Headlines

India's top court on Friday rejected JSW Steel's resolution plan to acquire Bhushan Power and Steel four years after the takeover was completed, and ordered the liquidation of the debt-ridden firm, two lawyers involved in the case said, Reuters reported. The insolvency administrator and the lenders panel, which ran the insolvency process, failed to discharge their duties in line with the law, one of the lawyers said, citing the Supreme Court's verbal order. The lawyers spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Australia's biggest banks face a pivotal earnings test next week as they navigate mixed interest margin prospects in the face of looming rate cuts, persistent inflation concerns and rising mortgage stress, Reuters reported. The results arrive after a politically-charged election set for May 3 dominated by cost-of-living anxieties that are reshaping banks' mortgage books and consumer lending patterns.

Consumer-price inflation in the eurozone remained just above the European Central Bank’s target in April, teeing up more interest-rate cuts as policymakers anticipate a hit to growth from higher U.S. tariffs and growing uncertainty, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer prices were 2.2% higher on year in April, a rate of annual inflation that stayed steady from a month earlier, European Union figures showed Friday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had estimated annual inflation at 2.1% for the month.

A nascent recovery in Europe's real estate market has been derailed by global economic uncertainty in the early months of U.S. President Donald Trump's second term, leading deal volumes to shrink after a positive run last year, MSCI data shows, Reuters reported. Property sales in Europe totalled 41 billion euros ($47 billion) in the first quarter of this year, down 11% on the previous year and breaking a run of three consecutive quarters of annual increases, the data showed.

Canadian manufacturing activity contracted in April at the steepest rate since shortly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as the uncertain nature of U.S. trade policy weighed on production and new orders, Reuters reported. The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 45.3 last month from 46.3 in March, its lowest level since May 2020. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in the sector.

U.S. tariff negotiators appeared reluctant to lower levies on cars, steel and aluminium in a recent meeting with Japanese counterparts - a stance that made the Japanese side feel that cooperation could be difficult, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday, Reuters reported. U.S. negotiators including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Japan's top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa and other Japanese officials in Washington on Thursday and presented a proposed framework for a trade agreement, the paper said.

Small-value packages shipped to the US from China will no longer be exempted from tariffs starting Friday, when President Donald Trump’s move against an exception he called a “big scam” takes effect, Bloomberg News reported. The decision to end the so-called “de minimis” exception is expected to have wide-ranging effects on American consumers who have increasingly purchased cheap clothing, household goods and other products from discount Chinese marketplaces such as Temu and Shein Group Ltd. It could also deal a heavy blow to independent online sellers who rely on Chinese imports.

The two brands sold 3,269 and 757 plugin-hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), respectively, in the bloc in March, up from near zero sales in July 2024 when provisional tariffs were first introduced, research firm Rho Motion said in a report. EU tariffs of up to 45.3% on Chinese-built battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) came into full effect in November to prevent a flood of cheap cars. Facing disruption from U.S. tariffs, the EU and China are negotiating a relaxation of the European levies.

Factory activity slowed across much of Asia in April as uncertainty over U.S. tariffs caused companies to pause new orders, purchasing managers surveys show, the Wall Street Journal reported. The first set of S&P Global’s purchasing managers indexes since the Trump administration announced sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries signaled a pullback in manufacturing in the region last month. The PMI data showed that trade uncertainty is unnerving manufacturers in major exporting economies like Taiwan and South Korea, which face hits from U.S.

Britain is to restrict consumers' use of credit cards to buy crypto and their access to crypto lending products, the regulator said on Friday, a move aimed at improving protection as cryptoassets are regulated for the first time, Reuters reported. The finance ministry this week said it would bring cryptocurrencies under compulsory regulation, with exchanges, dealers and issuers all coming under the existing rulebook.