London's internationally focused FTSE 100 gained on Wednesday as China's dismantling of COVID-19 restrictions pushed miners and banks higher, while the index still remained cautious of surging COVID cases, Reuters reported. The large-cap FTSE 100 and the mid-cap FTSE 250 added 0.3% each. China scrapped its quarantine rules for inbound travelers on Monday beginning Jan. 8, but global markets turned jittery as COVID cases rose in the world's second-largest economy.

Digital currency exchange Kraken will close down its operations in Japan next month, in another sign of consolidation in the battered crypto industry, CNBC reported. In a blogpost on Wednesday, Kraken said it would cease crypto trading services through its Japanese subsidiary, Payward Asia, and deregister from Japan’s Financial Services Agency on Jan. 31, 2023. It is the second time Kraken has left the Japanese market. The first was in 2018, when it closed four years after initially establishing operations in 2014.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday dismissed his fourth minister in two months to patch a scandal-tainted Cabinet that has raised questions over his judgment of staff credentials, the Washington Post reported. Kenya Akiba, minister in charge of reconstruction of Fukushima and other disaster-hit areas, has faced allegations of mishandling political and election funds and of ties to the Unification Church, whose practices and huge donations have raised controversy.

Garuda Indonesia hopes to resume trading in its shares after issuing around $80 million in Islamic bonds this week, the CEO of the country's flagship airline said on Tuesday, Nikkei Asia reported. The Indonesia Stock Exchange suspended trading in the state airline's stock in June last year, after the company defaulted on coupon payments for a $500 million Islamic bond, or sukuk. Garuda's troubles were long in the making, but worsened as the COVID-19 pandemic hammered the industry, bringing air travel and tourism to a virtual standstill.

Private-equity major Advent International will buy a 50.1% stake in Suven Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (SUVH.NS) from its promoter Jasti family and consider merging it with a peer in its portfolio, the Indian drugmaker said on Monday, Reuters reported. Suven said Advent would make an additional open offer for up to 26% of the voting share capital held by public shareholders at a price of 495 rupees per share. Shares rose as much as 4.8% to 520 rupees in early trading.

Japan's government revised up on Thursday its growth forecast for the next fiscal year on prospects for higher business expenditure and substantial wage hikes that are seen underpinning consumption, Reuters reported. The upgraded projections, which provide a basis for the government's annual budget plan due on Friday, underscore how Japan is set to buck a global growth slowdown thanks to robust domestic demand supported by inbound tourism reopening.

India plans to introduce new rules for handling real estate bankruptcies, which would help homebuyers even as their builders wind down, Bloomberg reported. The proposed change to the nation's Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code will permit resolution of the cases on a project-wide basis, people familiar with the matter said. That will allow handing over completed apartments to homebuyers even when the developer's insolvency process is underway, they said.

With the economy in shambles and people in dire straits, bankruptcy stares Pakistan in the face as it is hit by useless spending, the Financial Post reported. All is not well with the employees of Pakistani Missions in foreign countries, as payment of salaries has been pending for the past four months. Despite letters elaborating their hardship to the Foreign Ministry, nothing has been forthcoming so far. Funds to the tune of USD 5 million are yet to be released. No solution is in sight, even as the matter was taken to the Finance Ministry.

More people in Singapore are applying for bankruptcy protection, with the number of applications up to this November already exceeding last year's total, Channel News Asia reported. The total of 3,380 people who have applied for bankruptcy protection so far this year is more than each of the past two pandemic-stricken years. However, the number remains below the level observed in 2019, before the onset of the pandemic. Once bankruptcy protection is granted, any legal action against the bankrupt may not proceed. Their debts are also frozen and cannot accumulate.