Reuters Asia Business

HONG KONG (Reuters) – HSBC Holdings said on Thursday it will cut its best lending rate in Hong Kong by 12.5 basis points to 5.25% from 5.375%, effective Dec. 20. That followed a 25 basis points cut in the base rate charged through the overnight discount window of the city’s de facto central bank. (Reporting …

HSBC to cut best lending rate in Hong Kong by 12.5 bps to 5.25% Read More »

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s potential economic growth rate is estimated to have fallen to around 2% and is projected to fall further below 1% by the late 2040s due to a lack of innovation and inefficient resource allocation, the central bank said on Thursday. The Bank of Korea (BOK) estimated in an analysis that …

South Korea potential growth rate estimated around 2%, central bank says Read More »

(Reuters) – Chinese electric vehicle battery maker CATL is considering a Hong Kong listing that could raise at least $5 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. CATL is talking with potential advisers, and a listing might happen as soon as the first half of 2025, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Discussions …

CATL mulls Hong Kong listing to raise at least $5 billion, Bloomberg News reports Read More »

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady on Thursday, underscoring policymakers’ preference to spend more time scrutinising whether wage hikes will broaden and keep inflation durably around its 2% target. As widely expected, the board decided to keep the BOJ’s short-term policy rate unchanged at 0.25% by an 8-1 vote, with …

BOJ keeps rates steady by 8-1 vote, board member Tamura dissents Read More »

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s financial regulator on Thursday asked local banks to consider flexibly adjusting the maturity of foreign exchange transactions and loans for companies amid heightened volatility in the currency market. That would help ease demand for dollars and stabilise the dollar-won rate, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement. (Reporting by …

South Korea regulator asks banks to adjust FX loans to help stabilise market Read More »

By Jamie McGeever (Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets.  The Federal Reserve has spoken, and as far as investors are concerned, the message was clear – clearly hawkish. Now it’s over to the Bank of Japan and Bank of England, the two biggest and most important of the clutch of …

Morning Bid: Fed’s ‘hawkish cut’ slams markets, BOJ up next Read More »