Headlines

China's new bank loans tumbled more than expected in April as a protracted trade war with the United States further eroded the market's appetite during a typically slow month for loan demand, Reuters reported. Chinese banks extended 280 billion yuan ($38.87 billion) in new yuan loans in April, below analysts' forecasts and plummeting from March's 3.64 trillion yuan, according to Reuters calculations based on data released by the People's Bank of China. Total outstanding yuan loans rose at a record-low annual pace of 7.2% in April.

The temporary reduction in tariffs that the United States and China announced in Geneva on Monday will lift, at least for now, the de facto trade embargo that had been in place between the two countries for the past month, the New York Times reported. It will reduce the chances that American shoppers will face empty shelves during the holiday season and perhaps limit the price increases they will have to endure. It sent stock prices soaring around the world. But the deal does little to clear the cloud of uncertainty that has hung over the U.S.

South Korea has prepared support measures for small and medium-sized firms expected to be hurt by U.S. tariffs, the government said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The measures include financing support worth 4.6 trillion won ($3.25 billion), subsidies to ease the burden of logistics costs, and other policies to help expand export markets.

The Russian economy is in an increasingly precarious state as a result of a shift to a war mode and of Western sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a report by the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The report, prepared for talks of European Union finance ministers, said that while still relatively stable, the Russian economy was only superficially resilient and that underlying imbalances and structural weaknesses were growing.

Australian wages picked up in the March quarter led by government pay rises, data showed on Wednesday, while subdued growth in the private sector suggested a tight labour market was still no bar to a cut in interest rates, Reuters reported. Investors remain confident the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut by a quarter point to 3.85% at its May 20 meeting, due to cooling inflation at home and global uncertainty caused by U.S. tariff policies.

Pakistan has received the second tranche of special drawing rights worth 760 million ($1,023 million) from the International Monetary Fund under the extended fund facility programme, the country's central bank said in a post on X on Wednesday. The amount will be reflected in its foreign exchange reserves for the week ending May 16, the State Bank of Pakistan said. Read more.

German inflation eased further to 2.2% in April, the federal statistics office said on Wednesday, confirming preliminary data, Reuters reported. German consumer prices, harmonised to compare with other European Union countries, had risen by 2.3% year-on-year in March. Read more.

A top Swiss court has ruled that the Swiss government's reductions and cancellations of bonus payments to former executives of Credit Suisse after the bank failed in 2023 were unlawful, according to the ruling published late on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The bonus measures affected around 1,000 people, some of whom challenged the decision with Switzerland's Federal Administrative Court, which upheld their appeal. "The variable remunerations reduced by the (Swiss finance ministry) were binding, employer-guaranteed claims deriving from a contractual employment relationship," the court said.

A struggling technology company that has ties to China and relies on TikTok made an unusual announcement this week. It had secured funding to buy as much as $300 million of $TRUMP, the so-called memecoin marketed by President Trump, the New York Times reported. GD Culture Group, a publicly traded firm with a Chinese subsidiary, has only eight employees, its public filings show, and recorded zero revenue last year from an e-commerce business it operates on TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.

Affimed N.V., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, today announced its decision to file an application for opening of insolvency proceedings with the local court of Mannheim in Germany, according to a company press release. As previously reported, Affimed has been engaged in discussions with potential investors and partners with respect to potential strategic transactions to raise additional capital.