Asian e-commerce giant Shein Tuesday pledged to “cooperate fully” with French judicial authorities after an uproar over it selling childlike sex dolls, and said it was prepared to disclose the names of people who bought them.The controversy comes as the online fast-fashion seller is set to open its first bricks and mortar store in the world in the prestigious BHV department store in central Paris.”We will cooperate fully with the judicial authorities,” Shein’s spokesman in France, Quentin Ruffat, told RMC radio, adding the company was prepared to share names of those who have bought such dolls.”We will be completely transparent with the authorities. If they ask us to do so, we will comply,” he said.”We will put the necessary safeguards in place to ensure that this does not happen again,” Ruffat said.The Paris prosecutor’s office said it had opened investigations against Shein, and also rival online retailers AliExpress, Temu and Wish, over the sale of sex dolls.The probes were for distributing “messages that are violent, pornographic or improper, and accessible to minors”, the office told AFP.The investigations were launched after France’s anti-fraud unit reported on Saturday that Shein was selling childlike sex dolls.French media published a photo of one of the dolls sold on the platform, accompanied by an explicitly sexual caption.The pictured doll measured around 80 centimetres (30 inches) in height and held a teddy bear.Ruffat described what had happened as “serious, unacceptable, intolerable.”He chalked up the sale of the dolls to “an internal malfunction, a malfunction in our processes and governance”.”We assessed the situation and responded quickly,” he added.- ‘Despicable’ -On Monday, Shein announced it was imposing a “total ban on sex-doll-type products” and had deleted all listings and images linked to them. The uproar comes as Shein prepares on Wednesday to open its first physical store in the world, inside the BHV Marais department store in central Paris.The move has sparked outrage in France. “Shein in France. Who can stop it?” left-leaning French daily Liberation said on its front page.Frederic Merlin, the 34-year-old director of the company that owns BHV, admitted on Tuesday that he considered pulling the plug on the partnership with Shein after the uproar.”It’s despicable, it’s indecent, it’s abject,” he told broadcaster RTL on Tuesday, referring to the sale of the dolls.”I find it sickening to know that we can freely sell this kind of stuff on the internet,” Merlin added.But he said he had reconsidered, saying Shein’s stance and readiness to cooperate with the French authorities “convinced me to continue”.On Monday, France’s high commissioner for childhood, Sarah El Hairy, denounced the dolls which she called “paedophile objects that predators unfortunately sometimes use to practise before moving on to abusing children.”Ruffat said he and “the entire Shein brand” shared her concerns.”We will be delighted to discuss these issues with her, these issues of paedophile crime, which are too serious to be ignored,” he said.Finance Minister Roland Lescure had warned he would move to ban the company from the French market if the items returned online.Shein, a Singapore-based company which was originally founded in China, has faced criticism over working conditions at its factories and the environmental impact of its ultra-fast fashion business model.

Asian markets fell Tuesday as investors assessed the latest tech rally on Wall Street amid worries a bubble is forming in the sector, while mixed signals from Federal Reserve officials fed uncertainty over its next interest rate move.A flood of multi-billion-dollar investment into artificial intelligence has been a key driver of the surge in mostly technology equities across the globe this year, sending valuations to record highs.The rally has been helped by easing trade tensions since US President Donald Trump’s April tariff bombshell and expectations that the Fed will continue lowering borrowing costs.There is also a fear of missing out, in turn pushing prices up further, but there is increasing talk that the gains may have gone too far — with most of them coming from the tech sector — and a painful correction could be on the way.ChatGPT-maker OpenAI signed a $38 billion deal with Amazon’s AWS cloud computing arm, marking its latest huge tie-up following agreements with Oracle, Broadcom, AMD and chip titan Nvidia.”Even after the tariff-induced swoon in April, global equities have tacked on $17 trillion in market value, with the rally increasingly bottlenecked into the same handful of tech titans,” wrote SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes.”It’s as if the entire market has narrowed to a single crowded corridor, the walls lined with AI logos and venture dreams. “Amazon’s move simply adds another rocket to the booster stack — and traders are cheering the ignition, not asking how much fuel remains.”Wall Street ended on a mixed note, with the tech-rich Nasdaq rising along with the S&P 500 but the Dow in the red.Asia struggled, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Mumbai and Bangkok falling, though there were gains in Wellington, Manila and Jakarta.London, Paris and Frankfurt dropped at the open.Remarks from Fed officials did little to provide support for further buying after boss Jerome Powell indicated last week that a third rate cut this year — after one in each of the past two meetings — was not definite.Governor Lisa Cook said she saw inflation remaining elevated in the coming year as tariffs bite, pointing out that some businesses had indicated they were running down inventories before passing on costs to consumers.”Looking ahead, policy is not on a predetermined path,” Cook said. “We are at a moment when risks to both sides of the dual mandate are elevated,” she added, referring to the bank’s target to support jobs while keeping rates at a level to put a cap on inflation. “Every meeting, including December’s, is a live meeting.”Meanwhile, Chicago Fed chief Austan Goolsbee said his main worry was inflation, while San Francisco boss Mary Daly was open to any options with regards to a cut in December. Governor Stephen Miran, a Trump nominee, wanted to see more cuts.”The divergence in opinions reinforces Fed Powell’s assessment that another fed funds rate in December is not a foregone conclusion, with the lack of data adding to the need to wait before making a decision (when driving in a fog, best to slow down),” wrote National Australia Bank’s Rodrigo Catril.Data on Monday indicated some further weakness in the US economy, with a key gauge of activity in the manufacturing sector contracting more than expected and for an eighth straight month in October as demand and output weakened.On currency markets, India’s rupee rallied from close to a record low against the dollar after the Reserve Bank of India stepped in with support, according to Bloomberg News. The unit briefly jumped to 88.3925 against the greenback, having sat around 88.80 on Monday, which was a whisker away from its all-time low of 88.8050 seen in September.The unit has come under pressure of late owing to worries about exports as New Delhi struggles to strike a trade deal with the United States.- Key figures at around 0820 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.7 percent at 51,497.20 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.8 percent at 25,952.40 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,960.19 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 percent at 9,633.74 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1523 from $1.1518 on MondayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3108 from $1.3138Dollar/yen: DOWN at 153.51 yen from 154.20 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.91 pence from 87.67 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 percent at $60.63 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $64.43 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.5 percent at 47,336.68 (close)