JULYASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK9In early trade on Thursday, oil prices held on to most of the previous day's gains as markets weighed an unexpected draw in US crude oil stocks against the prospect of weaker demand after the Federal Reserve chairman hinted at further interest rate hikes.Brent futures were down 8 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $77.04 a barrel at 0015 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 5 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $72.48.The benchmarks had gained a dollar per barrel the previous session as U.S. corn and soybean prices surged to multi-month highs, raising concerns that crop shortages around the world could reduce biofuel blending and increase oil demand.Supporting the market, U.S. crude oil inventories fell by about 1.2 million barrels in the week ended June 16, sources said citing data from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, defying analysts' forecasts for a build of 300,000 barrels.Official inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due later on Thursday. The report was delayed by a day following the Juneteenth public holiday on Monday.Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell in congressional testimony reinforced that the central bank's objective was to rein in inflation and said two more 25-basis point rate hikes by year end was "a pretty good guess".Higher interest rates ultimately increase borrowing costs for consumers, which could slow economic growth and reduce oil demand. The French pay-TV behemoth announced Wednesday that it is investing $300 million in a 26.1 percent stake in Hong Kong-based OTT video service Viu. Canal+ will have the option to pay an additional payment to increase its ownership to 51 percent as part of the agreement.According to the partners, the transaction "will allow CANAL+ to take a major step in developing Asia as its next growth engine."Viu's video service, launched in 2015 with sponsorship from Hong Kong's telecom operator PCCW, offers both advertising and subscription-supported choices in 16 Asian, Middle Eastern, and African markets. According to the corporation, it has more than 66 million monthly active users and 12 million paid members. The majority of those users are thought to be from Asia.Viu has specialised in licencing and developing original Korean content, but the company also produces original content in Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In 2022, the company recorded revenue of more than $250 million, indicating a 36 percent increase year over year."CANAL+ already has leading market positions in Europe and Africa," stated CANAL+ CEO Maxime Saada. "We are now excited about developing Asia as a new growth engine for the group." Our investment in Viu is a significant step towards that goal." OIL PRICES STEADY POST SURPRISE DIPFRENCH ENTERTAINMENT PROVIDER TO ACQUIRE 26.1 PERCENT STAKE IN HONG KONG OTT SERVICE VIUNEWSROOM
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