[ad_1] Ecommerce site Wish’s stock fell in its first trades on the Nasdaq exchange on Wednesday, in a contrast to a succession of blockbuster technology listings this year. Shares in ContextLogic, which does business under the name of Wish, had dropped as much as 14 per cent from their initial public offering price of $24 by mid-afternoon. The company raised about $1.1bn at that price on Tuesday evening, giving it an implied market capitalisation of $14bn. Wish’s offering came on the heels of Airbnb and DoorDash’s successful market debuts, which revived memories of the dotcom era and signalled the willingness of public investors to buy into fast-growing but lossmaking tech…

[ad_1] Europeans who were looking forward to Christmas and new year holidays free from burdensome Covid-19 lockdowns have been brought abruptly down to earth in the past week, with persistently high infection rates across the continent obliging governments from London to Athens to strengthen or maintain restrictions on free movement.  Belgium has extended curbs through the holidays and will allow people to invite only one adult friend — known as a “cuddle contact” — to their homes, or two if they live alone. France has cancelled a reprieve for New Year’s Eve gatherings and will impose an 8pm-6am curfew from Tuesday. Italy, which at the weekend overtook the UK to…

[ad_1] Alice Woodhouse Developing economies in Asia will shrink at a slower pace than forecast this year on improved outlooks for India and China, according to the Asian Development Bank. The ADB forecasts economies in developing Asia are expected to contract by 0.4 per cent in 2020, an improvement on the bank’s forecast in September of a 0.7 per cent year on year decline. Its Asian Development Outlook report forecasts that the Chinese economy will recover at a faster rate than previously estimated. China’s economy is set to grow by 2.1 per cent in 2020, up from the previous estimate of 1.8 per cent on recoveries for both manufacturing and…

[ad_1] President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that France would maintain defence and commercial ties with Egypt despite the military-led regime’s human rights record because co-operation would help in the struggle against terrorism and contribute to regional stability.  Mr Macron was speaking after hosting Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for talks at the Elysée Palace in defiance of sharp criticism from international human rights groups as well as liberal and leftwing French politicians.  “I won’t condition our co-operation in defence and economic matters on these disagreements [over human rights],” Mr Macron told a joint news conference.  “It’s better to have a demanding dialogue than a boycott policy that would reduce…