Headlines

Japan's Nikkei share average ended higher on Friday, driven by chip-related heavyweights, and posted a record fiscal-year gain in terms of points amid heavy foreign buying, Reuters reported. The index hit successive record highs this month, after breaking levels on Feb. 22 last seen in 1989 during the country's bubble economy. The rally was supported by foreign buying on a weaker yen and expectation that the Bank of Japan will stick with loose monetary policy. The index rallied 12,328 points in the fiscal year ending on Friday, marking its biggest gain on an absolute basis.

In the fertile lands of Tungurahua and Cotopaxi, the livelihoods of 17,000 farmers hang in the balance due to a devastating drought that has left irrigation canals critical to their crops without water, hortidaily.com reported. A catastrophic landslide has destroyed the water collection system in the Latacunga-Salcedo-Ambato irrigation canal, plunging farmers into a desperate fight for survival. The irrigation canal had been dry for 19 days when a landslide destroyed a section of the catchment system in Salcedo on March 5, 2024.

Steelworker union Local 1005 says the recent court filings by U.S. Steel is “bankruptcy fraud” and a path to abandoning Hamilton altogether — not only ditching the liability of its pensioners, but the cleanup costs of leaving the city, too, the CBC reported. Union head Rolf Gerstenberger made the statement at Local 1005’s headquarters at Barton and Kenilworth, questioning the company’s motives, repeatedly recalling a $58-million settlement U.S. Steel was has agreed to pay for price-fixing case in July for actions dating back a decade, and calling the process of bankruptcy protection theft.

The Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) has handed down its first insolvency-related ruling, JDSupra reported. The court granted recognition and full force and effect to Indonesia's flagship airline's restructuring plan. That plan had been approved in accordance with Indonesian law. In granting recognition to the Indonesian plan under Singapore's version of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, the SICC overruled objections to recognition from aircraft lessors.

Emergency financial help is now needed to avoid effective bankruptcy, leaders at Middlesbrough Council have been told, msn.com reported. In a stark warning to the Executive, a report said a request for exceptional financial support must be made to the Government this month. If they choose not to approve the move at a meeting next week, or a financial life raft is insufficient, a section 114 notice will be issued. All councils are legally required to ensure the budget is balanced by March, and expenditure is not more than income.

Phil Vickery, who won the Rugby World Cup with England in 2003, has reportedly been declared bankrupt with huge debts, the Mirror reported. Former Prop Vickery played in all seven games in Australia as England lifted their only William Webb Ellis Trophy in their history. After coming through the ranks at Gloucester, Vickery joined Wasps in 2006. He enjoyed a highly-successful time with the now defunct team, winning the Heineken Cup in 2007 and the Premiership in 2008.

French inflation eased below 3% for the first time in 2 1/2 years and Italy reported a lower-than-expected reading, confirming a trend that has tipped the European Central Bank toward cutting interest rates, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices in France, the euro area’s second-largest economy, rose 2.4% from a year earlier in March after a 3.2% gain the previous month, statistics agency Insee said. The slowdown was sharper than the 2.8% forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. In Italy, the bloc’s third-largest economy, inflation had already fallen below 2% in October.

German retail sales were significantly weaker than forecast, symbolizing the woes in the sector as consumer confidence remains sluggish, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sales were down 1.9% on month in February, adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, a fourth month of declining sales, data from German statistics agency Destatis showed Thursday. Economists had, instead, expected sales to rise 0.5%, according to a poll by the Wall Street Journal. Sales were 2.7% below the same level of last year.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to start off with a "moderate" interest rate cut this spring, which should come independently of the U.S. Federal Reserve's timeframe, ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Thursday, Reuters reported. A growing number of ECB policymakers have supported rate reductions, with a June meeting shaping up as the most likely time for action, although there is also a meeting in April. Villeroy said at a speech at Paris Dauphine University that it was not of "existential importance" whether or not this cut occurred in April or in June.

New Zealand has entered its second recession in 18 months after the latest round of GDP figures confirmed its economy contracted in the last quarter of 2023, the Associated Press reported. The country’s economy shrank by 0.1% in the quarter to December, and 0.7% in per capita terms, the New Zealand’s official statistics agency, Stats NZ, announced on Thursday. The latest slip follows a 0.3% contraction in the September quarter, which fulfills the technical definition of a recession. It is New Zealand’s second recession event in the past 18 months.