Wednesday, October 21 2020 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
BEIJING - Multiple local governments in eastern China, some of the country's most developed and wealthiest regions, reported plummeting industrial profits for the first eight months of the year, according to a report in Caixin.
SINGAPORE -- S&P Global Ratings believes China would probably agree to a side deal on currency policy if it rests on allowing market forces to play a greater role. It says the U.S. has become fond of including currency provisions in its recent trade agreements, and these often require that countries refrain from exchange rate manipulation and competitive devaluations.
HONG KONG - Despite four months of protests, Hong Kong's well run and highly-profitable rated companies so far remain resilient - but as political and economic uncertainties pile up, there are multiple scenarios that could impact, says S&P Global Ratings in a report released today.
HONG KONG - Hong Kong's biotech market has grown quickly since new Listing Rules were introduced in 2018, opening the door to pre-revenue biotech companies for the first time. Since then, 16 biotech companies have listed on the HKEX Main Board, raising a total of HK$53.5 billion.
HONG KONG - The ongoing trade war and geopolitical issues have increased the risk of a financial decoupling between China and the US, according to a China Insight report from ANZ Bank.
TAIPEI - In her National Day address, Taiwan's President, Tsai Ing-wen, has again firmly rejected a continuing push for Taiwan to become part of China under a "One Country, Two Systems" arrangement.
HONG KONG - Standard and Poor's today affirmed its 'AA+/A-1+' issuer credit ratings on Hong Kong on the expectation that the Special Administrative Region's strong credit metrics will allow the Government's credit standing to withstand fallout from the current situation.
HONG KONG - Ratings agency Standard & Poor's says it believes the U.S.-Sino trade war has accelerated China's transition from old to "new economy" activity, potentially casting a long shadow on corporate profits and, in turn, biting into bank asset quality.
NEW DELHI -- Despite cutting its policy repo rate by 25bps for the fifth straight time this year, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) move was still less aggressive than had been anticipated, says ANZ bank. Five members voted for a 25bp cut versus one who favoured a 40bp cut.
HANOI - Vietnam's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is to develop a legal framework for cross-border e-commerce in customs operations, with the Ministry releasing a draft decree.
HONG KONG - The longer Hong Kong's political crisis remains unsolved, the more adverse its effect -- and the grip of such turbulence could spill over to mainland China, at least in the sectors which are heavily dependent on Hong Kong as a source of capital, says the French banking group Natixis in a new research note.
HONG KONG -- Faltering global profit growth threatens an earnings recession, which in turn points to weakening economies and potential spikes in global default rates among weaker credits, S&P Global Ratings said in a report released today.
SINGAPORE -- Asia-Pacific's economic slowdown shows no sign of letting up, but policymakers in many countries are now easing in response, according to a report published today tby S&P Global Ratings.
BANGKOK -- Thailand's headline inflation slowed further to 0.32% y/y in September, marking the fourth straight month it has come in below the Bank of Thailand's (BoT) target band of 1-4%. The slowdown was led by a sharper fall in energy prices, though core inflation also eased.
JAKARTA - Indonesia's headline inflation eased to 3.39% y/y in September, following two straight months of acceleration. A pullback in volatile food inflation more than offset a pick-up in administered prices and core inflation.
SINGAPORE - How the gap in economic performance between the US and the rest of the world resolves itself is likely to be the defining feature of the remainder of 2019, according to ANZ Bank in its ANZ Research Quarterly.