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China’s economy likely grew last year at its weakest rate in three decades, outside of the pandemic, according to an AFP survey of analysts ahead of official data on Monday.The world’s second-largest economy struggled to shore up its property market while boosting domestic consumption as Chinese exports to the key US market were crimped by Donald Trump’s tariffs.President Xi Jinping said last month that growth probably met an annual target of “around five percent” in 2025.Economists estimated a median figure of 4.9 percent, in what would be the weakest growth since 1990 when China was under Western sanctions after the deadly Tiananmen Square crackdown.The announcement will be “close enough for officials to declare victory” in meeting the roughly five-percent number, a “political comfort blanket” for Beijing, said Sarah Tan of Moody’s Analytics.But the composition of Chinese growth was “deeply uneven” and official figures “mask the weak sentiment on the ground”, she said.Analysts agreed the main problem was China’s property sector, which has failed to overcome a persistent debt crisis despite rate cuts and loosened restrictions on homebuying.House prices have risen slightly in some large cities but the broader market remains sluggish.”We see no sign of a near-term property sector bottoming out,” analysts from Goldman Sachs said.Without bolder measures like converting housing stock into affordable homes, the industry will remain unstable, analysts warned.- Waning investments -Investments in property and infrastructure likely took a hit last year.Official figures already show that fixed-asset investment slowed 2.6 percent between January and November, its sharpest rate since 2020.Larry Hu and Yuxiao Zhang of Macquarie Group attributed the decline to unannounced “data revisions” by Beijing, adding they did not expect policymakers to respond.Property investment could fall by 12 percent in 2026, they predicted.Tianchen Xu of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) also forecast a real-estate “correction” in 2026, adding: “This will remain a drag on growth.”Meanwhile, constraints on local government finances pushed a wider slowdown in manufacturing and infrastructure investment last year, Goldman Sachs analysts said.China’s outbound foreign direct investment continued to outpace inbound flows in recent quarters, they noted.- Too anxious to spend -Domestic spending is also cause for concern. Retail sales, a key indicator of consumption, grew at their slowest pace in nearly three years in November.Economists have long urged Beijing to move towards a growth model powered by consumption rather than exports and manufacturing.Excess supply remains an issue in manufacturing despite a government campaign last year to combat overcapacity and price cutting.China aims to become a global powerhouse in advanced manufacturing, but that promises little for domestic spending, according to Goldman Sachs analysts.”High-end manufacturing and frontier technology will not generate many jobs or lead to significantly higher incomes for average households, making only a limited contribution to private consumption,” they said.Chinese consumers remain jittery about the wider economy and high unemployment, even though officials have relaxed fiscal policy and subsidised the replacement of household items in a sputtering bid to boost spending.”That anxiety is shaping how households spend,” Tan said, noting that while domestic tourism rebounded to pre-pandemic levels last year, the average outlay per traveller was lower.- Minimal US impact -Robust exports have been a bright spot in the cloudy economic picture despite a bruising trade war with the United States that saw Trump slap steep tariffs on Chinese products.Official data showed Chinese exports to the United States plunged by 20 percent in 2025, but that had little impact on demand for Chinese products elsewhere.China’s trade surplus hit a record $1.2 trillion last year, with officials lauding a “new historical high” filled by other trade partners.”The trade war 2.0 didn’t impact China much, leading Beijing to refrain from implementing major stimulus measures,” said Hu and Zhang of Macquarie.Tan agreed that “exports are propping up the economy while consumers and property developers hang back”.But whether they continue to drive the economy in 2026 remains to be seen.Economists expect Beijing to reveal new stimulus measures — potentially at its annual parliamentary session in March — to address core challenges.”We think there will be a turnaround this year driven by policy support from fiscal and new financing policy tools,” said Erin Xin at HSBC.Xu, of the EIU, predicated that fiscal policy would be “expansionary by historical standards” for China to reach its growth target.Macquarie analysts, however, were more conservative, saying “the size of the stimulus package will largely depend on the magnitude of the export slowdown”.

