East Asia Tonight - Thu 29 May 2025
48:59 Min
Spotlight on East Asia, a region steeped in history and now helping to write the future of our world. We'll break down the key stories and explain why they matter.
East Asia Tonight
About the show:
'East Asia Tonight' shines a spotlight on a region steeped in history and now helping to write the future of our world. Greater China, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula have economic and political might, and are major drivers of daily news and business. We'll break down the key stories and explain why they matter.
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CNA
9 hours ago
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Asian shares creep higher, dollar languishes before ECB
TOKYO : Shares in Asia crept higher and the U.S. dollar languished ahead of the European Central Bank offering its policy outlook for a tumultuous global economy. The dollar slid in the previous session after weak U.S. jobs and services data, with more weighty employment data due on Friday. Damage to the U.S. economy is becoming more apparent from President Donald Trump's erratic tariff action, while bilateral deals remain unrealised. Canada prepared possible reprisals against the imposition of new U.S. metals tariffs while the European Union reported progress in trade talks with Washington. Against that backdrop, market watchers considered the ECB almost certain to cut policy interest rates so will pay greater attention to what bank President Christine Lagarde signals about future decisions. "There's uncertainty about the guidance the central bank will deliver given the murky outlook for U.S. trade policy and global growth," said Kyle Rodda, a senior financial market analyst at "A failure to deliver sufficiently dovish guidance could upset the equity markets as well as give the euro upward trend additional momentum." Trump's doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports became effective on Wednesday, hitting Canada and Mexico in particular. The same day, his administration sought "best offers" from trading partners to stop other import levies taking effect in July. Japan is sending key trade negotiator Ryosei Akaza to the U.S. on Thursday for another round of talks. Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, is also due to head to Washington. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.7 per cent in early trade, whereas Japan's Nikkei stock index slid 0.2 per cent. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was flat at 98.85 after a 0.5 per cent slide on Wednesday. The dollar rose 0.1 per cent against the yen to 142.92. The euro was flat at $1.1416 after a 0.4 per cent gain in the trading previous session. Gold pared gains from the previous day while oil slipped after a build in U.S. inventories and Saudi Arabia's cut to its July prices for Asian crude buyers. Spot gold edged 0.1 per cent lower to $3,372.7 per ounce. U.S. crude dipped 0.2 per cent to $62.75 a barrel. The pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed while U.S. stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, were down 0.1 per cent.
CNA
9 hours ago
- CNA
Oil slips on US stockpile build, Saudi Arabia price cuts
TOKYO : Oil prices slipped in early trade on Thursday after a build in U.S. gasoline and diesel inventories and Saudi Arabia's cut to its July prices for Asian crude buyers. Brent crude futures fell 21 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $64.65 a barrel at 0047 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 29 cents, or 0.5 per cent, dropping to $62.58. Oil prices closed around 1 per cent lower on Wednesday after official data showed that U.S. gasoline and distillate stockpiles grew more than expected, reflecting weaker demand in the world's top economy. [EIA/S] Adding to the weakness, Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, cut its July prices for Asian crude buyers to nearly the lowest in four years. The price cut by Saudi Arabia, key oil producer within OPEC+ - the oil producing group that includes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia - follows the OPEC+ move over the weekend to increase output by 411,000 barrels per day for July. The strategy of OPEC+ group leaders Saudi Arabia and Russia is partly to punish over-producers and to wrestle back market share, Reuters has reported. Meanwhile, Canada prepared possible reprisals and the European Union reported progress in trade talks as new U.S. metals tariffs triggered more disruption in the global economy and added urgency to negotiations with Washington. "Uncertainty fuelled by President Trump's shifting stance on tariffs has intensified fears of a global economic slowdown," analyst Ole Hansen at Saxo Bank said in a note.
CNA
12 hours ago
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Japan April real wages slump for fourth month as inflation bites
TOKYO :Japanese real wages fell for a fourth consecutive month in April, eroded by stubborn inflation that has continued to outpace pay hikes delivered so far by companies, government data showed on Thursday. The wage data adds to concerns about Japan's growth outlook at a time U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs stir uncertainty about the global economy. Japanese policymakers and analysts are concerned global trade tensions may offset the pay hike momentum and complicate the Bank of Japan's efforts to normalise monetary policy. Inflation-adjusted real wages, a key determinant of households' purchasing power, slumped 1.8 per cent in April from a year earlier after a revised 1.8 per cent drop in March and 1.5 per cent fall in February, labour ministry data showed. The consumer inflation rate the ministry uses to calculate real wages, which includes fresh food prices but not rent costs, eased slightly to 4.1 per cent year-on-year in April from 4.2 per cent in March but stayed around 4 per cent for five months in a row. "While wages are steadily rising, prices remain high," said a labour ministry official. Regular pay, or base salary, rose 2.2 per cent in April, the fastest pace in four months. Overtime pay edged up 0.8 per cent, reversing a decline in March, while special payments grew 4.1 per cent. Total average cash earnings, or nominal pay, increased 2.3 per cent to 302,453 yen ($2,098.04) in April, the same as a revised increase in March. Major Japanese firms on average agreed to more than 5 per cent pay hikes during annual spring wage talks in March. While some of those were already implemented in April, the labour ministry official said the newly agreed pay hikes would be gradually reflected in future wage data. ($1 = 144.1600 yen)
