Some big lenders in India have asked the central bank to inject liquidity using foreign-exchange swaps as short-term currency financing costs surged to a four-year high, Bloomberg News reported. In recent informal interactions, some lenders asked the Reserve Bank of India to consider using FX swaps, where the parties simultaneously agree to exchange currencies in the spot market and reverse the transaction at a future date, the people said. Such operations could effectively inject rupee liquidity into the financial markets.

China’s central bank injected 1.7 trillion yuan ($233 billion) of cash in December, dialing up liquidity support for the economy and financial markets at year-end, Bloomberg News reported. The People’s Bank of China conducted 1.4 trillion yuan in outright reverse repurchase agreements using three- and six-month contracts, aiming to maintain sufficient liquidity in the banking system, it said in a statement Tuesday. This follows injections of 800 billion yuan and 500 billion yuan in the past two months through the new tool introduced in October.

China's manufacturing activity barely grew in December though services and construction recovered, an official survey showed on Tuesday, suggesting policy stimulus is trickling into some sectors as the economy braces for new trade risks, Reuters reported. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) purchasing managers' index (PMI) slowed to 50.1 in December from 50.3 a month prior, staying above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction. China's $18 trillion economy has struggled to recover from the pandemic amid weak consumption and investment, and a protracted property crisis.

South Korea’s headline inflation averaged 2.3% in 2024 after staying below the central bank’s 2% target for a fourth consecutive month in December, the Wall Street Journal reported. The benchmark consumer-price index rose 1.9% from a year earlier in December, following the 1.5% rise in November, the country’s statistics office said Tuesday. The latest reading was above the median forecast of a 1.7% increase projected by nine economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.

Terraform Labs Pte. co-founder Do Kwon will be handed over to the US for prosecution, the government of Montenegro said, potentially ending a standoff over competing extradition demands by the US and Kwon’s native South Korea, Bloomberg News reported. “Most criteria envisaged by the law are in favor of the extradition demands from the institutions of the United States of America,” the Montenegro’s Justice Ministry said in statement posted on its website. It said Minister Bojan Bozovic made the decision on Friday, without specifying when the handover may take place.

Saudi Cable Co. (SCC) issued a clarification regarding the ruling of Turkey's appeal court to overturn the bankruptcy (liquidation) decision previously issued against Elimsan, its subsidiary in Turkey, Argaam.com reported. In a statement to Tadawul, the company said its board decided on Oct. 11, 2021, to take the necessary actions to protect Elimsan Salt Cihazlari ve Elektromekanik San ve Tic A.S. by applying the debt protection law (financial restructuring). Elimsan is 94% owned by Mas Kablo, a subsidiary, which is 100% owned by Saudi Cable. On Feb.

Bad loan ratios in Indian banks are expected to worsen after falling to multi-year lows as stretched asset valuations, high public debt and prolonged geopolitical conflicts pose risks to financial stability, the Reserve Bank of India said in a report, Bloomberg News reported. Gross non-performing assets ratio of Indian banks will likely climb to 3% in March 2026, from 2.6% in September this year, according to the Financial Stability Report published by RBI on Monday.

South Korea's factory output fell more sharply than expected in November, government data showed on Monday, amid slowing exports and weakening business confidence, Reuters reported. The industrial output index fell 0.7% over the month on a seasonally adjusted basis, after no change in the prior month. That compared with a fall of 0.4% forecast in a Reuters survey of economists. On an annual basis, the index was up 0.1%, according to Statistics Korea, slower than gains of 6.3% the month before and 0.4% expected by economists.

Shares of South Korean budget carrier Jeju Air hit their lowest on record on Monday, after the deadliest air crash in the country killed 179 people, Reuters reported. Jeju Air shares traded down 8.5% as of 0312 GMT, after falling as much as 15.7% earlier in the session to 6,920 won, the lowest since they were listed in 2015. The share slide on Monday wiped out as much as 95.7 billion won ($65.2 million) in market capitalisation. Shares of AK Holdings, the holding company of Jeju Air, fell as much as 12% and hit their lowest in 16 years.