The United States said Thursday that it has signed a deal with Taiwan to reduce tariffs on goods from the democratic island, while increasing Taiwanese semiconductor and tech companies’ investments in America.The agreement, the US Commerce Department said, “will drive a massive reshoring of America’s semiconductor sector.”Under the deal, Washington will lower tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15 percent, down from a 20 percent “reciprocal” rate meant to address US trade deficits and practices it deems unfair.Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai praised negotiators on Friday for “delivering a well-executed home run”.”These results underscore that the progress achieved so far has been hard-won,” Cho said.Sector-specific tariffs on Taiwanese auto parts, timber, lumber and wood products will also be capped at 15 percent, while generic pharmaceuticals and certain natural resources will face no “reciprocal” duties, the US Commerce Department added.Meanwhile, Taiwanese chip and tech businesses are set to make “new, direct investments totalling at least $250 billion” in the United States to build and expand capacity in areas like advanced semiconductors and artificial intelligence, the department said.Taiwan will also provide “credit guarantees of at least $250 billion to facilitate additional investment by Taiwanese enterprises,” the department said adding that this would support the growth of the US semiconductor supply chain.Taiwan’s government said the new tariff will not stack on top of existing duties, which had been a major concern for local industries.”Of course it’s good that the reciprocal tariff has been lowered to 15 percent — at least it puts us on par with our main competitors South Korea and Japan,” said Chris Wu, sales director for Taiwanese machine tool maker Litz Hitech Corp. But, given the company’s single-digit profit margins, “there is no way we can absorb the tariff” for US customers, he said. The department’s announcement did not mention names, but the deal has key implications for Taiwanese chipmaking titan TSMC, the world’s biggest contract maker of microchips used in everything from Apple phones to Nvidia’s cutting-edge AI hardware.In an interview with CNBC, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said TSMC has bought land and could expand in Arizona as part of the deal.”They just bought hundreds of acres adjacent to their property. Now I’m going to let them go through it with their board and give them time,” he said.TSMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Taiwanese producers who invest in the United States will also be treated more favorably when it comes to future semiconductor duties, the Commerce Department said.Firms building new US chip capacity may import up to 2.5 times their planned capacity without paying sector-specific duties during construction. The quota lowers to 1.5 times once projects are completed.A day prior, US officials held off imposing wider chip tariffs, instead announcing a 25 percent duty on certain semiconductors meant to be shipped abroad — a key step in allowing Nvidia to sell advanced AI chips to China.Ryan Majerus, a former US trade official, told AFP that although chip tariffs are currently narrowly targeted, Washington “signaled there is certainly potential for it to grow.”Majerus, now a partner at law firm King & Spalding, added that the deal had parallels to those with other US partners. The European Union and Japan, for example, both also secured a 15-percent tariff rate.- ‘Self-sufficient’ -“The objective is to bring 40 percent of Taiwan’s entire supply chain and production, to domestically bring it into America,” Lutnick told CNBC.”We’re going to bring it all over, so we become self-sufficient in the capacity of building semiconductors,” he added.The agreement comes after months of negotiations.Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te had pledged to boost investments in the United States and increase defense spending as his government tried to lower US duties, and avoid a toll on its semiconductor chip exports.Taiwan is a powerhouse in the manufacturing of semiconductor chips, which are the lifeblood of the global economy, as well as other electronics.But US President Donald Trump previously accused Taiwan of stealing the US chip industry, and his administration had made clear it wants more of the critical technology made on American soil.Taiwan’s trade surplus in goods with the United States was around $74 billion in 2024. More than half of its exports to the United States are information and communications technology products — including semiconductors.

