ASIA: China’s property downturn is expected to continue into the first half of 2022, with home prices and sales falling as tight credit policies and a looming property tax dampen demand, a Reuters poll showed. Home prices are expected to drop 1.0% in H1 2022 and Property investment in H1 2022 is expected to slump […]

ASIA: Japan’s economy contracted much faster than expected in the third quarter as global supply disruptions and fresh COVID-19 cases hit business and consumer spending, raising challenges for the new government’s growth plans. The economy shrank an annualized 3.0% in July-September after a revised 1.5% gain in the first quarter, preliminary gross domestic product (GDP) […]

ASIA: China’s factory activity unexpectedly picked up in November, growing for the first time in three months as the crippling surge in raw material prices and power rationing eased, taking some pressure off the manufacturing sector. The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 50.1 in November from 49.2 in October, data from the […]

  ASIA: Liu Shijin, an adviser to the People’s Bank of China and member of the monetary policy committee said China’s economy could enter a period of relatively slow growth and excessively high producer-price inflation. Speaking online at the China Macroeconomy Forum over the weekend Liu said the “quasi-stagflation” is “very likely” if demand remains weak, PPI stays high, […]

ASIA: China’s central bank signaled possible easing measures to aid the economy’s recovery after a sharp downturn in recent months fueled by a property slump. China’s CSI 300 Index gained as much as 0.5% Monday morning on expectations of potential loosening, while the 10-year government bond futures contracts gained as much as 0.3%. The Indian […]

  ASIA: Recent outbreaks of the Delta variant have prompted travel restrictions and lockdowns in some cities in China, damping economic activities, while Beijing’s tough stance to deleverage the property sector, which contributes 14 percent to China’s gross domestic product (GDP), will further slow growth in the coming months, according to Andrew Fennell, a senior […]

ASIA: Retail sales growth in China bounced back in October, while industrial production also beat expectations. Retail sales, a key measurement of consumer spending in the world’s most populous nation, grew by 4.9 percent in October compared with a year earlier, up from the 4.4 percent increase in September, and above the estimate for a […]

  ASIA: The US central bank warned Monday that China’s ongoing property woes could elevate “financial stresses in China, [which] could further strain global financial markets and negatively affect the United States.” In its biannual report on financial stability, the Fed pointed specifically to the crisis at Evergrande, China’s most indebted developer. The company has […]

 ASIA: The risk of stagflation is “very real” in China over the next couple of quarters as factory gate prices rise at a quicker pace and an ongoing power crunch hurts economic growth, Charlene Chu, senior analyst for China macro financial at Autonomous Research said Wednesday. Stagflation refers to a situation in which the economy […]

ASIA: China Evergrande Group appeared to have averted default with a last-minute bond coupon payment, a source said on Friday, buying it another week to wrestle with a debt crisis looming over the world’s second-biggest economy. Facing a deadline on Saturday to pay interest on a US dollar bond, Evergande sent $83.5 million to a […]