Powell stays calm - and alarms global markets
(ATF) Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell took a calm approach to recent Treasury volatility on Thursday March 4, prompting another spike in bond yields and selling of tech stocks.The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield rose to close Thursday at 1.56% – close to the 1.61% level hit during a wave …
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China's annual NPC session looks to sustainable high-tech future
(ATF) While the international focus on China’s annual legislative meeting, the National People’s Congress (NPC), will be on the country’s plans for hot-button issues such as Hong Kong and Xinjiang, business will be watching for clues to economic policy underlined in the forthcoming Five-Year Plan (FYP).The annual NPC session – …
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Adani Group accelerates its ‘string of ports’ strategy
{ATF) The Adani Group, India’s biggest port infrastructure developer and logistics provider, unveiled yet another port acquisition deal on Wednesday that paves the way for the conglomerate to bolster its already expansive port presence in the country.It also adds another milestone in its target of creating a string of ports …
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Hong Kong-US WTO dispute sparks friction amid hurt civic pride
(ATF) The World Trade Organisation’s decision to proceed with a dispute hearing on the new US rule that all goods imported from Hong Kong must be stamped "Made in China" has reignited trade tensions and split the territory’s community.This week, the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body accepted a second request from …
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Suzuki chairman's exit signals start of a new electric era
(ATF) Suzuki Motor Corporation will step into a new era this year when its 91-year old chairman Osamu Suzuki retires in June, as the Japanese carmaker confronts a shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and heightened competition with non-traditional tech companies.Suzuki, who headed the family company for more than four decades …
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China mulls allowing citizens to invest in overseas stocks
(ATF) China is studying the feasibility of allowing citizens to invest in overseas securities and insurance policies with an annual individual limit of $50,000, an official from China’s foreign exchange authority said. Analysts say the move would help cool the excessive rise of the yuan.China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange …
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Allowing foreign exchange purchases 'may not affect yuan rate much'
(ATF) The limit of US$50,000 in foreign exchange purchases by Chinese citizens may be lifted, and the ban on people taking or sending renminbi/yuan out of China looks set to be relaxed.China’s Foreign Exchange Bureau has said that individuals may be allowed to spend more on overseas securities and insurance …
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For Japan, Abenomics isn’t going away - it will just get better
(ATF) “Suganomics” might just succeed in Japan where “Abenomics" failed. Each are easy cliches, used to describe the country’s prevailing and preceding economic eras under two successive prime ministers, but like most overworked sayings, the two terms encapsulate a truth.In this case it’s the fact that Japan is in desperate …
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Japan exports boom as services sector remains in Covid-19 slump
(ATF) Japan's factory output expanded for the first time in 22 months in February, new data showed, as strong export demand helped manufacturers shake off effects of the lingering Covid-19 pandemic.The au Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) improved to 50.6 from 49.8 in January – the …
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Yuan hits 2-1/2 year high on China inflows
(ATF) HONG KONG: Vaccine rollouts and economic recovery expectations drove the reflation trade further in Asia.Japan’s Nikkei 225 index leapt 1.3%, Australia’s S&P ASX 200 added 0.7% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index outperformed, jumping 1.9%. Regionally, the MSCI Asia Pacific index advanced 0.81%.Bitcoin was trading at $49,323.56 in the …
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