Oil traded in a narrow range as the US eased crude sanctions against Venezuela, potentially aiding global supply, while traders tracked tensions in the Middle East that may ignite a region-wide conflagration.
Foreign investors are returning to Thailand’s bonds after a rout drove yields to the highest in nine years.
The Philippines is pushing to bolster defense ties with the US and Japan amid the Southeast Asian nation’s lingering territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea.
Australia’s central bank does not need a “revolution,” opposition Treasury Spokesman Angus Taylor said, as the government prepares legislation to underpin an overhaul of the institution.
Australia’s central bank reported a smaller accounting loss in the past fiscal year, while its negative equity ballooned due to valuation losses triggered by a surge in government bond yields.
The Bank of Japan may scrap negative interest rates by the end of this year to adjust the currently excessive level of monetary easing, according to a former BOJ board member.
Delegates from developing nations are leaving meetings in China this week with grand promises of aid for green energy projects, though there are few concrete projects so far.
Asia is emerging as the key catalyst for growth in carbon trading, though the region’s markets currently cover only a fraction of emissions that account for half the world’s total.
Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong warned of the risk of market jitters stemming from the Israel-Hamas conflict after the central bank stood pat on interest rates while monitoring developments in inflation, household debt and the Middle East.
The US suspended sanctions on Venezuelan oil, gas and gold production after four years and lifted some restrictions on bond trading, expressing confidence that strongman President Nicolas Maduro is ready to take on all challengers in an open election.
