BERLIN (Reuters) – German manufacturers’ recovery from lockdown measures continued last month, with output growing at the fastest pace since February 2018, a survey showed on Tuesday. IHS Markit’s final Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing, which... More »
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s official interest rates and the average cost of servicing its public debt have never been lower, but investors are becoming worried that the government could face a funding crisis next year. The premium that investors demand to le... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan was hit by its biggest economic slump on record in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic emptied shopping malls and crushed demand for cars and other exports, bolstering the case for bolder policy action to prevent a deeper rec... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s economy saw its biggest annual contraction in 22 years and a record quarterly fall in the April-June period, as the coronavirus pandemic and restriction measures hit tourism, exports and domestic activity, prompting an outlook do... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Investor morale in the euro zone rose for a fourth consecutive month in August but the low reading suggests that the coronavirus-hit economy is still in recession in the third quarter, a survey showed on Monday. Sentix’s index for the euro z... More »
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s government plans to promote the manufacturing of selected products, especially lines in which China enjoys a big share in the global market, as part of efforts to reduce imports and push exports, a cabinet minister said on Monday.... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s factory deflation eased in July, driven by a rise in global oil prices and as industrial activity climbed back towards pre-coronavirus levels, adding to signs of recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. The producer price ind... More »
FRANKFURT/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – – While millions of U.S. workers thrown into unemployment by the coronavirus pandemic fret about feeding their families, idled German airline purser Marco Todte is mainly concerned about his next vacation. Todte, 41, hasn’t fl... More »
LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) – Euro zone manufacturing activity expanded modestly last month, its first growth since early 2019, and Asia’s pain eased as the contraction slowed in export-reliant nations, adding to hopes the sector is emerging from the hit of the cor... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish factory activity expanded in July, rebounding from its worst slowdown in almost 12 years as the economy revived after the government ended one of Europe’s strictest coronavirus lockdowns a month earlier, a survey showed on Monday. In... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s monetary policy will be more flexible and targeted in the second half of the year, the central bank said on Monday. China will actively and steadily push forward yuan internationalisation and capital account convertibility, the Peop... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s economy likely posted the biggest contraction in more than two decades in the second quarter, as measures taken to combat the coronavirus pandemic hit most sectors, a Reuters poll showed on Monday. The median forecast of 20 anal... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Profits at China’s industrial firms rose for a second straight month and at the fastest pace in over a year, adding to signs the country’s economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis is gaining momentum. The statistics bureau said on Mond... More »
GDANSK/WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s industrial output PLIPY=ECI rose by 0.5% in June, better than the 6.9% decline forecast by analysts, who said the statistic office data suggest the economy may overcome the coronavirus crisis faster than initially expected. T... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone industrial production rose in May, official estimates showed on Tuesday, but the recovery from lockdown-induced record declines March and April was lower than expected and far from offsetting past drops. Manufacturing output in t... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The German economy is rebounding from a pandemic-induced slump after hitting bottom last month, a real-time indicator developed by the country’s central bank showed on Monday. Launched in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, the Bundesbank’s... More »
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s retail inflation picked up in June, pushed by price increases for some food and fuel items, but economists said the central bank could still ease rates because of concerns about economic slowdown caused by lockdown. Annual retail ... More »
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia has asked four countries to delay debt repayments, it said on Monday as it announced more pessimistic economic and budget forecasts for 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is negotiating with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France and I... More »
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Producer prices in Canada gained 0.4% in June from May, primarily on higher prices for energy and petroleum products, Statistics Canada said on Friday in a preliminary flash estimate. Energy and petroleum prices jumped 11.7%, the agency said... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – France will back Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino for the presidency of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday, a stance echoed by France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Dri... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The euro zone economy will drop deeper into recession this year and rebound less steeply in 2021 than previously thought, the European Commission forecast on Tuesday, with France, Italy and Spain struggling the most due to the COVID-19 pan... More »
ROME (Reuters) – The Italian government approved a package of measures on Tuesday aimed at cutting the complicated red tape that has long been blamed for crimping growth in the euro zone’s third-largest economy. The “simplification decree,” approved after week... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Orders for German industrial goods rose by 10.4% in May, rebounding from their biggest drop since records began in 1991 the previous month, data showed on Monday, as demand picked up after lockdown measures to fight the coronavirus were lift... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Around one fifth of German companies (21%) believe their survival is threatened by the coronavirus crisis, Germany’s Ifo institute said on Monday, with travel agents, hotels and restaurants particularly concerned. “We could see a wave of ins... More »
