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Shares are mixed in Asia after a post-holiday retreat on Wall Street, as markets count down to the end of a painful year for investors BANGKOK -- Shares were mixed in Asia on Wednesday after a post-holiday retreat on Wall Street, as markets count down to the end of a painful year for investors. Shares fell in Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul but rose in Hong Kong as the Chinese government took further steps to reopen to foreign Travel after relaxing its stringent “zero-COVID” policies. Oil prices rose and U.S. futures inched higher. The Chinese government announced it will start issuing new passports in another major step away from anti-virus travel barriers. That sets up a potential flood of tourists out of China for next month’s Lunar New Year holiday, taking free-spending Chinese visitors to Asia, Europe and other destinations during what usually is the country’s busiest travel season. But governments in India and Japan have said they will impose extra precautions on those arrivi...

Microsoft has reported a 12% drop in profit for the October-December quarter, reflecting the economic uncertainty it says led to its decision to cut 10,000 workers REDMOND, Washington -- Microsoft on Tuesday reported a 12% drop in profit for the October-December quarter , reflecting the economic uncertainty it said led to its decision to cut 10,000 workers. The company reported quarter ly profit of $16.43 billion, or $2.20 per share. Excluding one-time items, the company based in Redmond, Washington, said it earned $2.32 a share, which topped Wall Street expectation for adjusted earnings of $2.29 a share. The software maker posted revenue of $52.75 billion in the October-December period, its second fiscal quarter, up 2% from the same period a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet expected Microsoft to post revenue of $52.99 billion for the October-December quarter. Microsoft last week blamed “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities” for its decision to cut nearly 5% ...