Japan’s economy shrank at an annualized rate of 0.6 percent in January-March, contracting for the first time in nine quarters, as private consumption and capital expenditure slowed, government data showed on Wednesday. That marked the end of the longest sequence of growth since a 12-quarter run between April-June 1986 and January-March 1989 during the asset-inflated […]

Futures in Asia pointed to a lower open on Wednesday following a down day for Wall Street as the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose to 3.09 percent in the last session. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were down 0.32 percent at 22,745 when compared to the index’s Thursday close, while Australian SPI futures were lower […]

Strange as it sounded, Donald Trump‘s reversal on punishing a Chinese telecommunications giant fits his pattern: facing powerful adversaries, the tough-talking president usually shrinks from a fight. Republicans and Democrats alike slammed Trump’s sudden declaration that stiff US sanctions for Shenzhen-based ZTE meant “too many jobs in China lost.” Not only had ZTE defied strictures […]

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has received a boost in a major state election, though political uncertainty over the outcome roiled financial markets. The BJP has won the largest number of seats in an election in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, more than doubling the amount it held previously. The […]

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He arrives in Washington on Tuesday for trade talks with the U.S. delegation led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The visit, which is set to last five days, is meant to prevent trade tensions from spiraling into a trade war. While U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, […]

President Donald Trump on Monday defended his efforts to help a Chinese telecommunications company that violated U.S. sanctions “get back into business, fast,” despite criticism from Democrats and Republicans that the company poses a national security risk. “ZTE, the large Chinese phone company, buys a big percentage of individual parts from U.S. companies,” Trump tweeted […]

North Korea and South Korea agreed on Tuesday to hold high-level inter-Korea talks on May 16 to discuss steps needed to uphold the pledge to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said. The meeting will discuss specific plans needed to carry out the April 27 inter-Korea summit declaration, which includes pledges to finally […]

China’s industrial output grew 7.0 percent in April from a year earlier, much more than expected, but fixed-asset investment growth slowed to 7.0 percent in the first four months, below forecasts, official data showed on Tuesday. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted industrial output growth would rise to 6.3 percent, bouncing back from a softer-than-expected […]

Australia’s central bank saw little reason to lift rates this month as inflation remained below target and likely to remain subdued in the face of sluggish wage growth, minutes of its May policy meeting showed. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) Board agreed there was not a “strong case” for a near-term adjustment in monetary […]

The United States and China are still “very far apart” on resolving trade frictions, U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad said on Tuesday. “China agreed to do a lot of opening up when they joined the World Trade Organization but a lot of the promises were not fulfilled,” Branstad said at a conference in Tokyo. […]