Germany’s economy eked out meagre growth in 2025 and dodged a third straight year of recession, data showed Thursday, but Europe’s languishing industrial powerhouse still faces huge challenges to return to long-term health.Battered by an energy shock triggered by the Ukraine war, a manufacturing slump and weakening demand in the key Chinese market, the world’s third-biggest economy shrank in both 2023 and 2024.Despite the shock of last year’s US tariffs blitz, the German economy returned to growth with a modest expansion of 0.2 percent, helped by higher government and household spending, according to statistics agency Destastis. But another year of falling exports weighed on Europe’s top economy, the agency’s chief Ruth Brand said. “Germany’s export business faced strong headwinds owing to higher US tariffs, the appreciation of the euro and increased competition from China,” she said.The preliminary GDP reading was in line with a government forecast. For the final quarter of 2025, the agency estimated that the economy grew 0.2 percent from the third quarter. – Merz under pressure -A return to growth could offer some relief to Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who took power last May vowing to revive the economy but has faced mounting criticism that efforts are moving too slowly.In a speech Wednesday, Merz conceded that “the situation of the German economy at the beginning of 2026 is very critical in many areas”.”Our economy is not competitive enough… Productivity in Germany has been at a consistently low level for ten years. We need to change that,” he said.Merz is betting on a public spending spree on defence and infrastructure to get the economy moving again, with the government’s latest projection in October forecasting growth this year will reach 1.3 percent. But after an initial burst of optimism last year, doubts have set in about whether his governing coalition can get to grips with the problems.The German central bank and several institutes have recently lowered growth forecasts and cautioned the government risks wasting much of the extra money that it borrows and is neglecting much-needed reforms.”A number of measures are still needed to help the economy out of its structural crisis in the long term and make Germany an attractive business location again,” Timo Wollmershaeuser, the Ifo institute’s head of forecasts, told AFP.- ‘Deepest crisis’ since WWII -Last month the Federation of German Industries issued a stark warning that the export-driven economy was suffering its “deepest crisis” since the aftermath of World War II, and that the government was failing to respond “decisively”.Appeals for help have increasingly come from the country’s traditional big industries, from automakers to factory equipment manufacturers and chemical giants, and 2025 was marked by a steady drumbeat of industrial job losses.Output in the manufacturing sector declined for the third straight year in 2025, dropping 1.3 percent from 2024, though the fall was less pronounced than in the previous two years, Destatis said.The key auto and mechanical engineering industries were hit especially hard as they “faced stronger competition on global sales markets”, it said.Adding to the headwinds were US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, an especially heavy blow for Germany as the United States is the country’s top export market.China, long a major market for German exporters, also proved a challenging environment as demand has been weakening due to a prolonged slowdown, while many Chinese firms have emerged as rivals to German heavyweights.Destastis noted it was a “turbulent year” for Germany’s foreign trade, with exports falling 0.3 percent, the third straight year of contraction.Merz has sought to defend his government’s record, pointing to relief measures such as a reduction in industrial energy costs, and said Wednesday that new firms were creating jobs lost in traditional industries.”We are seeing a large number of young companies being founded,” he said.

Oil slid Thursday after US President Donald Trump appeared to dial down threats of imminent military action on Iran, while Asian markets were mixed after Wall Street edged lower the previous day.Oil prices dropped three percent after Trump said Wednesday he would “watch it and see” on possible intervention in the Islamic republic, after he said he was told the killings of protesters there had stopped.Crude prices had surged over recent days as Trump talked about coming to the aid of the Iranian people over the crackdown on demonstrations, sparking concerns over possible disruption to global supplies.Silver plunged as much as seven percent after hitting a record high above $93.75 an ounce, after Trump held off slapping tariffs on critical minerals. Gold also dipped.”The swings in commodities highlight the extreme volatility being fed by President Trump’s mercurial policy style,” said Garfield Reynolds, Markets Live Asia Team Leader at Bloomberg.But “so far the declines for raw materials are still too small to seriously dent this year’s substantial rallies”, he said.”There’s plenty of potential that investors will be itching to pile back into commodities assets given how often they’ve bounced back to fresh highs following occasional corrections in recent weeks,” Reynolds added.Tokyo was down 0.4 percent at the close, cooling off after gains fuelled by speculation that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi would call an election to capitalise on strong public approval ratings.Takaichi’s ruling party and a coalition partner said Wednesday she intends to dissolve parliament next week for a snap election, seen as a chance to push through her ambitious policy agenda.Sydney, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila and Singapore posted gains, while Wellington, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur were down.Shanghai and Hong Kong closed 0.3 percent down and Taipei ended 0.4 percent lower.After the closing bell, Taiwanese chipmaking titan TSMC said net profit for the fourth quarter jumped 35 percent year-on-year, beating forecasts as demand for artificial intelligence skyrockets.London opened on a 0.1 percent high as official data showed Britain’s economy grew more than expected in November.