the previous quarter. Petrobras ( PBR ) also posted broader operational records, with total operated production reaching 4.65M boe/d and output from pre-salt reserves surpassing 4M boe/d. In downstream, refining performance strengthened, with derivatives production rising 6.7% to about 1.816M barrels per day. Refinery utilization reached 95% during the quarter. The record performance comes against a backdrop of heightened geopolitical tensions, with the conflict involving Iran disrupting global crude flows and tightening supply. More on Petrobras The Market Has Totally Misread The Petrobras Opportunity Petrobras: Still Undervalued, But No Longer A Bargain As Iran Risks Cloud The Near-Term Petrobras: Keep Adding On Strength Petrobras buys Campos Basin field from Shell, partners in $290M deal Insider trades: Tim Cook shops Nike shares; Micron, Broadcom among other notable names
Earlier this week Bausch Health Companies (NYSE: BHC) delivered an estimates-beating first quarter, in an encouraging start to its 2026 financial year. Those beats weren't overwhelming, however, while annual revenue guidance broadly met analyst expectations. As of early Friday morning, Bausch's stock was up by nearly 2% week-to-date, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence . J...
Earlier this week Bausch Health Companies (NYSE: BHC) delivered an estimates-beating first quarter, in an encouraging start to its 2026 financial year. Those beats weren't overwhelming, however, while annual revenue guidance broadly met analyst expectations. As of early Friday morning, Bausch's stock was up by nearly 2% week-to-date, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence . Just after market close on Wednesday, Bausch published those quarterly figures. The company earned $2.52 billion in revenue, up 12% year over year. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
A government-backed water rave in Kuala Lumpur has earned the wrath of Malaysia’s culture war brigade, pitting religious objections against tourism goals, as critics decry the vulgar import amid growing conservatism. The uproar over the three-day Rain Rave Water Music Festival in Bukit Bintang comes as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government tries to promote the country as a youthful, experience...
A government-backed water rave in Kuala Lumpur has earned the wrath of Malaysia’s culture war brigade, pitting religious objections against tourism goals, as critics decry the vulgar import amid growing conservatism. The uproar over the three-day Rain Rave Water Music Festival in Bukit Bintang comes as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government tries to promote the country as a youthful, experience-led travel destination, even as it manages a traditionalist pushback against concerts, pop culture...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seeking details of a short-term ceasefire Russia proposed to U.S. President Donald Trump. (Image credit: Petros Karadjias)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seeking details of a short-term ceasefire Russia proposed to U.S. President Donald Trump. (Image credit: Petros Karadjias)