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s real GDP is likely to grow 3% in May, bouncing back from a record decline in April, Statistics Canada said in a flash estimate on Friday, as businesses across the country began to reopen following coronavirus-linked shutdowns. Growt... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s central bank governor said it was encouraging commercial banks to lend more to sustain businesses during the coronavirus crisis. Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) Governor Ahmed al-Kholifey was speaking at a virtual econo... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s retail sales in May slumped 32.8% from a year earlier, falling for the 16th consecutive month as the virus pandemic slammed the brakes on tourism and spending in the city. Months of anti-government protest have also weighed on... More »
WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday he expects the country’s economy to recover quickly from the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “We have a chance for a V-shaped recovery,” Morawiecki told a conference. Poles... More »
(Reuters) – No denying May’s $73 billion rebound in U.S. retail sales was an eye-popper and is the latest fodder to fuel the red-hot “V” vs “U” debate about what kind of recovery to expect from the COVID-19 recession. Even Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, ... More »
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s economy looks like it has started to pick up after the impact of the novel coronavirus and measures to halt its spread, Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Tuesday. “If you summarize, there are a number of indicators tha... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A plunge in household spending and investment pulled down euro zone gross domestic product in the first quarter as the COVID-19 pandemic struck, but the fall was slightly smaller than first estimated, the European Union’s statistics office... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Euro zone manufacturers appear to have passed their nadir, a survey showed on Monday, but activity is still contracting sharply as government-imposed lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic keep demand in check. Many countries in the bloc ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s DIHK chambers of industry and commerce expect Europe’s largest economy to shrink at least 10% this year due to the coronavirus crisis, its president said on Tuesday, a much more pessimistic view than the government’s forecast. “Thi... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China is expected to stand pat on its benchmark lending rate on Wednesday, after the central bank kept medium-term funding cost for financial institutions steady last week, a Reuters survey of traders and analysts found. Thirty-four respon... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s economy shrank by a record 5.8% in March as the coronavirus crisis escalated and the government shut down much of the country, according to official data that point towards an even bigger hit to come. The monthly drop in gross dome... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Tuesday he was not considering tax cuts, including a reduction in the sales tax, for the time being as a way of easing the economic pain from the coronavirus pandemic. “Japan’s fiscal condition is in... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New orders for U.S.-made goods suffered a record decline in March and could sink further as disruptions from the novel coronavirus fracture supply chains and depress exports. The report from the Commerce Department on Monday was the late... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) (8306.T) expects countries in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to be in deep recession this year with overall real GDP contracting 3.7% from a previous growth forecast of 2.9%. Th... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan expanded monetary stimulus on Monday and pledged to buy unlimited amount of bonds to keep borrowing costs low as the government tries to spend its way out of the deepening economic pain from the coronavirus pandemic. The mov... More »
TAIPEI (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury’s latest semi-annual report on trade practices of its major trading partners which was due this month has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, two sources with direct knowledge at Taiwan’s central bank told Reuters... More »
BENGALURU (Reuters) – The euro zone economy is already in its deepest recession on record, according to a Reuters poll of economists, who have stuck to a bleak outlook and worry the downturn might be even worse as coronavirus lockdowns across the bloc take the... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders meeting are on Thursday expected to defer a final decision on how to finance the bloc’s economic recovery in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, diplomats and officials said. The 27 national leaders have alrea... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia will suffer its biggest economic contraction since the 1930s in the first half of this year due to containment measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, its central bank governor said on Tuesday. Describing the contraction as... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean exports plunged nearly 27% in the first 20 days of April as the coronavirus health crisis paralyzed global manufacturing activity and crushed consumer demand. The worst may be yet to come with many of the country’s top trading pa... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union countries on Thursday evening agreed the emergency credit lines from the euro zone’s bailout fund “will be available until COVID-19 crisis is over”, a draft of their deal read. Afterwards, euro countries should remain commit... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s construction sector saw the sharpest fall in activity since the financial crisis last month, a survey showed on Monday, despite facing much less pressure than other industries to shut down operations due to the coronavirus. The fig... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Investor morale in the euro zone fell to an all-time low in April and the bloc’s economy is in deep recession due to the coronavirus, which is “holding the world economy in a stranglehold”, a survey showed on Monday. Sentix’s index for the e... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. services sector activity slowed to a more than 3-1/2-year low in March, with industries reporting a moderation in new orders and decline in employment amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought the country to sudden stop. The ... More »
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has ordered up to 9 billion riyals ($2.4 billion) to be disbursed to pay part of the wages of private-sector workers to deter companies from laying off staff, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday. Th... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany will spare no effort to help its economy weather the coronavirus crisis and is in talks with its European Union partners about how to minimize the economic impact of the outbreak, a finance ministry spokesman said on Friday. “We are ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – The German economy ministry said it no longer expected an economic upswing in the first quarter because of the impact of the coronavirus on growth, with the economy unlikely to stabilize before the third quarter at the earliest. The economy ... More »