- South Korean won slides -Traders were also watching South Korea — with Seoul up 1.5 percent — as the won’s exchange rate slid towards its weakest level in 16 years.In a rare mention, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that the won’s depreciation was “not in line with Korea’s strong economic fundamentals” and that volatility in the foreign exchange market is “undesirable”.The won gained as much as one percent after Bessent’s comments, which he posted on social media after meeting Seoul’s finance minister Koo Yun-cheol in Washington.”Bessent’s comments can support the won in the near term, but markets may have more influence if they feel the fundamentals and politics are still in a worsening trajectory,” said Brendan McKenna, a strategist at Wells Fargo in New York.The mixed picture in Asia came after Wall Street stocks fell again Wednesday as investors shrugged off solid bank earnings and an increase in retail sales in November.Analysts noted investor unease about possible US interventions in Iran and Greenland, and Trump’s threats to Federal Reserve autonomy, most recently in the Department of Justice’s criminal probe of the central bank.- Key figures at around 0800 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 54,110.50 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 26,924.24 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 4,112.60 (close)West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 3.4 percent at $59.94 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 3.4 percent at $64.23 per barrelEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1630 from $1.1647 on WednesdayPound/dollar: FLAT at $1.3433Dollar/yen: FLAT at 158.56 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.58 pence from 86.68 penceNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 49,149.63 points (close)London – UP 0.1 percent at 10,197.73

Taiwanese chipmaking titan TSMC announced Thursday a forecast-busting net profit for the fourth quarter in a sign of sustained global demand for artificial intelligence technology.TSMC is the world’s biggest contract maker of microchips used in everything from Apple phones to Nvidia’s cutting-edge AI hardware.The company has been a massive beneficiary of the AI revolution that has seen tech giants pour many billions of dollars into chips, servers and data centres.Some market-watchers fear the bubble of excitement around AI could burst and cause a stock rout, but TSMC’s results marked the latest high point for the firm.”Our conviction in the multi-year AI mega trend remains strong, and we believe the demand for semiconductors will continue to be very fundamental,” TSMC chairman CC Wei said.”By expanding our global footprint while continuing to invest in Taiwan, TSMC can continue to be the trusted technology and capacity provider of the global logic industry for years to come.”TSMC said net profit for the three months to December increased 35 percent year-on-year to NT$505.7 billion ($16 billion), beating the NT$466.69 billion forecast by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.Net revenue for the fourth quarter rose 20.5 percent from a year ago to NT$1.05 trillion, TSMC said, also beating expectations.TSMC — a bellwether for AI investment — expects capital spending to reach as high as $56 billion in 2026. – US pressure -Taiwan is a powerhouse in the manufacturing of semiconductor chips, which are the lifeblood of the global economy, as well as other electronics.The strong results came after Taipei said it had reached a “general consensus” with the United States on a trade deal that the island hopes will reduce its current 20 percent tariff and shield its semiconductor industry from levies.Taiwan has previously vowed to increase investment in the United States, purchase more US energy and boost defence spending in a bid to head off US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.The US government launched investigations under Section 232 into semiconductors and chipmaking equipment last year. Section 232 refers to part of the US Trade Expansion Act that allows tariffs to be imposed when national security is found to be at risk.Trump signed an order Wednesday imposing a 25 percent tariff on semiconductors that are “transshipped through the United States to other foreign countries” — enabling the government to take a cut from chips sold to China.Taiwan has been under pressure to move more chip production to US soil. TSMC pledged last year to invest an additional US$100 billion in the United States.But Trump’s administration has made clear it wants more of the critical technology made in the United States.TSMC’s global expansion along with “new investments, specialty technologies and inflationary costs” were contributing to “cost challenges”, chief financial officer Wendell Huang warned.Despite US pressure and the constant threat of invasion from China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory, the island plans to keep making the “most advanced” chips on home ground, Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Chih-chung Wu told AFP recently.

