Headlines

Asia’s factory activity weakened slightly in April, with output growth cooling and employment dropping in a sign of fragile confidence among manufacturers, the Wall Street Journal reported. Data from S&P Global indicates that Southeast Asia’s manufacturing economy continued to grow at the start of the second quarter, but signals about the sector’s health were mixed. The headline purchasing managers index stayed above the neutral 50.0 mark separating expansion from contraction for a fourth straight month in April, but slipped to 51.0 from 51.5 in March.

Japan likely conducted its second currency intervention this week, current account figures from the central bank suggest, in another sign of the government’s intensified battle to prop up the yen, Bloomberg News reported. Tokyo’s latest entry into the market was likely around ¥3.5 trillion ($22.5 billion), based on a comparison of Bank of Japan accounts and money broker forecasts. The BOJ reported Thursday that its current account will probably fall ¥4.36 trillion due to fiscal factors on the next business day of Tuesday.

Argentina cut its key interest rate for the third time in three weeks as officials bet on a sustained slowdown in consumer prices and race to shrink the central bank’s interest-bearing liabilities, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers lowered the benchmark rate to 50% from 60%, according to a statement released Thursday that cited a significant easing in price pressures over recent months. Officials have cut rates five times from an initial 133% since President Javier Milei took power in December.

The Czech Republic’s central bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate for the fourth straight time as inflation dropped and the economy showed signs of recovery, the Associated Press reported. The cut by a half-percentage point brought the interest rate down to 5.25%. The move was expected by analysts. The bank started to trim borrowing costs by a quarter-point on Dec. 21, which marked the first cut since June 22, 2022. It continued with a cut by a half-percentage point on Feb. 8 and went on by another half-percentage cut on March 20.

The global economy is likely to avoid an anticipated slowdown this year, but could yet suffer a significant setback if an escalation of conflict in the Middle East were to push oil prices sharply higher, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported. In its quarterly report on the outlook for the world economy, the Paris-based research body raised its forecasts for growth this year and next.

A Nigerian court on Thursday adjourned a money laundering trial against cryptocurrency exchange Binance and two of its executives to May 17 after a lawyer for the exchange said he had not been served with documents needed to prepare for the case, Reuters reported. Binance and its executives Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and head of financial crime compliance, and British-Kenyan Nadeem Anjarwalla, a regional manager for Africa, have been charged with laundering more than $35 million and engaging in specialised financial activities without a licence. They have all pleaded not guilty.

Zimbabwe will seek full convertibility of its new currency, the ZiG, as a way to further support the unit and protect it from collapse, according to Mthuli Ncube, the Finance Minister, Bloomberg News reported. The ZiG’s predecessor, the Zimbabwe dollar, couldn’t be exchanged for other currencies, or traded outside the country. The international community has “reacted positively” to the new unit since its launch last month, and asked Zimbabwean authorities to ensure it’s kept stable, according to Ncube.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Hyderabad, on Tuesday admitted Aditya Birla ARC's initiation of insolvency process petition against the personal guarantees given by the promoters of KSK Mahanadi Power Company K.A. Sastry and S. Kishore, the Economic Times of India reported. The two promoters had guaranteed upward of Rs 4000 crore for loans sanctioned to KSK Mahanadi. Aditya Birla ARC has largest share of 33.38% in the total claims from KSK Mahanadi Power, which is around Rs 32,000 crore.

A Nova Scotia judge received good news Tuesday during an update on the proposed sale of SaltWire Network Inc. and The Halifax Herald Ltd., two financially troubled companies that operate Atlantic Canada's largest newspaper chain, the Canadian Press reported. Those shepherding the restructuring process told Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice John Keith that progress is being made toward securing a deal that could see all or part of the insolvent businesses sold to one or more bidders.

China Evergrande Group flagged a delay in publishing its annual results as its liquidators are taking time to "ascertain the current state of affairs" of the embattled property developer, Reuters reported. Preparation of the financial statements of the company for the year ended Dec. 31, 2023, and the publication of the 2023 annual report have been delayed, the cash-strapped firm said in an exchange filing on Tuesday. Evergrande's shares, which were suspended from trading on Jan. 29 this year, will continue to remain suspended.