Reuters Asia Business

(Reuters) – The Biden administration is examining Nippon Steel’s connection to China, in relation to the Japanese company’s planned deal to acquire American rival United States Steel, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The administration sees its priority as protecting U.S. industry and is worried about Nippon Steel’s exposure to …

Japan’s Nippon Steel China assets under scrutiny over US Steel deal, Bloomberg reports Read More »

By Leika Kihara and Takahiko Wada TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan may exit negative interest rates as soon as March if this year’s wage negotiations result in bumper pay hikes exceeding 4%, former central bank board member Makoto Sakurai said on Thursday. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has said this year’s annual wage talks, …

BOJ may end negative rates in March if strong wage hikes seen, says ex-policymaker Read More »

By Akash Sriram (Reuters) – A global slowdown in electric-vehicle demand is rippling through the industry, costing jobs and leading to changes in strategic plans, layoffs and production cuts, suggesting pain in the near term could slow the transition away from gasoline-powered combustion engines. On Thursday, German luxury carmaker Mercedes toned down expectations on EV …

EV sector grapples with layoffs, production cuts and altered plans Read More »

By Yuvraj Malik (Reuters) -Grab Holdings reported its first quarterly profit on Thursday and unveiled a maiden share repurchase program, but the ride-share and food-delivery firm’s weak annual sales forecast fanned growth worries and weighed on its shares. While the Singapore-based company’s ride-share growth hit pre-pandemic levels in 2023, its food-delivery services is rebounding from …

Grab forecasts weak 2024 revenue after profitable quarter, buyback plan Read More »

By Joe Cash, Ellen Zhang and Liangping Gao BEIJING (Reuters) -As the annual meeting of China’s parliament approaches next month, its leaders are facing the greatest pressure in almost a decade to take bold policy decisions that safeguard the economy’s long-term growth potential. The start of the year saw Chinese stocks tumbling to five-year lows …

Pressure grows on China for big policy moves to fix economy Read More »

By Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) – Shell will exit a South Korean floating offshore wind project, it said on Thursday, the energy firm’s latest retreat from the nascent sector as it focuses on more profitable businesses. Shell has agreed to sell its 80% stake in the 1.25 gigawatt MunmuBaram project off the coast of Ulsan …

Shell extends retreat from floating offshore wind with South Korea exit Read More »

By Phuong Nguyen and Harshita Mary Varghese HANOI (Reuters) -Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) maker VinFast on Thursday said its fourth-quarter net loss deepened 3.4% from the previous three months but it aims to nearly triple vehicle sales this year as it expands into new markets. VinFast’s net losses in the final quarter of 2023 reached …

VinFast loss widens in Q4, confident of achieving 2024 sales goals Read More »

By Josh Ye HONG KONG (Reuters) -China’s Lenovo Group, the world’s largest maker of personal computers (PCs), reported stronger-than-expected earnings on Thursday, with revenue returning to growth after five quarters of decline amid a post-COVID-19 slowdown. It said October-December revenue rose 3% from the same period a year prior to $15.72 billion. Analysts polled by …

China’s Lenovo posts revenue growth after five quarters of decline Read More »