China’s top diplomat said Thursday that a visit by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to Beijing marked a “turning point” in the two countries’ long acrimonious relationship.The first visit by a Canadian leader to Beijing in eight years was a “turning point and symbol for the relationship between two countries”, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement, according to a readout.”The leaders of the two countries will hold meetings and talks, which I believe will open up new prospects for bilateral relations,” he added.Carney, who has also said ties between the two sides are shifting, is meeting with top Chinese leaders in Beijing on Thursday, as he pulls away from traditional ally the United States.Following President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs on Canadian products, Carney has sought to reduce his country’s economic reliance on its main market, the United States.Video from Chinese state media showed Carney arriving in Beijing for his four-day state visit late Wednesday evening to a red carpet welcome.He is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, among other government and business leaders for trade talks.Ties between the two nations withered in 2018, when Canada arrested the daughter of Huawei’s founder on a US warrant, and China’s retaliatory detention of two Canadians on espionage charges.- ‘Right track’ -The two countries imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s exports in the years that ensued, with China also being accused of interfering in Canada’s elections.Caught in the tariffs crossfire were Chinese electric vehicles along with Canadian canola oil and other agricultural goods.The last time Chinese and Canadian leaders formally met was when then prime minister Justin Trudeau visited Beijing in 2017.But there have been signs of warming ties under Carney, who met Xi on the sidelines of an APEC summit in October.China has shown a willingness to rekindle the relationship, with Xi telling Carney after their meeting that it has “shown a recovery” towards “the right track”.Officials from the two countries have been in talks to lower tariffs, but an agreement has yet to be reached.Beijing, meanwhile, said this week it “attaches high importance” to Carney’s visit.- Pivot from US -Ottawa has traditionally been hawkish towards Beijing, positioning itself in alliance with the United States.But Canada has been hit especially hard by Trump’s steep tariffs on steel, aluminium, vehicles and lumber, prompting a change of heart.In October, Carney said Canada should double its non-US exports by 2035 to reduce reliance on the United States.But the United States remains far and away its largest market, buying around 75 percent of Canadian exports in 2024, according to Canadian government statistics.While Ottawa has stressed that China is Canada’s second-largest market, it lags far behind, buying less than four percent of Canadian exports in 2024.Carney will be looking to raise that figure, with his office saying the visit aims to “elevate engagement on trade, energy, agriculture, and international security”.

A “shadow fleet” of 19 tankers suspected of smuggling oil for Russia and Iran was flagged by New Zealand with Cook Islands authorities in 2024, according to a confidential list obtained by AFP.The small Pacific island is home to a flourishing international shipping registry, allowing foreign vessels to sail under its flag for a modest fee of a few thousand dollars.There is mounting evidence the archipelago has become a haven for foreign smugglers, who sail under the Cook Islands flag to escape scrutiny as they flout Western sanctions.New Zealand officials in 2024 compiled a list of 19 tankers — or “vessels of concern” — that had been registered to the Cook Islands in recent years.The list included the Arabesca, a crude oil tanker that frequently calls at Russian ports in the Baltic Sea.The Arabesca was in 2025 blacklisted by the UK, Canada, Switzerland and the European Union for smuggling Russian oil.Also named in New Zealand’s list was a ship called the Maruti, a chemical tanker often seen sailing through the Persian Gulf.The Maruti transported “hundreds of thousands of barrels” of Iranian naptha fuel while sailing under the Cook Islands’ flag in 2025, according to a US sanctions notice published in December.Both the Arabesca and the Maruti have since been deleted from the Cook Islands’ shipping registry.The Cook Islands has apparently brushed off New Zealand’s concerns about some other vessels.Of the 19 ships singled out by New Zealand in 2024, seven remained registered to the Cook Islands as of mid-January this year.This included tankers the Bonetta and the Ocean Wave, which are suspected by the United States of hauling crude oil from Iran.AFP could not reach the owners of the Arabesca, Maruti, Bonetta and Ocean Wave for comment.New Zealand’s list, released to AFP under freedom of information laws, was raised with Cook Islands through diplomatic channels in 2024. – Shadow fleet -Western sanctions aim to curb Iran and Russia cashing in on oil sales, limiting funding for Tehran’s nuclear programme or Moscow’s war machine.New Zealand alleges the Cook Islands has been exploited by transnational maritime smuggling networks known as the “shadow fleet”.By registering in places such as the Cook Islands — where they are subject to less stringent checks — shadow fleet ships can disguise themselves as legitimate vessels.Often the shipping registries are unaware of the ship’s true purpose.Cook Islands’ links to sanctions evasion are a source of potential embarrasment to New Zealand, which once governed the Pacific nation of some 15,000 people.New Zealand remains the Cook Islands’ closest diplomatic partner and still has a constitutional responsibility to help with foreign affairs and defence.”New Zealand has raised serious concerns directly with the Cook Islands government about the management of its shipping registry, including the flagging of shadow fleet vessels,” New Zealand’s foreign affairs department said.Former Royal New Zealand Navy officer Mark Douglas said some 150 foreign tankers were registered in the Cook Islands at its busiest point in 2024.”It certainly seemed at its peak that it was ‘pay to play’,” said Douglas, now an analyst for Starboard Maritime Intelligence.”If you turned up with some good paperwork and the cheque cleared, you were able to get the Cook Islands’ flag.”Cook Islands had since de-registered many of the most dubious vessels, Douglas said, but there were “some left that have question marks over them”.The UN-backed International Maritime Organisation currently lists 40 tankers registered to the Cook Islands.The Cook Islands offers what is known as a “flag of convenience”.This means foreign ship owners can pay to sail under the flag without ever setting foot on the archipelago, halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii.”Many shadow fleet vessels use flags of convenience from countries that are either less inclined or unable to enforce Western sanctions,” notes a European Parliament briefing from 2024.The Cook Islands was one of the “top countries whose flags are used by shadow tankers transporting Russian crude oil”, according to the report.- Growing fast -Shipping journal Lloyd’s List in 2024 crowned Maritime Cook Islands the “fastest growing registry” in the world.While Cook Islands’ fees are opaque, the revenue generated by shipping licenses is modest.Cook Islands budget documents estimate shipping registrations will bring in around US$50,000 this year.Maritime Cook Islands did not reply to a request for comment.The shipping registry has previously denied that it failed to conduct appropriate checks.”The Cook Islands register has never harboured sanctioned vessels,” Maritime Cook Islands told AFP in November last year.”Any sanctioned vessels are deleted.”