MIDDLESBROUGH, England (Reuters) – Looming over the skyline of Teesside in northeast England stands the rusting hulk of what used to be Europe’s largest blast furnace, which shut in 2015 with the loss of more than 2,200 jobs. Attempts to bring investment and e... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Italy and other euro zone countries hit by the coronavirus outbreak are expected to benefit from waivers under EU fiscal rules that will allow them to spend more to tackle the emergency, the bloc’s economics commissioner said on Wednesday.... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Urged to restore economic activity by President Xi Jinping, large parts of China relaxed curbs on transport and movement of people on Monday as reported new cases of the coronavirus outside the worst-hit province fell to the lowest in a mon... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German economic growth will remain weak in the first quarter of 2020, weighed down by weak exports and the coronavirus outbreak in China, the Bundesbank said in a regular economic report on Monday. Europe’s largest economy stagnated in th... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A gauge of how Britons feel about their household finances hit its highest level on record this month, the latest sign of a confidence bounce since Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decisive election win in December. The IHS Markit Household Fi... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone economic growth slowed as expected in the last three months of 2019 as gross domestic product shrank in France and Italy against the previous quarter, but employment growth picked up more than expected, official estimates showed ... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s consumer prices rose sharply in January from a year earlier, official data showed on Monday, strengthening the crown currency ahead of a major policy speech by the central bank governor on Thursday. Core inflation, a key measure for m... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s parliament will soon begin debating a sweeping new bill that proposes corporate tax cuts and seeks to make internet giants pay more taxes, as part of a wider plan to simplify laws and boost investments in Southeast Asia’s bigges... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s economic growth in the fourth quarter is expected to have slowed to its weakest since mid-2016 on weaker private consumption and external demand, a Reuters poll showed. The median forecast from the poll of 13 economists was ... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s consumer price inflation rose a bit more than expected to 12.15% year-on-year in January, official data showed on Monday, climbing for the third consecutive month after a dramatic drop last year. A currency crisis in 2018 sent inf... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund estimates that Kuwait’s financing needs will amount to some $180 billion over the next six years given the Gulf state’s “modest” fiscal measures and expectations of lower oil prices. Kuwait said earlier this mo... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – There is an even balance in the share of U.S. businesses reporting decreases and increases in employment for the first time in a decade, a survey showed on Monday, the latest suggestion that the labor market has likely peaked and job gro... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese firms implemented 1.4 trillion yuan ($203 billion) in debt-to-equity swaps and disposed of 2 trillion yuan in soured debt last year as they moved to allay financial risk, the country’s banking and insurance regulator said on Monday.... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s central bank said on Thursday that it has signed a currency agreement with Laos, allowing direct local currency settlement for transactions under the current and capital accounts. The agreement was aimed at boosting financial cooper... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – A coalition of trade unions will mobilize thousands of people next week to block the Indonesian government’s plan to relax restrictive labor rules, as President Joko Widodo’s administration is set to hand over a bill to parliament. The prot... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s central bank has not shut the door to further monetary policy easing should the economy worsen, the governor said on Monday, after two rate cuts this year to support flagging growth. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) last week left its ... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will lower tariffs on products ranging from frozen pork and avocado to some types of semiconductors next year as Beijing looks to boost imports amid a slowing economy and a trade war with the United States. Next year, China will imple... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s customs-cleared exports in November fell 7.39% from a year earlier, after falling 4.54% the previous month, the commerce ministry said on Monday. November’s export numbers came in worse than a Reuters poll forecast for a decrease... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s industrial output is expected to grow around 5.6% in 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Monday. Industrial production rose 6.2% year-on-year in November, quickening from 4.7% in October. It was also th... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Growth in China’s industrial and retail sectors beat expectations in November, as government support propped up demand in the world’s second-largest economy and amid easing trade hostilities with Washington. The set of upbeat figures releas... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China and the United States should continue bilateral trade talks and work toward removing all existing tariffs, China’s National Bureau of Statistics spokesman Fu Linghui said on Monday. Fu also told reporters during a briefing that China’... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s new home prices grew at their weakest pace in nearly two years in November while property investment also eased, with tightening policies continuing to cool the market even as some local easing is expected to prevent a sharp slowdow... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s exports rose unexpectedly in October, a morale boost for Europe’s largest economy, which has been teetering on the brink of recession over recent quarters. The 1.2% rise in exports raises hopes that the economy can avoid contractin... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s service sector sentiment improved slightly in November, recovering from a multi-year low hit in the previous month when a sales tax hike and a huge typhoon hit business morale. The survey of workers such as taxi drivers, hotel workers... