Headlines

Ireland’s manufacturing output fell sharply in April, a new sign that the eurozone economy is slowing after a strong start to the year as U.S. businesses stockpiled goods ahead of expected tariff increases, the Wall Street Journal reported. Factory production was 13.7% lower than in March, with the decline concentrated in what the Irish statistics agency calls the “modern” sector, which is largely comprised of the local operations of U.S. technology and pharmaceutical businesses.

Administrators are on standby to handle the collapse of the UK arm of Builder.ai, a Microsoft-backed start-up which has filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Sky News has learnt that Alvarez & Marsal has been lined up to oversee the insolvency of Builder.ai's UK entities. News of the impending appointment comes days after Builder.ai, which was founded by Sachin Dev Duggal, collapsed in the U.S. Mr Duggal stepped down earlier this year.

A record number of curry shops in Japan went out of business in the past year, as purveyors of one of the country’s most beloved dishes took a hit from soaring rice prices, Bloomberg News reported. Thirteen curry shops with more than ¥10 million ($70,000) in debt filed for bankruptcy in the year ended March — a record high for a second consecutive year, according to a report from Tokyo-based research firm Teikoku Databank. The total number of bankruptcies is likely to be much higher when considering smaller mom-and-pop shops, the firm said.

China’s central bank injected around $139 billion of medium-term liquidity into markets on Friday, a move likely aimed at cushioning against an emerging cash crunch as trade tensions simmer, the Wall Street Journal reported. The People’s Bank of China announced the move a day earlier in an unusually timed disclosure, saying that it will conduct 1 trillion yuan of outright reverse repurchase agreements with a three-month tenor, equivalent to $139.35 billion.

Industrial production in the eurozone’s two largest economies declined in the first month of President Trump’s global tariff blitz, a sign that an economic slowdown is underway after a start to the year that was even stronger than first estimated, the Wall Street Journal reported. German industrial output contracted 1.4% on month in April, statistics agency Destatis said Friday. That offset much of the 2.3% jump in output in March, when U.S. firms stockpiled imports to get ahead of the impact from expected tariffs. Trade data, also published Friday, showed goods exports to the U.S.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that he would pursue a deal under which U.S. cars could be imported into Europe duty free in exchange for tariff waivers on the same number of vehicles exported to the United States, Reuters reported. Speaking at an event in Berlin just hours after his inaugural trip to Washington for talks with U.S.

India’s central bank surprised markets with a jumbo rate cut, seizing on cooling inflation to frontload monetary easing and bolster economic growth amid heightened global uncertainty, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee voted Friday to lower the benchmark repo rate to 5.50% from 6.00%. The 50-basis-point cut is the central bank’s largest since March 2020, at the height of the pandemic. India’s growth-inflation dynamics call for frontloading rate cuts to support growth, RBI Gov.

Brazil's government is expected to back a bill proposing a 10% cut to federal tax breaks, two sources told Reuters on Thursday, in a move that could allow it to scrap a controversial increase in the tax on financial transactions (IOF) proposed last month. The bill, which was proposed by lower house lawmaker Mauro Benevides, sets a 5% reduction in the value of tax benefits in 2025 and a further 5% cut in 2026, the proposal showed. The legislation also applies to fiscal and credit benefits.

Britain's financial regulator is to remove a ban on consumers buying crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs), ditching its previous position of wanting to keep them out of the hands of retail investors, Reuters reported. The Financial Conduct Authority said on Friday that allowing retail investors to buy ETNs would support growth and competitiveness, in the latest sign that the UK is shifting its approach to crypto as the government seeks to grow the economy and support a digital assets industry.

Russia’s central bank on Friday lowered its key interest rate for the first time since late 2022 despite an inflation rate that remains well above target, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Bank of Russia cut its key rate to 20% from 21%, and said it expects the economy to return to a more “balanced” growth path after a surge in activity and prices as workers and resources were employed for the war in Ukraine.