Oil and precious metals slid Thursday after US President Donald Trump appeared to dial down threats of imminent military action on Iran, while Asian markets were mixed after Wall Street edged lower the previous day.Oil prices dropped three percent after Trump said Wednesday he would “watch it and see” on possible intervention in the Islamic republic, after he said he had been told the killings of protesters there had stopped.Crude prices had surged over recent days as Trump talked about coming to the aid of the Iranian people over the crackdown on protests, sparking concerns over possible disruption to global supplies.Gold and silver also dipped on the news.Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, Wellington, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur fell on Thursday, while Sydney, Seoul, Bangkok and Manila posted minimal gains.The mixed picture in Asia came after Wall Street stocks fell again Wednesday as investors shrugged off solid bank earnings and US data, which showed a 0.6 percent increase in retail sales in November.Analysts noted investor unease about possible US inverventions in Iran and Greenland, and Trump’s threats to Federal Reserve autonomy, most recently in the Department of Justice’s criminal probe of the central bank.Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital Management also pointed to Trump’s proposed 10 percent interest rate cap on credit cards as an unwelcome wildcard that has added to a broader sense of unpredictability.Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court held off a widely-anticipated ruling Wednesday on the legality of Trump’s sweeping tariffs.- South Korean won slides -Traders were also watching South Korea as the won’s exchange rate slid towards its weakest level in 16 years.In a rare mention, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that the won’s depreciation was “not in line with Korea’s strong economic fundamentals” and that volatility in the foreign exchange market is “undesirable”.The won gained as much as one percent after Bessent’s comments, which he posted on social media after meeting Seoul’s finance minister Koo Yun-cheol in Washington. “Bessent’s comments can support the won in the near term, but markets may have more influence if they feel the fundamentals and politics are still in a worsening trajectory,” said Brendan McKenna, a strategist at Wells Fargo in New York.Tokyo was down 0.8 percent, cooling off after gains fuelled by speculation that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi would call an election to capitalise on strong public approval ratings.Takaichi’s ruling party and a coalition partner said Wednesday she intends to dissolve parliament next week for a snap election.Takaichi’s cabinet approved a record 122.3-trillion-yen ($768 billion) budget for the fiscal year from April 2026, and she has vowed to get parliamentary approval as soon as possible to address inflation and shore up the world’s fourth-largest economy.- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0 percent at 53,820.46 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.1 percent at 26,962.88Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 4,116.605West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 3.0 percent at $60.16 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 3.0 percent at $64.58 per barrelEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1640 from $1.1647 on WednesdayPound/dollar: FLAT at $1.3432 from $1.3433Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.52 yen from 158.56 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.65 pence from 86.68 penceNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 49,149.63 points (close)London – UP 0.5 percent at 10,184.35 (close)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is meeting with top Chinese leaders in Beijing on Thursday, hoping to repair a long acrimonious relationship as he pulls away from traditional ally the United States.Carney is the first Canadian leader to visit China in eight years and has said the two countries are at a “turning point” in their strained relations.Following President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs on Canadian products, Carney has sought to reduce his country’s economic reliance on its main market, the United States.Video from Chinese state media showed Carney arriving in Beijing for his four-day state visit late Wednesday evening to a red carpet welcome.He is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, among other government and business leaders for trade talks.Ties between the two nations withered in 2018, when Canada arrested the daughter of Huawei’s founder on a US warrant, and China’s retaliatory detention of two Canadians on espionage charges.- ‘Right track’ -The two countries imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s exports in the years that ensued, with China also being accused of interfering in Canada’s elections.Caught in the tariffs crossfire were Chinese electric vehicles along with Canadian canola oil and other agricultural goods.The last time Chinese and Canadian leaders formally met was when then prime minister Justin Trudeau visited Beijing in 2017.But there have been signs of warming ties under Carney, who met Xi on the sidelines of an APEC summit in October.China has shown a willingness to rekindle the relationship, with Xi telling Carney after their meeting that it has “shown a recovery” towards “the right track”.Officials from the two countries have been in talks to lower tariffs, but an agreement has yet to be reached.Beijing, meanwhile, said this week it “attaches high importance” to Carney’s visit.