China's economy lost more steam in November as factory output growth slowed and retail sales extended declines, both missing forecasts and clocking their worst readings since May, hobbled by surging COVID-19 infections and widespread virus curbs, Reuters reported. The data suggested a further deterioration in economic conditions as lockdowns in many cities, a persistent property-sector crunch and weakening global demand pointed to a bumpy road ahead even as Beijing looked to ditch some of the world's toughest anti-virus restrictions.

China's new home prices fell for a fourth month in November in monthly terms, weighed by a sluggish economy and a still-ailing property sector, official data showed on Thursday, but recent favourable policies and a relaxation in COVID curbs have burnished the outlook, Reuters reported. New home prices in November fell 0.2% month-on-month after a 0.3% slide in October, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data. Prices dropped 1.6% year-on-year, falling for the seventh straight month. Prices slid 1.6% year-on-year in October.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Thursday raised its base rate charged through the overnight discount window by 50 basis points to 4.75%, hours after the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered a rate hike of the same margin, Reuters reported. The U.S. central bank raised interest rates by half a percentage point and projected at least an additional 75 basis points of increases in borrowing costs by the end of 2023, as well as a rise in unemployment and a near-stalling of economic growth. "Rate hike in the U.S.

Japan's imports surged in November, outpacing exports and resulting in the 16th straight month of trade deficits, as the spectre of a global slowdown added to the country's worsening terms of trade, Reuters reported. Imports rose 30.3% year-on-year in November, versus the 27.0% increase expected by economists and a 53.5% jump in October, Ministry of Finance (MOF) data showed on Thursday. The surge was a record for the month of November and led by crude oil, coal and liquefied natural gas.

Australian employment surged by more than three times economists’ estimates in November and unemployment held at a 48-year low, bolstering the case for the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates further in 2023, Bloomberg News reported. Government bond yields rose after the economy added 64,000 roles, trumping a forecast 19,000 gain, official data showed Thursday. The participation rate climbed to 66.8%, matching a record, while unemployment stayed at 3.4%.

New Zealand’s economy grew more than twice as much as economists expected in the third quarter, underscoring the difficulty the central bank faces in trying to damp demand to curb inflation, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product jumped 2.0% from the second quarter, when it gained an upwardly revised 1.9%, Statistics New Zealand said Thursday in Wellington. Economists forecast a 0.9% increase. From a year ago, the economy expanded 6.4%, exceeding the median estimate of 5.5%. The data are “stupendously strong,” said Nat Keall, an economist at ASB Bank in Auckland.

The bankruptcy court has admitted BSE-listed Bil Energy Systems Ltd under the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) and has appointed Anuj Bajpai as its interim resolution professional, the Economic Times of India reported.

Cyprus's securities regulator plans to extend the suspension of the licence of FTX EU and will meet to discuss the matter next week, Reuters reported. "CySEC is taking all the necessary actions to safeguard the interests of investors of FTX EU and is working closely with the administrator in the U.S. under chapter 11," the person said in a written comment to Reuters. The Cypriot regulator suspended the licence of FTX EU on Nov. 11, just before the cryptocurrency exchange imploded, seeking bankruptcy protection in the United States.

New bank lending in China rebounded less than expected in November from the previous month, as the central bank seeks to bolster slowing growth in the world's second-biggest economy, Reuters reported. Chinese banks extended 1.21 trillion yuan ($173.48 billion) in new yuan loans in November, nearly doubling October's 615.2 billion yuan but falling short of analysts' expectations, according to People's Bank of China (PBOC) data released on Monday. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted new yuan loans would jump to 1.35 trillion yuan in November.

The billionaire co-founder of Guangzhou R&F Properties Co Ltd is wanted in the United States accused of paying kickbacks to obtain permits for a construction project in San Francisco, a court in London heard on Monday, Reuters reported. Zhang Li, the chief executive of Hong Kong-listed developer R&F, is wanted on a provisional warrant issued in the Northern District of California, which accuses him of participating in a scheme to bribe public officials between 2015 and 2020. Ben Lloyd, representing U.S.