An Hour Ago
Oil prices climb on prospects of stronger fuel demand, higher interest rates
An Hour Ago
Yellen says it should be ‘unthinkable’ for the U.S. to default on its debt
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the idea of U.S. lawmakers letting the nation default on its debt should be “unthinkable.”
Speaking to reporters ahead of the G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors meetings in Niigata, Japan, Yellen said she was aware of former President Donald Trump’s suggestion for Republican lawmakers to let the nation to default.
“America should never default,” she said. “Something that would so badly undermine the U.S. and global economy, I think it should be regarded by everyone as unthinkable.”
When asked about steps the Biden administration could take in the wake of a default, Yellen emphasized that lawmakers must raise the debt ceiling.
“There is no good alternative that will save us from catastrophe. I don’t want to get into ranking which bad alternative is better than others, but the only reasonable thing is to raise the debt ceiling and to avoid the dreadful consequences that will come,” she told reporters.
– Jihye Lee
An Hour Ago
Li Auto surges 15% as revenue almost doubles in first quarter
Shares of Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto jumped by about 15% to an eight-month high as the company reported a first-quarter profit of 933.8 million yuan ($136 million), a stark reversal from the 10.9 million yuan loss a year ago.
Revenue for the first quarter nearly doubled to 18.33 billion yuan, up from 9.31 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2022. This was mainly attributable to the increase in vehicle sales, as well as the higher average selling price contributed by the Li L series.
For the second quarter, Li Auto expects to deliver between 76,000 and 81,000 vehicles and total revenue between 24.22 billion yuan and 25.86 billion yuan. That would represent an increase of 177.4% to 196.1% compared with the second quarter of 2022.
Over the past 12 months, shares of Li Auto have gained 29.82%, in contrast to counterparts like Nio and Xpeng, whose shares have slid 43.35% and 54% respectively.
An Hour Ago
Australia’s trade minister to arrive in China later today: Reports
Australia’s trade minister Don Farrell will arrive in Beijing to discuss removing China’s trade barriers on certain Australian exports, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The report added that Farrell will also discuss detained Australians Cheng Lei who was formally arrested in 2021 on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas as well as Yang Hengjun.
Australia has voiced concerns of the held Australians in China.
The report added that Farrell will aim to push for Cheng and Yang’s freedom as well as trade restrictions ahead of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s potential visit to Beijing later in the year.
– Jihye Lee
2 Hours Ago
New Zealand’s food inflation rises at fastest pace in almost 36 years
New Zealand food inflation rose 12.5% year-on-year in April, the largest increase since September 1987, StatsNZ said in a Thursday release.
Grocery food prices rose by 14%, fruit and vegetable prices jumped by 22.5% and meat, poultry and fish prices rose by 9.5%.
Compared with March, food prices rose 0.5%, driven by restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food.
The New Zealand dollar strengthened 0.9% to 0.6370 against the U.S. dollar in Asia’s afternoon.
– Jihye Lee
4 Hours Ago
Japanese yen strengthens as dollar index slides after U.S. inflation report
The Japanese yen strengthened slightly to 134.14 against the greenback as the dollar index maintained lower levels after the U.S. consumer price index showed eased inflation overnight.
The dollar index inched lower in Asia’s morning to 101.48. China’s onshore yuan weakened marginally to 6.9389 against the greenback after its consumer and producer price index delivered a softer-than-expected reading.
South Korea’s won weakened 0.24% against the greenback to 1,320.95. The Australian dollar weakened by 0.1% to 0.6671 against the U.S. dollar.
5 Hours Ago
China’s inflation rate marks the slowest pace in two years
China’s consumer price index rose 0.1% in April year-on-year, the slowest since early 2021. Month-on-month, prices declined by 0.1%.
Economists surveyed by Reuters expected to see consumer prices rise 0.4% from a year ago and remain unchanged from the previous month.
April’s reading comes after China’s inflation rate eased to 0.7% in March after marking a recent peak of 2.8% in September.
The Chinese yuan weakened by 0.04% to 6.9428 against the U.S. dollar.
4 Hours Ago
Capvision to form ‘compliance committee’ to address China’s national security concerns
Consulting firm Capvision Partners said on Wednesday chief executive Xu Rujie will chair a three-person internal “compliance committee” to “actively…
Read More: Asia markets mixed as investors digest U.S. consumer prices; China’s inflation