ASIA: Japan’s government expects the country’s economy to rebound to pre-COVID-19 levels by the end of March 2022, with a government official touting a strong domestic vaccine rollout and robust growth as the main upward drivers. Revised estimates show that Japan’s economy shrank less over 2021 than initially predicted, with uprated figures showing a gross […]

ASIA: Didi Global Inc shares fell as much as 25% in early U.S. trading on Tuesday in the first session since Chinese regulators ordered the company’s app to be taken down days after its $4.4 billion listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The ride-hailing giant’s app was ordered to be removed from mobile app […]

We wish our US readers a Happy Fourth of July. Market Talk will resume on Tuesday, July 6.   ASIA: Expansion in China’s factory sector slowed in June, as export demand weakened while supply bottlenecks held back production, official data showed Wednesday. The hints of weakness on both fronts come as economists lowered expectations for […]

ASIA: The Indian government announced some fresh relief measures for the economy, the first such package after the second COVID-19 wave, focusing largely on extending loan guarantees and concessional credit for pandemic-hit sectors and investments to ramp up healthcare capacities. The government pegged the total financial implications of the package, which included the reiteration of […]

ASIA:   China’s debt has grown dramatically over the past decade and is one of the biggest economic challenges confronting the ruling Chinese Communist Party, a major online news agency reported. The pandemic last year hit China’s economic growth and prompted authorities to make it easier for companies to get loans. As a result, China’s […]

QUESTION: Marty, A while back you made mention that there was fear that the dollar would split. I believe this was in the 1970’s, soon after the anchor to gold was lost. If that is the case then it looks like gold reflected that lack of confidence and I wonder whether it really was oil or […]

ASIA:   The major Asian stock markets had a negative day today: NIKKEI 225 decreased 235.41 points or -0.81% to 28,812.61 Shanghai decreased 33.19 points or -0.92% to 3,573.18 Hang Seng decreased 274.20 points or -0.94% to 28,994.10 ASX 200 decreased 6.10 points or -0.08% to 7,301.20 Kospi decreased 15.21 points or -0.46% to 3,286.68 […]

ASIA: Washington’s effort to bring manufacturing from China to the US – so-called reshoring – is nothing but “empty talk” and the US will become increasingly dependent on the world’s second-largest economy for the foreseeable future, according to a top former Chinese economic official. Wei Jianguo, a former vice commerce minister said “The US will […]

ASIA: Russia and China have presented a plan to build the joint International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). The proposed lunar base is intended to be ready for crewed visits by 2036 and is unrelated to the American-led Artemis program, which has pledged to land “the first woman and person of color” on the moon by […]

ASIA: A report published by United Nations Development Programme highlights that trade shocks fueled by unilateral tariffs between the U.S. and China have undone three to five years’ worth of growth among global value chains in affected countries. The report found looking at the post-pandemic future of global value chains found that trade within those […]