China faces a tough battle to keep its economy growing by at least 6.5% over the next five years while creating more jobs and restructuring inefficient industries, Premier Li Keqiang said as he opened China's annual parliament.
Chinese shares traded higher on Tuesday morning after a fresh stimulus push from the central bank to boost liquidity. The mainland benchmark Shanghai Composite rose 0.3% to 2,696.96 points.
Bonds issued by Brazil's Petrobras ended one to two points higher on Monday as the beleaguered oil company eased refinancing pressure by clinching a US$10bn loan from China. The US$10bn loan from China Development Bank, which can be repaid in cash or oil, will do much to reduce refinancing risks for what is one of the world's most indebted companies.
China pulled off a defensive win at the Shanghai Group of 20 (G20) meeting of global finance leaders after months of angst abroad over its economic and policy direction. For starters, there was no specific concern over China in the communiqué released late Saturday.
As the soybean harvest gets under way in Brazil, analysts are having a clearer picture of whether the forecast record-setting crop will hit the century mark of 100 million tons despite hot and dry weather in Mato Grosso and northeastern Brazil as pods set and fill.
Chinese central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan has accused speculative forces of targeting the country's currency, the Yuan, and argued there was no reason for the Yuan to keep depreciating in value and that China would not let international speculators dominate market sentiment.
Activity in China's manufacturing sector contracted for the sixth month in a row in January - and hit its lowest level since 2012. According to the government's latest factory survey, the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed a reading of 49.4 for the month compared to December's reading of 49.7.
Seaweed exports from Chile reached 209 million dollars in the first nine months of the year, which is 16.4% below the same period in 2014.According to the latest Boletín de Exportaciones Pesqueras y de Acuicultura de Chile, (Fisheries and Aquaculture exports report) prepared by the Economy Department of the Fisheries Development Institute (IFOP), the contribution of these products to total income received from the sector's exports was 5%.
World Bank slashed its growth forecast for the global economy in 2016, citing “disappointing” growth in major emerging market economies like China and Brazil. The bank has cut its previous June forecast for global economic expansion in 2016 by 0.4 percentage point to 2.9%, though that is still faster than 2015's sluggish 2.4%, which itself missed an earlier prediction.
Mainland Chinese shares recovered early losses amid volatile swings, following Monday's suspension of trading which led to a global equities sell-off. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.8% at 3,324.27 after opening more than 3% lower, while the Hang Seng also changed direction to head up 0.1% to 21,342.09.