- Pivot from US -Ottawa has traditionally been hawkish towards Beijing, positioning itself in alliance with the United States.But Canada has been hit especially hard by Trump’s steep tariffs on steel, aluminium, vehicles and lumber, prompting a change of heart.In October, Carney said Canada should double its non-US exports by 2035 to reduce reliance on the United States.But the United States remains far and away its largest market, buying around 75 percent Canadian exports in 2024, according to Canadian government statistics.While Ottawa has stressed that China is Canada’s second-largest market, it lags far behind, buying less than four percent of Canadian exports in 2024.Carney will be looking to raise that figure, with his office saying the visit aims to “elevate engagement on trade, energy, agriculture, and international security”.

Wall Street stocks fell again Wednesday as investors shrugged off solid bank earnings and US data while oil prices jumped on rising tensions between Washington and Tehran.Executives with Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo described US consumers as resilient while releasing a batch of generally good earnings with no major bombshells.But shares of all three banks fell decisively.The broader market was also not buoyed by US data for November that showed a 0.6 percent increase in retail sales, topping expectations.Major indices spent most of the day firmly in the red, with the S&P 500 closing down 0.5 percent.”Investor attitudes are changing,” said Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital Management. “Some negativity is creeping in.”Ablin described investor unease about President Donald Trump’s threats to Federal Reserve autonomy, most recently in the Department of Justice’s criminal probe of the central bank. He also pointed to Trump’s proposed 10 percent interest rate cap on credit cards as an unwelcome wildcard that has added to a broader sense of unpredictability.There’s “uncertainty around these capricious policies and markets are already expensive,” Ablin said.Other topics that have dominated headlines include Trump’s ambitions to take over Greenland that have raised worry in Europe and a rise in rhetoric between the United States and Iran over the latter’s handling of protests.The latter issue helped propel oil prices about 1.5 percent higher.Iran warned the United States that it was capable of responding to any attack, as Washington appeared to be pulling personnel out of a base that Iran targeted in a strike last year.”Traders are closely watching the political unrest in Iran and possible US intervention, which could threaten disruption to the country’s…oil production,” said Helge Andre Martinsen, senior energy analyst at DNB Carnegie.In European stocks trading London set a fresh all-time high thanks to gains in mining stocks, but Frankfurt and Paris slid lower. Asian stock markets mostly gained.Tokyo shares jumped by 1.5 percent while the yen slumped to its lowest value since mid-2024 amid media reports that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi planned to hold an election as soon as February 8.Takaichi’s cabinet — riding high in opinion polls — has approved a record 122.3-trillion-yen ($768 billion) budget for the fiscal year from April 2026.She has vowed to get parliamentary approval as soon as possible to address inflation and shore up the world’s fourth-largest economy.On the corporate front, British energy giant BP revealed a write-down of up to $5 billion linked to its energy transition efforts that will be reflected in the company’s upcoming annual results.Its share price traded lower most of the day but closed the day with a gain of 1.5 percent.- Key figures at around 2115 GMT -Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.6 percent at $66.52 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.4 percent at $62.02 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 49,124.17 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.7 percent at 6,917.81New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 1.1 percent at 23,440.38London – FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 10,184.35 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,330.97 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 25,286.24 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.5 percent at 54,341.23 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 26,999.81 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 4,126.09 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1647 from $1.1641 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3433 from $1.3465Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.56 yen from 158.14 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.68 pence from 86.64 penceburs-jmb/sla