India revised its growth estimate for the current fiscal year, which ends on Mar 31, to 7.6 per cent from 7.3 per cent. Such a strong showing in the last major economic data release before elections in May could bolster Modi’s chances after he made high economic growth one ofContinue Reading
HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s property market immediately celebrated the removal of decade-long curbs with a jump in transactions, property agents said on Thursday (Feb 29), as authorities made a concerted bid to boost the city’s depressed real estate market. Hong Kong, long among the world’s most expensive housing markets, sawContinue Reading
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s finance ministry on Thursday (Feb 29) dismissed adjusting monetary policy or pegging the ringgit to support the weakened currency, saying it expects the ringgit’s value to appreciate this year. The ringgit has fallen about 3.7 per cent this year so far and briefly hit a 26-year lowContinue Reading
JAKARTA: Indonesia has allocated an additional rice import quota of 1.6 million metric tons for 2024, after shipping in near record volumes in last year, as dryness linked to the El Nino weather pattern delayed harvest at home. The latest import quota, which is on top of 2 million tonsContinue Reading
Chinese technology company Honor on Sunday (Feb 25) globally launched its new Magic 6 Pro smartphone and showcased an experimental eye-tracking AI function that enables users to remotely open and move their car just by looking at their phone screen. The tool is already available in China and the companyContinue Reading
Xu Liang, an AI entrepreneur based in Hangzhou, eastern Zhejiang province, said it will not be long before China has similar services. “As soon as in the next one or two months, there will be Sora-like models coming out of the Chinese market and plenty in the next half year,”Continue Reading
“STABLE” ASSETS Gold jewellery was among the best-performing consumer goods in China last year, as the post-pandemic recovery lost its shine in the face of flagging domestic consumption and declining business confidence. A long-running property sector crisis and more recent stock market rout have further dented investors’ options. The marketContinue Reading
Mexico has been among the beneficiaries of the growing shift away from reliance on Chinese factories. But the picture is more complicated than it might seem. Some Chinese manufacturers have established factories in Mexico to exploit the benefits of the 3-year-old US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, which allows for duty-free trade inContinue Reading
BEIJING: China has replaced the head of its securities regulator, according to the official Xinhua news agency on Wednesday ( Feb 7 ), as policymakers work to stabilize the nation’s main stock indexes following a drop to five-year lows. According to Xinhua, the cabinet replaced Yi Huiman as chairman ofContinue Reading
As part of additional efforts to reduce short-selling, China’s securities regulator announced on Tuesday ( Feb 6 ) that it would suspend brokerages from borrowing shares for lending and cap the size of so-called securities refinancing. The regulator vowed to crack down on illegal trade using short-selling and will alsoContinue Reading