By Choonsik Yoo and Jihoon Lee SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s central bank on Thursday flagged it may not be done tightening, sending bond yields soaring, after it held rates steady for a third straight meeting and trimmed this year’s economic growth forecast. The Bank of Korea’s monetary policy board unanimously voted to keep its policy…
JAKARTA (Reuters) – The world’s two biggest palm oil producers Indonesia and Malaysia will send top officials to the European Union next week to voice concern over a new deforestation law they believe could be detrimental to small farming businesses. Indonesia and Malaysia accounts for about 85% of global palm oil exports and the EU…
(Reuters) -Ratings agency Fitch put the United States’ credit on watch for a possible downgrade on Wednesday, raising the stakes as talks over the country’s debt ceiling go down to the wire, and adding to the jitters in global markets. Fitch put the country’s “AAA” rating, its highest rank, on a negative watch in a…
TOKYO (Reuters) – Automakers, including Toyota and Volkswagen, should decarbonise their steel supply and cut back on the material’s consumption by reducing the size of vehicle models, Greenpeace said on Thursday. As a transition to battery-powered cars brings down the amount of greenhouse gases that are released during the usage of a vehicle, a growing…
By David Morgan, Andrea Shalal and Moira Warburton WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Negotiators for Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy held what both sides called productive talks on Wednesday to try to reach a deal to raise the United States’ $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avoid a catastrophic default. After a four-hour White…
By Xinghui Kok SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore’s economy contracted in the first quarter, raising the risk of a recession in the city state as the global economic outlook weakens and major trading partner China struggles for a post-COVID lift-off. Singapore, a major financial hub, is reliant on trade flow to keep its economy humming, though external…
By Leika Kihara and Takahiko Wada TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan (BOJ) may abandon a controversial bond yield cap this year if risks clouding the outlook, such as global banking sector woes, subside, Toshihiro Nagahama, an economist who participated in a key government panel, told Reuters. Nagahama, who was invited to speak at…
By Chris Prentice WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Short-selling, the practice of seeking to profit off bets that a stock will fall, is a key focus for U.S. prosecutors, and there will be more activity by the Justice Department in coming months, a top department official said on Wednesday. The recent rout in shares of U.S. regional…
By Lewis Krauskopf, Shreyashi Sanyal and Shristi Achar A (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes ended lower on Wednesday as talks between the White House and Republican representatives on raising the U.S. debt ceiling dragged on without a deal. The lack of progress on raising the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion debt limit ahead of a…
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s lower house on Wednesday approved a new fiscal framework bill, a major victory for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s administration as it tries to balance public accounts while taming explosive debt growth. Lawmakers in the chamber voted 372-108 to pass the main text of the bill on late Tuesday that…
