Japan April factory output falls 0.9% month-on-month
TOKYO, May 30 (Reuters) - Japan's factory output fell in April by 0.9% from the previous month, better than a median market forecast for a 1.4% drop, government data showed on Friday.
Manufacturers surveyed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expect seasonally adjusted output to increase 9.0% in May and decline 3.4% in June.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
South Korea goes to the polls to elect new president after Yoon crisis
Millions of South Koreans are voting for a new president in a snap election triggered by the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, a conservative who now faces an explosive trial on rebellion charges over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December. Pre-election surveys suggested Yoon's liberal arch-rival, Lee Jae-myung, appeared headed for an easy win, riding on deep public frustration over the conservatives in the wake of Yoon's martial law debacle. The main conservative candidate, Kim Moon Soo, has struggled to win over moderate, swing voters as his People Power Party remains in a quagmire of internal feuding over how to view Yoon's actions. The election serves as another defining moment in the country's resilient democracy, but observers worry a domestic divide worsened by Yoon is far from over and could pose a big political burden on the new president. The past six months saw large crowds of people rallying in the streets to either denounce or support Yoon, while a leadership vacuum caused by Yoon's impeachment and ensuing formal dismissal rattled the country's high-level diplomatic activities and financial markets. The winning candidate will immediately be sworn in as president Wednesday for a single, full term of five years without the typical two-month transition period. The new president will face major challenges including a slowing economy, President Donald Trump's America-first policies and North Korea's evolving nuclear threats. The election commission says voting began at 6am at 14,295 polling stations nationwide that will close at 8pm. Observers say the winner could emerge as early as midnight. More than 15 million people already have cast ballots during a two-day early voting period last week, accounting for nearly 35% of the country's 44.4 million eligible voters. In his final campaign speeches Monday, Lee promised to revitalise the economy, reduce inequality and ease national divisions. He urged the people to vote for him, arguing that a win by Kim would allow Yoon's 'rebellion forces' to return. 'If they somehow win, that would mean the return of the rebellion forces, the destruction of democracy, the deprival of people's human rights, the normalisation of martial law and our country's downfall into a backward, third-world nation,' Lee told the crowd gathered at a Seoul park. Kim, a former labor minister under Yoon, warned that a Lee win would allow him to wield excessive power, launch political retaliation against opponents and legislate laws to protect him from various legal troubles, as his party already controls parliament. Lee 'is now trying to seize all power in South Korea and establish a Hitler-like dictatorship,' Kim told a rally in the south-eastern city of Busan. Lee, who led the opposition-led campaign to oust Yoon, has been a highly divisive figure in South Korean politics for years. He faces multiple criminal trials, including charges of bribery and alleged involvement in a property development scandal, with South Korea's supreme court recently ordering a retrial of an election violation case after overturning his acquittal, with instructions for conviction. Courts have agreed to postpone further hearings of ongoing trials until after the election, allowing him to contest the presidency while the cases remain unresolved. Lee denies all charges, describing them as politically motivated persecution. Should he win though, legal questions remain over whether presidential immunity would halt his ongoing prosecutions, as opposed to simply preventing new charges, potentially setting up another constitutional crisis. As a former child labourer known for his inspirational rags-to-riches story, Lee came to fame through biting criticism of the country's conservative establishment and calls to build a more assertive South Korea in foreign policy. That rhetoric has given him an image as someone who can institute sweeping reforms and fix the country's deep-seated economic inequality and corruption. His critics view him as a dangerous populist who relies on a political division and backpedals on promises too easily. On foreign policy, Lee has not made any contentious remarks recently and has steadfastly vowed to pursue pragmatic diplomacy. He has called South Korea's alliance with the US the foundation of its foreign policy and promised to solidify a trilateral Seoul-Washington-Tokyo partnership, a stance that is not much different than the position held by South Korea's conservatives. Experts say there aren't many diplomatic options for South Korea as it tries to address Trump's tariff hikes and calls for South Korea to pay more for the cost of the US military presence, as well as North Korea's headlong pursuit of nuclear weapons. Experts say that has made both Lee and Kim avoid unveiling ambitious foreign policy goals.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Vanguard files for new ex-China emerging markets ETF
