China's factory activity expanded at the fastest pace this year in May as domestic and export demand picked up, though sharp rises in raw material prices and strains in supply chains crimped some companies' production, a business survey showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 52.0 last month, the highest level since December and inching up from April's 51.9. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the index to remain at 51.9. The 50-mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.
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South Korea exports logged their sharpest expansion in 32 years in May, marking another robust month of shipments fuelled by stronger consumer demand globally as many economies start to reopen, Reuters reported. Surging chip and car shipments helped power a 45.6% surge in South Korea's exports from a year earlier, government data showed on Tuesday, posting the fastest growth since August 1988 and extending their expansion to a seventh month in a row.
The authorities in Sri Lanka have opened a criminal investigation into the crew of a cargo ship laden with toxic chemicals that has been burning off the island nation’s coast for 12 days, spilling debris into the ocean and polluting the country’s beaches, the New York Times reported.
Indonesia’s flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia confirmed it is taking steps to restructure its debt and revamp its business in order to stay afloat amid the pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. The airline is negotiating terms with plane lessors and is talking with banks and business partners to restructure its loans, according to a stock exchange filing submitted late Thursday. The coronavirus outbreak has forced dozens of airlines and other aviation businesses to restructure or seek bankruptcy protection.
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Thai Airways International Plc said that the Central Bankruptcy Court will decide on its restructuring proposal on June 15, after Friday's hearing was postponed to allow for the assessment of complaints filed by creditors against the plan, the Bangkok Post reported. "Creditors filed two complaints against the restructuring plan, which the court accepted," the airline said in a statement.
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The Turkish currency sank to a record low, weighed down by concern that monetary policy remains too loose to curb accelerating inflation, Bloomberg News reported. The lira slid as much as 1.1% to 8.5981 per dollar, poised for a third daily decline this week. The losses were compounded as local accounts bought dollars ahead of large foreign-currency debt repayments, according to two traders who asked not to be named as they are not authorized to speak publicly. Turkish lira hits an all-time low against U.S.
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Japan extended a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas for 20 more days on Friday, with infections still not slowing as it prepares to host the Olympics in just over 50 days, the Associated Press reported. Cases remain high and medical systems in Osaka, the hardest-hit area in western Japan, are still overburdened, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in announcing the decision. “I am aware that many people are voicing concern about holding the Olympics and Paralympics,” he said.
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The trustee presiding over the Mt. Gox civil rehabilitation case has taken the next step toward partially reimbursing victims who lost money to the cryptocurrency exchange in hacks that date back nearly a decade. As of today, claimants can begin to vote on whether or not they will accept the civil rehabilitation proposal, Coin Desk reported. The deadline for claimants to cast their vote online is Oct. 8.
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The U.S. banned imports of tuna, swordfish and other seafood from a Chinese fishery company, citing evidence of forced labor on its distant-water vessels, the Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents will detain shipments containing seafood harvested by China’s Dalian Ocean Fishing Co., officials said, in the latest example of Washington confronting Beijing over human-rights issues.
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New figures reveal that 1,500 companies in Japan have gone under due to the coronavirus pandemic since February of last year, NHKNews reported. Credit research firm Teikoku Databank says the businesses have either already declared bankruptcy, or closed down to prepare for liquidation proceedings. The dining industry has been the hardest-hit, with 250 businesses failing. It is followed by construction with 140, and accommodation with 89. Monthly totals have been rising since January. That's when the second coronavirus state of emergency started for the Greater Tokyo Area.
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