Saturday, April 20 2024 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
HONG KONG - The declining profitability of China's corporate sector over several years contributed to the recent correction in the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to Standard & Poor's. “We forewarned three years ago that the average profitability of the largest Chinese corporates was declining,” said S&P credit analyst Terry Chan.
BEIJING – Chinese State media announced on Tuesday night that eight people had been taken away for questioning over alleged market malpractice, and further reporting on Wednesday concluded that the detained included Xu Gang, managing director of one of China’s biggest securities firms Citic Securities, Ouyang Jiansheng, a former department director at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), Liu Shufan, a CSRC division head, and Caijing magazine reporter Wang Xiaolu.
TAIPEI - Agreements on taxation co-operation and aviation safety were signed on Tuesday by Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) during the 11th round of SEF-ARATS talks in Fuzhou.
HONG KONG - The Caixin China Manufacturing PMI has fallen to 47.1 in the flash reading for August - the weakest reading since the 2008 financial crisis. Domestic and external demand weakened simultaneously, which weighed on production and pushed up inventories. Labour demand also fell to the worst level since January 2009.
HO CHI MINH CITY - The State Bank of Vietnam has raised its USD/VND Reference rate by 1% to 21,890/USD in the third adjustment this year. The trading band was widened yet again to +/-3%, allowing the currency to trade within a 21,233-22,547 range.
JAKARTA – ANZ Bank says Indonesia is in the depths of Asia’s trade recession. “Today’s data was weak, full stop,” the bank says. “The contraction in trade growth is beyond the commodity complex and reflects still weakening economic fundamentals. The print does not bode well for a rebound in growth in the second half.”
BEIJING - China’s pension funds, which hold up to RMB600 billion (US$97 billion) and account for nearly 90% of the country’s social security fund pool, have been approved by China’s Cabinet to have access to the struggling stock market. According to the rules published by the State Council, the funds will be able to invest up to 30% of their net assets in stocks, equity funds and balanced funds.
TAIPEI – Taiwan and China are scheduled to hold their 11th official round of talks on essentially trade-related issues in Fuzhou, China, on August 25.
SINGAPORE - The Hong Kong Trade Development Council has opened a full Branch Office in Singapore to strengthen support for Hong Kong SMEs entering ASEAN markets.
HO CHI MINH CITY – The State Bank of Vietnam has issued a new Circular 09/2015 setting out new regulations on the non-performing loans secondary market, effective from September l, opening the way for a potential source of foreign buyers to create a busier debt trading market in Vietnam.
HONG KONG - HSBC is among the first foreign banks to facilitate cross-border renminbi loans for Mainland China corporates operating from the Nansha Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and Kunshan areas that are now participating in China’s cross-border RMB lending pilot.
SINGAPORE – ANZ Bank says Asia is experiencing a deep “trade recession” which is likely to be enduring, prompting the bank to make significant downward revisions to its 2015-17 growth forecasts.
SINGAPORE – ASEAN’s new trade bloc, scheduled to take effect by the end of 2015, will ultimately provide insurers with opportunities for increased market access, says ratings agency Standard & Poor's in a report released today.
TOKYO - Aggregate earnings at Japan's three megabanks grew in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, led by noninterest income gains. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. collectively reported ¥703.65 billion in fiscal first-quarter net income, a 12.4% increase on-year.
HONG KONG – China’s move toward a managed floating exchange rate system with a depreciation bias in the short term suggests that the Hong Kong dollaar has become the strongest currency in the world because of its Linked Exchange Rate System with the US dollar, says ANZ Bank, which says Hong Kong’s competitiveness as an international trade and finance centre will be affected “somewhat negatively”.
BEIJING - E-Commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding’s shares have taken a hit after the company posted its slowest revenue growth in over three years. The China Daily reports that a decision to focus more on mobile services has negatively affecting advertising sales, with the company’s shares declining as much as 8% to $71.03 – creeping back to their IPO price of $68 per share.