Amazon To Shut Down Kindle Bookstore In China

Amazon announced plans to shut down its Kindle e-book store in China next year, thus becoming the latest US company to scale back operations in the Asian country.

The company has stopped supplying Kindle e-readers to local retailers, and plans to close its digital bookstore in the country on June 30th, 2023. Chinese users will be able to download previously purchased e-books until June 30, 2024, and continue to read them after that, Amazon said.

Meanwhile, Amazon will still provide warranty service and other help for Kindle e-readers, and will accept returns for “non-quality issues” for any device bought after January 1st, 2022.

“Amazon’s long-term development commitment in China will not change,” Amazon said in a Weibo post. “We have established an extensive business base in China and will continue to innovate and invest.”

Amazon isn’t the only American company that has scaled back its operations in China. Tech giants like Airbnb, LinkedIn and Yahoo have all limited services or exited form the country, due to increased competition or stringent internet censorship.

Oil Futures Settle Lower As Demand Concerns Resurface

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Thursday as demand concerns resurfaced following authorities in Shanghai imposing new Covid-related restrictions.

According to a Reuters report, Shanghai has announced another round of mass testing for millions of residents. The city will lock down a district of 2.7 million people on Saturday to conduct mass coronavirus testing, city authorities said.

Shanghai and Beijing had earlier this week eased heavy curbs on activity aimed at discouraging the spread of the virus.

Data showing a drop in gasoline inventories in the U.S. last week had lifted oil prices sharply in the previous session.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $0.60 or about 0.5% at $121.51 a barrel.

Brent crude futures were down $0.76 or 0.61% at $122.82 a barrel a little while ago.

U.S. gasoline stocks fell despite sky-high pump prices, EIA data showed on Wednesday. Stocks fell by a surprise 0.8 million barrels last week contrary to expectations for a 1.1-million-barrel rise.

UAE energy minister Suhai al-Mazrouei has said that efforts by OPEC and allies to boost output are “not encouraging” with the group currently short of its target by about 2.6 million barrels per day.

N.Korea reports 45,540 more people with fever symptoms amid COVID outbreak -KCNA

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea on Friday reported 45,540 new people showing fever symptoms amid the isolated nation’s first confirmed COVID-19 outbreak, state media KCNA said. The media did not report whether there were any new deaths, however.

European Economics Preview: Germany Foreign Trade Data Due

Foreign trade data from Germany and final Purchasing Managers’ survey results from major euro area economies are due on Friday.

At 2.00 am ET, Destatis releases Germany’s foreign trade data for April. Exports are forecast to grow 1.5 percent on month, reversing a 3.3 percent fall in March. At the same time, imports are forecast to climb 0.2 percent, slower than the 3.4 percent increase in March.

At 2.45 am ET, France’s statistical office Insee is scheduled to issue industrial production for April. Economists forecast output to climb 0.3 percent on month, in contrast to the 0.5 percent decrease in March.

At 3.00 am ET, retail sales data from Hungary and consumer and producer prices from Turkey are due. Turkey’s inflation is expected to rise to 76.55 percent in May from 69.97 percent in April.

At 3.15 am ET, S&P Global is set to issue Spain composite PMI data. The services index is seen at 56.0 in May versus 57.1 in the previous month.

At 3.45 am ET, Italy’s composite PMI survey results are due. Economists forecast the services index to fall to 54.5 in May from 55.7 a month ago.

Thereafter final composite survey results are due from France and Germany at 3.50 am and 3.55 am ET, respectively.

At 4.00 am ET, S&P Global publishes final euro area composite PMI data. The final reading is seen at 54.9 in May, in line with flash estimate.

At 5.00 am ET, Eurostat is slated to release eurozone retail sales data. Economists expect sales to grow 0.3 percent on month in April, partially offsetting the 0.4 percent decrease in March.

Peloton shakeup: New CEO and job cuts

New York (CNN Business)Online clothing retailer Stitch Fix will lay off 15% of its salaried staff — around 330 employees — amid slowing e-commerce growth across the retail sector.

Stitch Fix (SFIX), an online styling service launched in 2011, boomed a year ago but has struggled this year as more shoppers head to stores and pull back on their online spending. The company is also facing higher costs.
The cuts come months after Stitch Fix slashed its forecast for the full year and said its active client count was below expectations.

Stitch Fix’s stock has lost more than half its value this year and is now worth less than $1 billion.

In a memo to staff Thursday, Stitch Fix CEO Elizabeth Spaulding said “in light of our recent business momentum and an uncertain macroeconomic environment, we’ve taken a renewed look at our business and what is required to build our future.”

Layoffs at Stitch Fix are part of a broader downturn among many online companies that thrived during the pandemic with people spending more time at home, such as Netflix (NFLX), Zoom (ZM), Peloton and others.