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new analysis of where “innovation” jobs are being created in the United States paints a stark portrait of a divided economy where the industries seen as key to future growth cluster in a narrowing set of places. Divergence in job growt... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British manufacturers cut jobs last month at the fastest rate since 2012, a survey showed on Monday, as pressures from Brexit and a global trade slowdown caused the sector’s longest decline since the financial crisis. The IHS Markit/CIPS man... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Euro zone manufacturing activity contracted for a 10th straight month in November although the bloc’s battered factories may have turned a corner as forward-looking indicators in Monday’s survey appear to have passed a nadir. IHS Markit’s fi... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s export-dependent manufacturing sector contracted at a slower pace for the second month in a row in November, a survey showed on Monday, as companies sounded optimistic about their future business. IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ ... More »
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Euro zone inflation accelerated faster than expected in November on a rise in food and services prices, likely comforting European Central Bank policymakers even if some factors pushing up prices may be only temporary. The ECB ha... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s exports, a key economic growth driver, are expected to grow to a record $114 billion in 2019 from $109 billion last year, government data showed on Sunday. According to the Central Bureau and Statistics and Economy Ministry, Isra... More »
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s banking sector has a high level of liquidity, its central bank governor said on Sunday, as banks in the Gulf state offer leverage to Saudi investors for shares in Saudi Aramco’s approaching initial public offering. “The Saudi ... More »
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s cabinet has given ‘in-principle’ approval for the sale of strategic stakes in 28 state-run companies including state carrier Air India [AIN.UL], junior finance minister Anurag Singh Thakur told lawmakers on Monday. The government ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Almost a fifth of Japanese households use electronic money for small purchases, a survey by a central bank-affilated research institute showed, up from a year ago and a sign the country’s cash-hoarding culture is changing. In the survey publi... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – New bank loans in China fell more than expected to the lowest in 22 months in October, but the drop was likely due to seasonal factors and policymakers are still expected to ramp up support for the cooling economy in coming months. Chinese ... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine annual inflation likely eased for a fifth straight month in October due to high base effects from the previous year as well as lower fuel and rice prices, a Reuters poll showed. The median forecast in a poll of 10 economists was f... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran would need oil priced at $194.6 a barrel to balance its budget next year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. Hurt by tighter U.S. sanctions, Iran – a key member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – i... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s major financial institutions are set to undergo a stress test to prepare for any major shakeout in financial markets in light of worries about a global recession and a protracted Sino-U.S. trade war, sources with direct knowledge of t... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – New home prices in China grew at a steady pace in September, with fewer cities reporting price gains, a relief for policymakers who remain wary of high debt and bubble risk and are refraining from stimulating the sector as the economy cools... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China on Monday unexpectedly kept unchanged its new benchmark lending rate, suggesting Beijing is keen to avoid overly loosening monetary policy for fear it may push up already-high debt levels across the economy. The one-year Loan Prime R... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s state planner in September more than doubled its approval for fixed-asset investment projects, as Beijing looks to step up support for an economy expanding at the slowest pace in nearly three decades. The National Development and Re... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Many privately held firms in Shandong, China’s third-biggest province by economic output, are struggling to repay short-term debt due to declining industry fundamentals, entangled cross guarantees and ill-managed investments, S&P Global Rat... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s exports contracted for a 10th straight month in September, adding to speculation the central bank could ease monetary policy as soon as next week to support an economy hit by a slowdown in global demand. A bitter Sino-U.S. trade war a... More »
(This October 13 story has been refiled to change timeframe in paragraph 2 to nine months, not eight months) BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s pork imports in September surged 76% from a year earlier while beef imports came close to a monthly record, as it stocked u... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – A slide in China’s exports picked up pace in September while imports contracted for a fifth straight month, pointing to further weakness in the economy and underlining the need for more stimulus as the Sino-U.S. trade war drags on. Analysts... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s acting government trimmed its growth forecasts on Tuesday as part of draft budgetary plans submitted to the European Commission and raised a deficit estimate, at a time when political gridlock prevents Madrid from having much margin ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – German industrial orders fell more than expected in August on weaker domestic demand, data showed on Monday, adding to signs that a manufacturing slump is pushing Europe’s largest economy into recession. Contracts for ‘Made in Germany’ goods... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s economy likely escaped a technical recession in the third quarter even as growth stayed subdued, weighed down by the prolonged trade dispute between the United States and China, a Reuters poll showed. Gross domestic product (G... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s industrial output shrank more than expected in August in the latest warning that the economy and its manufacturers are facing intensifying pressure from a bitter Sino-U.S. trade war. Retail sales, however, expanded at a faster-than-ex... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Factory activity surveys in China pointed to slight improvement in September as domestic demand picked up, but analysts believe the gains will be short-lived as the property market cools and Sino-U.S. trade tensions remain elevated. Persist... More »
