World

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed as investors digested economic data from Japan and Australia. Quad leaders also canceled a planned meeting in Sydney next week as U.S. President Joe Biden cut his Asia trip short to return to the U.S. for talks on the debt ceiling. Hong Kong’s stocks saw a sharp sell-off in its final hours of trade, with Hang Seng index trading nearly 2% lower in Wednesday’s afternoon session. Healthcare, real estate, and consumer cyclical stocks led declines, Refinitiv data showed. Investors further digested China’s new home prices that fell 0.2% year-on-year in April. Mainland China stocks also fell, with the Shanghai Composite ticking 0.21% lower, ending at 3,284.23 and the Shenzhen Component seeing marginal declines to close at 11,...

China’s economic data for April broadly missed expectations as the economy continued to show an uneven path of recovery from the impact of its stringent Covid restrictions. Industrial production for April rose by 5.6% year-on-year, compared to the 10.9% expected by economists surveyed in a Reuters poll. The figure was up 3.9% in March following a muted start to the year. Retail sales rose by 18.4% – lower than economists’ forecast a surge of 21%. Fixed asset investment rose by 4.7%, against expectations of 5.5%. The reading rose 5.1% the previous month. “China is in the stage of recovering, compared to last year, the numbers are positive as we just saw, but is the recovery good enough for the market, is the recovery good enough to meet investors’ expectations – that’s the...

The National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday that industrial output increased 5.6 percent from a year earlier, which was less than the 10.9 percent median prediction in a Bloomberg poll of experts. In contrast to expectations for a 21.9 percent increase, retail sales increased by just 18.4 percent.Consumer spending and industrial activity in China expanded more slowly than anticipated in April, adding to indications that the world's second-largest economy's recovery is stalling. The National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday that industrial output increased 5.6 percent from a year earlier, which was less than the 10.9 percent median prediction in a Bloomberg poll of experts. In contrast to expectations for a 21.9 percent increase, retail sales increased by just 18.4 percent. In...

As markets expected further signs on the world's largest economies as well as monetary policy signals from multiple Federal Reserve speakers this week, the majority of Asian currencies dipped on Monday as the dollar stabilized following sharp advances. In relation to the dollar, the Chinese yuan dropped 0.1% and touched a two-month low. In addition, the yuan traded just below the 7 mark against the dollar as worries about China's economic recovery grew. Following a string of dismal readings for April, the biggest economy in Asia's retail sales and industrial output numbers are the focus this week. In the last month, statistics on manufacturing activity, inflation, and imports all fell short of forecasts, despite the nation rolling down anti-COVID measures put in place earlier in the...

Driven by a recovery in China’s economy and “resilient growth” in India, growth in the Asia Pacific region is expected to accelerate to 4.6 per cent in 2023, up from 3.8 per cent in 2022, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest report Tuesday. In its 2nd May edition of ‘Regional Economic Outlook – Asia and Pacific’, the IMF upgraded its outlook for the region compared with the 4.3 per cent growth it had predicted in its October 2022 outlook. Furthermore, at a time when the Reserve Bank of India has paused interest rate hikes, the IMF cautioned central banks to focus on inflation reduction.  PBS Jump To Growth In Asia And Pacific Decline In The Global Growth Rate Growth In Asia And Pacific For India, the growth outlook was reduced t...

IMF forecasts a 4.6% increase in Asia's GDP this year.IMF predicts a small slowdown in growth to 4.4% in 2024. IMF: China and India are the main forces behind growth.Risks include the fallout from U.S. and European financial crisis.Most Asian central banks must maintain a strict monetary policy.(Reuters) - May 2. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) upped its economic projection for Asia on Tuesday as the rebound in China supported the region's expansion, but it also issued a warning about the dangers of chronic inflation and market instability brought on by problems in the Western banking sector. According to the IMF, the reopening of China's economy would be crucial for the region since the spillover to Asia is expected to be driven more by demand for goods and services than by i...

This weekly round-up brings you the latest stories from the world of economics and finance. Top economy stories: Weak first-quarter growth in US and Eurozone muddies water for central banks; Deflation risks in China; Bank of Japan announces broad monetary policy review. 1. Weak first-quarter growth in US and Eurozone muddies water for central banks Weak first-quarter economic growth data from the US and Eurozone is complicating the task facing the regions' central banks as they look to tame inflation without throttling the economy. US economic growth slowed more than expected in January-March. GDP increased at a 1.1% annualized rate, the government said in an advance estimate, down from 2.6% in the fourth quarter. An acceleration in consumer spending was offset by businesses...