Reviving Growth: China’s New Spending Initiatives and Economic Challenges
China has announced plans to significantly boost government spending in an effort to reignite its slowing economy. According to Finance Minister Lan Foan, the country will issue more government debt to provide subsidies for low-income households, support the struggling property market, and inject capital into state-owned banks. Increased Fiscal Stimulus Measures In a recent press […]
Oil Prices Dip, But Eye Positive Week On Chinese Demand Bets
Oil prices fell slightly on Friday as traders weighed the prospect of more economic headwinds from rising interest rates, although renewed optimism over a rebound in Chinese demand put prices on course for strong weekly gains. Crude markets logged wild swings in recent sessions amid a series of mixed cues. While better-than-expected Chinese business activity […]
Puma Raises Dividend After Record Sales in 2022 But Sees 2023 Profit Falling
Puma (ETR:PUMG) reported record sales and earnings before interest and taxes in 2022 but warned that profit is likely to fall this year as high interest rates and inflation crimp consumer spending. The German sports gear maker, which lost its chief executive Bjørn Gulden to cross-town rival Adidas (ETR:ADSGN) last year, said sales rose by […]
Philippines Central Bank Chief Expects One More Rate Hike This Year, Possibly in March
The Philippine central bank will likely raise interest rates one more time this year and that could happen at its next monetary policy meeting in March, most likely by 25 basis points, its governor said on Friday. Inflation running at a 14-year high of 8.7% in January has been a concern for the Bangko Sentral […]
Asia FX Edges Higher, Korean Won Surges Even As BOK Holds
Most Asian currencies rose on Thursday, recovering a measure of recent losses as the dollar saw some profit taking, with the won appreciating sharply even as the Bank of Korea held interest rates after 18 months of hikes. The South Korean won rose 0.6% and was the best-performing Asian currency for the day, even as […]
Dollar Edges Lower; Fed Minutes Loom Large
The U.S. dollar edged lower in early European trade Wednesday, handing back some of the previous session’s gains as traders cautiously await the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s February meeting. At 02:55 ET (07:55 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.1% lower […]
Asian Stocks Hit By Tech Rout, More Fed Cues Awaited
Most Asian stock markets sank on Wednesday tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, with technology-heavy indexes losing the most as caution kicked in ahead of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s February meeting. Japan’s Nikkei 225, the Taiwan Weighted index, and South Korea’s KOSPI were the worst performers for the day, losing between 0.8% and […]
Asian Stocks Muted Amid Fed Fears, China Buoyed By Stimulus Hopes
Most Asian stocks kept to a tight range on Monday as markets awaited more cues on monetary policy from a slew of Federal Reserve events this week, while Chinese stocks rose sharply on the prospect of more stimulus spending by the government. China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes rose around 1% each […]
Australia’s Central Bank Revises Up Inflation Forecasts As Further Rate Hikes Flagged
Australia’s central bank on Friday revised up its forecasts for core inflation and wages growth and warned of further increases in interest rates, raising the risk the economy could slip into recession. In a hawkish-sounding quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said domestically-sourced cost pressures were still picking even if […]
ECB To Raise Rates Again And Face Questions About Future Path
The European Central Bank is set to raise interest rates again on Thursday and pencil in more hikes for the next few months, with the only open question being how big these will be. The ECB has been increasing rates at a record pace to fight a sudden bout of high inflation in the euro […]