June 2 (Reuters) - Asset management giant Vanguard Group plans to launch a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will target emerging markets while excluding China, joining a growing niche shaped by investor debate over China's role in global portfolios. The Vanguard Emerging Markets ex-China ETF will make its debut later this summer. Many investors have been unsettled by turmoil surrounding China's trade relationship with the United States, even as better performance from Chinese stocks means some are reluctant to remove them from funds altogether. The Vanguard offering would bring to 13 the number of emerging markets ETFs that exclude Chinese stocks, according to Morningstar data. Two-thirds of those have been launched since 2023, a year that saw China's CSI300 index record its third straight year of losses. The growing interest in rolling out these ex-China funds is logical, said Bryan Armour, ETF strategist at Morningstar. "Investors may be worried about geopolitical risk, state intervention in private markets, or just want to manage their China allocation separately from broader emerging markets," he said. Even so, in the last month or two, flows into most broad emerging markets have begun to look stronger than those into ex-China alternatives, he said. Sammy Suzuki, head of emerging markets equities at AllianceBernstein, said he believes that interest in ex-China emerging markets funds is dwindling as Chinese stocks stage a recovery. In the last 12 months, the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI.P), opens new tab has gained 35.34%, and the returns on Chinese stocks contributed to the 9.7% gain by the broad iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM.P), opens new tab. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex-China ETF (EMXC.O), opens new tab is up only 4.8%. "China is both too large and too controversial to not be its own allocation," said Jason Hsu, chief investment officer of Rayliant Global Advisors, adding both dedicated China ETFs and emerging markets ex-China products will coexist. Vanguard, which has $10.1 trillion in total assets, submitted the new filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday. It already offers investors the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO.P), opens new tab, which has about $85.9 billion in assets, with 30% invested in Chinese stocks, according to estimates from Jeff DeMaso, editor of the Independent Vanguard Adviser, who analyzes the firm's fund offerings. DeMaso said that investors who buy the new ETF when it launches will swap an outsize position in China for hefty exposure to companies in Taiwan and India, which account for nearly 60% of the underlying index. A spokesman for Vanguard said the new ETF will offer additional choice for investors who want to avoid Chinese stocks with a fee of only 0.07%, compared to 0.25% for BlackRock's (BLK.N), opens new tab offering.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Mongolia's prime minister resigns after losing a parliament vote of confidence after protests
Mongolia 's prime minister resigned early Tuesday after he failed to receive enough support in a vote of confidence in parliament, Mongolian media reported. The country's embassy in Washington confirmed it. Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai received 44 votes, well short of the 64 needed, according to news site The vote followed weeks of protests sparked by reports of lavish spending by the prime minister's son. Some called for the prime minister to step down. Before the vote, Oyun-Erdene warned that the vote could lead to instability and shake Mongolia's fledgling democracy. 'If governance becomes unstable, the economic situation deteriorates, and political parties cannot come to consensus. It could lead the public to lose faith in parliamentary rule and potentially put our democratic parliamentary system at risk of collapse,' he said. He defended his integrity but acknowledged a mistake: 'dedicating too much time to major projects while paying insufficient attention to social and internal political matters.' Oyun-Erdene had held the post for four years and survived previous calls to step down. Last year, parliament was enlarged from 76 seats to 126 following electoral reforms. It resulted in a coalition government. Landlocked between Russia and China, Mongolia has struggled to become more democratic after its party-state era. A communist state during the Cold War, it has been transforming into a democracy since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Protesters have said the country's mineral riches have benefited business interests and the wealthy, while many Mongolians still live in poverty. 'It's very difficult to build that foundation for democracy' at a time that Mongolia also must tackle economic problems, which are a major source of people's frustration, said Erin Murphy, deputy director and senior fellow of India and emerging Asian economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 'We still have to see what happens next and how the new government plans to tackle these issues," she said. While democracy is yet to thrive in Mongolia, 'it is taking root,' Murphy said.
