Headlines

Japan's factory activity fell at the fastest pace in seven months in September, a survey showed on Monday, as worsening global economic conditions continued to weaken demand, Reuters reported. The final au Jibun Bank Japan manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 48.5 in September from 49.6 in August and roughly in line with the flash reading of 48.6. The index has remained below the 50.0 point threshold that separates growth from contraction for four straight months.

Australian home prices stayed strong in September, driven by soaring demand and outweighing the impact of the central bank’s aggressive policy tightening campaign, Bloomberg News reported. Sydney prices, the national bellwether, advanced 1%, down slightly from the previous month, property consultancy CoreLogic Inc. said in a report Monday. Adelaide led September’s gains — climbing 1.7%. In the more expensive cities — Sydney and Melbourne — the broad middle of the market is recording the highest growth rate after previously being led by the upper quartile, CoreLogic said.

The Canadian economy rebounded slightly last month but still saw little growth, backing a case for the central bank to keep rates on hold despite inflation remaining elevated, Bloomberg News reported. Preliminary data suggest gross domestic product edged up 0.1% in August, Statistics Canada reported Friday in Ottawa, as declines in the retail and oil and gas industries partly offset increases in the wholesale and finance sectors. That followed a flat GDP reading in July, which missed expectations for a 0.1% increase in a Bloomberg survey.

British finance minister Jeremy Hunt on Monday will announce a rise in the minimum wage in his annual Conservative party conference speech, where he is expected to ignore a growing clamour for tax cuts within his party, Reuters reported. The extracts of the speech released by the party made no reference to taxes after Conservative lawmakers and even senior minister Michael Gove have called for tax cuts ahead of an election expected next year. On Saturday, Hunt ruled out near-term tax cuts ahead of a mid-year fiscal statement due on Nov.

Euro-area core inflation eased to its slowest pace in a year, supporting expectations that the European Central Bank will keep interest rates on hold to gauge the impact of its unprecedented campaign of hikes, Bloomberg News reported. Underlying price gains, which strip out energy and food costs, came in at 4.5% in September, Eurostat said Friday. That’s down from 5.3% in August and much less than the 4.8% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The Indonesian rupiah just had the worst quarter in more than a year, and analysts see more losses ahead, Bloomberg News reported. The currency broke the closely watched 15,400 level last week, and there is a possibility it may test this year’s low of 15,638, according to Malayan Banking Berhad. Higher crude prices threaten to worsen the net oil-importing nation’s finances, and that along with higher US yields and a stronger dollar are likely to weigh down the rupiah.

Annual inflation in Peru decelerated to 5.04% in September to hit its lowest level in more than two years, according to official figures published on Sunday, though consumer prices remained some way above the central bank's target rate, Reuters reported. Data from national statistics agency INEI showed the key index based on the metropolitan region of Lima slowed to its lowest level since August 2021, when it stood at 4.95%. On a month-to-month basis the Lima Consumer Price Index, Peru's inflation benchmark, inched up 0.02% in September, well below the 0.38% increase in August.

Germany has welcomed a show of support from China for the G20 debt restructuring framework for poorer countries in a joint statement after their financial dialogue in Frankfurt over the weekend, Reuters reported. "We welcome the fact that the Chinese side is also committed to this in our Joint Statement, because solutions are inconceivable without China as such an important player in world politics," German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Sunday, after his meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

Just a few weeks ago, China Evergrande, the world’s most debt-saddled real estate developer, was writing its next chapter and working to resolve financial disputes with its creditors. Then a stream of bad news came and the pages were torn up, the New York Times reported. Staff at the company’s wealth management arm have been detained by the authorities. Two former top executives are reportedly being held, and its billionaire chairman is under police surveillance.

More than 5,000 new businesses were set up in Wales this summer, according to new research from R3, the UK’s insolvency and restructuring trade body, BusinessNewsWales.com reported. R3’s analysis of data provided by Creditsafe shows there were 5,014 start-ups in Wales over the summer months – an increase of 7.1% on last year’s figure of 4,683. Welsh start-up numbers peaked in August of this year, when 1,693 firms were launched, after falling between June (1,672) and July (1,649). This was a change on the trend in 2022, when numbers decreased during the summer months.