Headlines

Business bankruptcies across Canada have risen to their highest level in 15 years, Baystreet.ca reported. The latest data from the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals shows that 1,312 companies filed for bankruptcy during the third quarter of 2024, the highest level since the 2009 financial crisis. On a yearly basis, bankruptcy filings rose in every province except New Brunswick and Newfoundland during Q3 2024. In Ontario, bankruptcy filings rose 67% year-over-year in Q3, while bankruptcy filings in Quebec increased 40%.

Canadian manufacturing activity increased at the fastest pace in nearly two years in December as inventory accumulation by U.S. clients in anticipation of trade tariffs provided a measure of support for export sales, Reuters reported. The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 52.2 in December from 52.0 in November, its highest level since February 2023 and the fourth straight month above the 50.0 no-change mark. The average for the PMI in data going back to 2010 is 52.4. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. U.S.

Manufacturing conditions across much of Asia expanded in December, according to the latest surveys, but weakening confidence and soft export orders continued to weigh on outlook, the Wall Street Journal reported. The headline S&P Global manufacturing PMI for Asean indicated modest growth, though it slightly declined to close out the year. Several countries in the region led the growth, including the Philippines, where output and new orders rose sharply, both marking the largest expansion since April 2022.

China is keeping its hand firmly on the yuan, supporting the currency via the official daily reference rate after it slid to the weakest level since 2022 at year-end in offshore trading, Bloomberg News reported. The People’s Bank of China set the so-called fixing, which confines yuan’s trading onshore to a 2% range on either side, at 7.1879 per dollar on Thursday. That’s little changed from the prior reading. But it was 1,323 pips stronger than forecast in a Bloomberg survey, the largest difference since July.

China’s manufacturing activity slowed its pace of expansion in December, as investors wait for more economic stimulus when Donald Trump — who is threatening tariffs on Chinese exports — returns to the White House, Bloomberg News reported. The Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 50.5 from 51.5 in November, according to a statement released by Caixin and S&P Global on Thursday. While any reading above 50 indicates an expansion of activity, the figure was a disappointment compared with the median forecast of 51.7 by economists.

South Korea's central bank governor said on Thursday the pace of monetary policy easing would need to be flexible this year due to heightened political and economic uncertainty, Reuters reported. "This year, conditions surrounding our economy will be more difficult than ever before," Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong said in a New Year's address. "Monetary policy needs to be operated with flexibility and agility, as political and economic uncertainty is unprecedentedly high," Rhee said.

Turkey’s annual inflation in December likely eased less than the central bank projected, just as policymakers have started to set the stage for a more accommodative stance in the new year, Bloomberg News reported. Annual growth in consumer prices slowed to 45.2% in December from 47.1% a month earlier, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. The data is due Friday. The central bank earlier raised its year-end estimate to 44% from 38% in November.

Turkey’s banking regulator has drawn up a plan to restrict the tenures of banking executives, a proposal that comes after high-profile accusations of a ponzi scheme at a bank with one of the nation’s longest-serving chief executive officers, Bloomberg News reported. According to the proposal, CEOs would be permitted to serve in that position at the same bank for at most 10 years, according to a draft of the regulation seen by Bloomberg. Deputy general managers would also be allowed up to 10 years, but that could be extended for as much as 5 years with approval from regulators.

Some big lenders in India have asked the central bank to inject liquidity using foreign-exchange swaps as short-term currency financing costs surged to a four-year high, Bloomberg News reported. In recent informal interactions, some lenders asked the Reserve Bank of India to consider using FX swaps, where the parties simultaneously agree to exchange currencies in the spot market and reverse the transaction at a future date, the people said. Such operations could effectively inject rupee liquidity into the financial markets.

Austria's Supreme Court of Justice has rejected a restructuring plan for Signa Development, a unit of property tycoon Rene Benko's firm Signa, meaning it must undergo bankruptcy proceedings, the insolvency administrator said on Monday, Reuters reported. The aim is now to utilize the assets of the business as well as possible in the interests of the creditors, insolvency administrator Andrea Fruhstorfer said in a statement. The Supreme Court's decision dismissed an appeal by Signa Development and upheld an earlier ruling by a top appeal court in Vienna, the statement said.