Official gauges across China’s economy fell short of expectations in April, hit in part by semiconductor shortages, suggesting that the economy’s strong pandemic bounceback is starting to lose some momentum more than a year into the recovery, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Southeast Asia's largest lender, DBS Group Holdings, reported a 72% surge in net profit for the three months ending in March, keenly eyeing a strong recovery in 2021 after a tough year last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nikkei Asia reported. The bank booked a record net profit of 2 billion Singapore dollars ($1.51 billion) for the period, compared with SG$1.17 billion the year before, marking a shift toward performance levels seen before the new coronavirus outbreak overshadowed most of 2020.

Shares rose in early European trading on Friday after retreating in Asia as the latest batch of economic data provided mixed signals about prospects for the recovery from the pandemic, the Associated Press reported. Two surveys showed Chinese manufacturing expanded in April but growth appeared to be slowing. Figures showed Europe’s economy contracted in the first three months of the year, while the U.S. economy steamed ahead, growing at a 6.4% annual pace.

Insurance Regulator and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has told insurers to communicate their cashless approvals for COVID-19 claims within an hour of submission of the request by the hospital and ensure that patients get discharged soon, The Times of India reported. In its order, the Delhi HC had told Irdai to issue immediate instructions to insurance companies to ensure that they communicate their approvals to hospitals within 30 to 60 minutes, in order to ensure that patient discharge is not delayed.

World shares advanced Thursday ahead of the release of U.S. economic growth data and following a speech by President Joe Biden outlining ambitious plans for beefing up early education and other family oriented policies, the Associated Press reported. London’s FTSE 100 jumped 0.7% to 7,013.40. In Paris, the CAC40 climbed 0.6% to 6,344.17. Germany’s DAX slipped 0.2% to 15,262.39 as a report showed weakening consumer confidence. The future for the Dow industrials rose 0.4% and that for the S&P 500 surged 0.6%. U.S.

Fears of a selloff in China’s sovereign bond market have proved wrong, with traders now bracing for the pressure to build through May, Bloomberg reported. Instead of surging higher this month, benchmark 10-year yields are comfortably below their half-year average and little changed from late March, thanks to a slowdown in debt issuance by municipal authorities. Traders had been bracing for a seasonal increase in local bonds at a time when China’s commercial banks — the biggest buyers in the market — typically funnel funds to clients to meet tax payments.

The emergence of China as an economic and financial powerhouse has been much quicker than often anticipated, according to an opinion in Nikkei Asia. Whether in terms of technological advances, industrial development, global trade or involvement in the capital markets, China's rise has been rapid and highly disruptive. There is, however, one glaring omission from this panoramic picture of strength: the internationalization of its currency, which has been far slower than earlier anticipated.

Samsung’s ruling Lee family unveiled plans to pay one of the world’s largest-ever inheritance tax bills, unloading rare Picasso and Monet paintings while trumpeting its extra donations to South Korean society, the Wall Street Journal reported. South Korea’s wealthiest family faces more than $10 billion in estate taxes, following the October death of Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee. The inheritance tax rate is 50% in South Korea and that can inch higher for the transfer of company shares.