Who had it good — and who had it bad — in 2024

This aerial picture shows flooded streets and buildings in Thai Nguyen on September 10, 2024, a few days after Super Typhoon Yagi hit northern Vietnam. Xuan Quang | Afp | Getty Images Curtis S. Chin, a former U.S. ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, is managing director of advisory firm RiverPeak Group. Jose B. Collazo … Read more

Singapore manufacturing data on deck

People standing outside astore at Pitt Street Mall in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on Boxing Day.  Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets opened higher Thursday, with several markets remaining closed for Boxing Day. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.37%, while the Topix added 0.49%. South Korea’s Kospi inched up 0.12% while the Kosdaq … Read more

Nissan could face cost-cutting ‘carnage’ in Honda merger

Nissan will be the victim of cost-cutting “carnage” if it combines forces with Japanese peer Honda, former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn told CNBC on Tuesday. “I think, without any doubt, Honda is going to be in the driver’s seat, which is very sad to see after having led Nissan for 19 years [and] brought Nissan … Read more

Nissan Honda merger, Singapore CPI in focus

Couple looks at light-emitting diode illuminations ahead of Christmas in Tokyo, Japan Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets started the holiday-shortened Christmas week on a positive note, with investors awaiting the official announcement related to the merger of Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan. The companies, which aim to reach a “final agreement” … Read more

Bank of Japan holds rates at 0.25%, yen weakens to one-month low

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. The Bank of Japan kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged while sticking to its view that it’s on track to achieve its inflation target, an outlook that points to the possibility of another rate hike in the coming months.  Getty Images … Read more

China’s November retail sales miss expectations, real estate slump deepens

Shoppers pass a Huawei Technologies Co. store on Nanjing East Road in Shanghai, China, on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024.   Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images China’s retail sales disappointed in November as sentiment in the real estate market weakened further, in another sign that Beijing’s efforts to boost the economy have failed to revive … Read more

South Korea turmoil after Yoon’s martial fiasco bodes ill for its stock market

People walk inside the Korea Exchange (KRX) building, as stock markets in Asia as a whole have been affected by the intensifying political turmoil over president Yoon Suk Yeol’s role in martial law, in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 9, 2024. Daniel Ceng | Anadolu | Getty Images South Korean markets have had a dismal … Read more

China ramps up Wall Street meetings as Trump inauguration looms

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng has met with several U.S. finance executives in the last month as Beijing seeks to build relationships ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on China. He Lifeng is one of China’s four vice premiers, and heads the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s economic and finance committee. He met with BlackRock … Read more

China’s exports, imports miss expectations in November as economic worries deepen

A foreign trade container ship is leaving the dock at Qingdao Port in Qingdao, China, on June 7, 2024.  Costfoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images China’s exports and imports both missed expectations in November, with exports rising 6.7% in U.S. dollar terms and imports falling 3.9% from a year ago, data from the country’s customs … Read more

South Korea’s Kospi heavyweights fall in volatile trade amid political chaos

A man holds the South Korea flag outside the National Assembly in Seoul on December 4, 2024, after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law. South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol on December 3 declared emergency martial law, saying the step was necessary to protect the country from “communist forces” amid parliamentary wrangling over … Read more