ASIA: The IMF expects the US and China to be by far the most successful at steering their economies through the pandemic, leaving Europe and other emerging markets trailing in their wake. In its updated forecasts for the global economy, the fund predicts that by 2022 recoveries in the US and China will leave their […]

ASIA: The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today: NIKKEI 225 increased 190.84 points or 0.67% to 28,822.29 Shanghai increased 17.49 points or 0.48% to 3,624.24 Hang Seng increased 711.16 points or 2.41% to 30,159.01 ASX 200 increased 24.30 points or 0.36% to 6,824.70 Kospi increased 68.36 points or 2.18% to 3,208.99 SENSEX […]

ASIA: Barring another wave of COVID-19 infections, the worst is over for India’s economy and policymakers may soon have more room to support a recovery, the central bank said in its January bulletin released on Thursday. The RBI slashed interest rates early last year to cushion the shock from the coronavirus crisis, but has left […]

ASIA: The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Thursday and revised its economic forecast for the next fiscal year, signaling that it has delivered sufficient stimulus, for now, to cushion the blow from the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. As widely expected, the central bank kept unchanged its target for short-term interest rates at […]

ASIA: Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma has made his first appearance since Chinese regulators cracked down on his business empire. The billionaire met 100 rural teachers in China via a video meeting on Wednesday, according to local government media. The Chinese government slapped sanctions on former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Adviser […]

ASIA: China’s economy grew at the slowest pace in more than four decades last year, official figures show but remains on course to be the only major economy to have expanded in 2020. The economy grew 2.3% last year, despite Covid-19 shutdowns causing output to slump in early 2020. China’s mainland share markets as well […]

ASIA: Shares in China’s Xiaomi sank after the US government added the smartphone group to an investment blacklist in a move that is likely to thin its ranks of American shareholders. The Beijing-based company’s stock dropped 10.3 percent in Hong Kong trading on Friday, hours after the Pentagon added it to a list of companies […]

  ASIA: Chinese exports grew more than expected in December, customs data showed on Thursday, as coronavirus disruptions around the world fuelled demand for Chinese goods even as a stronger yuan made shipments more expensive for overseas buyers, Reuters reported. While Chinese exports are likely to benefit from solid global demand at the start of […]

ASIA: China posted its biggest daily jump in COVID-19 cases in more than five months on Wednesday, stepping up containment measures that have seen four cities put under lockdown, as the world’s second-biggest economy scrambles to head off a new wave of infections. Most of the new cases were reported near the capital, Beijing, but […]

ASIA: Wall Street firms in Hong Kong including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan on Monday moved to reduce exposure to Chinese telecom companies named in a U.S. ban on investments in companies Washington considers linked to China’s military. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley said in filings to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong that they […]