Headlines

A cryptoasset business registered in the UK has been shut down after people from multiple countries said they paid for crypto mining services but did not receive the promised financial returns and were unable to withdraw their assets, according to a U.K. Insolvency Service press release. BTCMining Limited claimed to operate a cryptoasset mining business, where customers would pay the company to mine crypto and receive any resulting income.

Vancouver-based real estate developer Landmark Premiere Properties is the subject of a second insolvency proceeding that was initiated earlier this month, according to filings in the Supreme Court of British Columbia obtained by STOREYS.com. The subject properties are 745 W 41st Avenue, 715 W 41st Avenue, and 5693 Heather Street in Vancouver. The parcels are three of the five parcels that make up the block between Baillie Street and Heather Street along W 41st Avenue, right across the street from Oakridge Park.

China’s manufacturing activity fell more than expected to a near two-year low, sliding into contractionary territory in April as the escalating trade war with the U.S. hurts bilateral trade, CNBC.com reported. The official purchasing managers’ index came in at 49.0 in April, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday, falling below the 50-level threshold, which determines expansion from contraction, for the first time since January.

China's solar manufacturers reported losses this week as U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war put further pressure on demand in an industry where top manufacturers were already facing low prices and tariffs on exports to the United States, Reuters reported. Top producers Longi Green Energy and JinkoSolar both reported a net loss of 1.4 billion yuan ($193 million) for the first quarter, while losses for peers JA Solar and Trina Solar totaled 1.6 billion yuan and 1.3 billion yuan, respectively.

The Thai central bank cut its benchmark rate and flagged the possibility of slower economic growth, as ongoing global uncertainties cloud the Southeast Asian nation’s outlook, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Bank of Thailand’s monetary policy committee voted 5-2 on Wednesday to lower the policy rate to 1.75% from 2.00%, with two members voting to hold rates steady.

The German economy grew in the first quarter of the year thanks to consumption and investment, escaping a recession after contracting in the last quarter of last year, data showed on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Gross domestic product rose in line with forecasts, by 0.2%, compared with the previous three-month period, preliminary data from the statistics office showed. Germany had contracted in the final quarter of last year by 0.2%, reigniting recession fears. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

Germany is loosening a regulatory measure designed to soften the blow of a property crisis, a sign that officials are somewhat less worried about fallout from the nation’s troubled real-estate industry, Reuters reported. BaFin, the German financial regulator, said on Wednesday that it would trim to 1% from 2% the amount it requires banks to hold as capital for residential mortgage loans. “The vulnerabilities on the German real estate market have declined significantly, but have not yet been fully eliminated,” BaFin said.

The eurozone economy grew at a faster pace in the first three months of the year, aided by U.S. businesses building up stocks of imported goods in anticipation of higher tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reported. However, activity is likely to weaken as the implementation of those U.S. tariffs weigh on demand for European exports for the remainder of the year, and heightened uncertainty chills investment and household spending.

Core inflation in Australia slowed to a three-year low in the first quarter as costs in the services sector cooled markedly, data showed on Wednesday, supporting the case for another cut in interest rates in coming weeks, Reuters reported. Investors are fully expecting a quarter-point rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia on May 20 given the darkening outlook for global growth caused largely by U.S. tariffs, even as a stronger-than-expected reading in headline inflation saw some scale back aggressive bets for five rate cuts this year.

Mexico’s economy posted a slight expansion in the first quarter, allowing President Claudia Sheinbaum to avoid recession as she steers the nation through an unpredictable US tariff policy, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product grew 0.2% in the three months through March, above the 0.1% median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, after a 0.6% decline in the prior quarter. From a year before, GDP expanded 0.8%, higher than the 0.7% median estimate, according to preliminary data published Wednesday by the national statistics institute.