Equities mostly had a bumper 2024 on the back of enthusiasm about artificial intelligence (AI), cuts in borrowing costs by central banks and Donald Trump's presidential election win.
A series of manufacturing purchasing managers' indexes for December from across the region published on Thursday showed factory activity slowing in China and South Korea although there were some signs of a pickup in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
From dining out and travelling by air to purchasing sweets and clothing, the small comforts in life are going to turn costlier for a hike in value added tax (VAT) on 43 goods and services.
Remittance inflow also broke single-month record in December
The survey of 31 economists and analysts predicted that Brent crude would average $74.33 per barrel in 2025, down from a forecast of $74.53 in November, marking an eighth straight downward revision.
Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election gave Wall Street even more of a boost on hopes he will follow through on pledges of deregulation and tax cuts
China's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was 50.1 in December, marking a third consecutive month of expansion
A rise in foreign trade is helping the port recover from the global economic downturn
Beijing is also strapping in for four more years of tensions with the United States under President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to impose stinging tariffs on China
The company will establish a battery plate manufacturing industry
Nvidia is also suspected of violating commitments it made in 2020, the statement said, when it acquired Israeli data center firm Mellanox
Exports jumped 6.7 percent on-year to $312.3 billion last month, China's General Administration of Customs said.
The European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates again this week amid a darkening outlook, with political turbulence in the eurozone's two biggest economies adding to the troubled picture.
Noted economist Debapriya Bhattacharya raised concerns about the role of global institutions, indicating the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), in assessing Bangladesh's debt sustainability under the previous regime as the country faces increasing pressure from escalating debt servicing obligations.
In Dhaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh and Karachi, the number of days with "wet-bulb" temperatures - a measurement that accounts for air temperature as well as humidity - above 30.5 degrees Celsius jumped by 42% in 2020-2024 compared to 2005-2009, researchers at Cornell University's Global Labor Institute found
The consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, rose 0.2 percent in November year-on-year, down from 0.3 percent in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said
Premier Li Qiang made the remarks in his opening speech at a summit attended by the top leaders of organisations including the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation and the World Bank.
Growth in 2025 is now seen at 1.6 percent, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said, down from a projection of 1.9 percent made in June
