Euro zone business activity raced ahead last month, expanding at its fastest pace in 15 years, as the lifting of more coronavirus restrictions and an accelerated vaccine drive injected life into the bloc’s dominant service industry, a survey showed. 

China may need more monetary and fiscal easing to halt an economic slowdown in the wake of torrential rains and flooding, and authorities’ tough response to outbreaks of the highly-transmissible coronavirus Delta variant, economists say. 

Sony Corp raised its earnings outlook on Wednesday after a record first-quarter operating profit helped by pandemic stay-at-home demand for PlayStation 5 consoles, TVs, music and movies.

Oil prices  edged higher on Wednesday, supported by a fall in US inventories and  Mideast geopolitical tensions, but the increasing spread of the  coronavirus Delta variant in top consuming countries capped gains.

Fresh outbreaks of the Delta coronavirus variant in South-east Asia have crippled its factory sector, disrupting global supplies of goods such as rubber gloves, semiconductors and sports utility vehicles and threatening the region’s recovery. 

It was in 1964 that Their Majesties King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great and Queen Sirikit The Queen Mother first presided over the Maulid Nabi Celebration held by the Central Islamic Council of Thailand. At first, it might appear to be just another social event. But upon closer examination of the royal presence, one will realise that the monarchy and Muslims in Thailand have developed a lasting bond throughout history, one much deeper and meaningful than what may appear at first glance.

The coronavirus pandemic may have pushed the United States into a volatile era of stronger growth and better productivity, but higher interest rates and faster inflation as well, St. Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard said, elaborating on why he thinks the U.S. central bank should end its crisis-era policies. 

The board of governors of the International Monetary Fund on Monday greenlit increasing the institution’s lending capacity by $650 billion, the last step in approving an initiative to boost aid to the most vulnerable countries. 

BP boosted its dividend and share buybacks after beating expectations with a $2.8 billion second-quarter profit powered by higher oil prices and recovering demand.

Despite complaints from US employers that workers are hard to find, there are almost 10 million people who are unemployed and more sitting on the sidelines of the labor market, said San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly, who expects many or most of them to return to work as the economy recovers. 

Asian markets fell on Tuesday while oil held most of the previous day’s losses as the impact of the fast-spreading Delta Covid variant on the global recovery fuelled concerns the outlook might not be as rosy as initially hoped.

Female labour participation rate in India fell to 16.1 per cent during the July-September 2020 quarter, the lowest among the major economies, a government report said, reflecting the impact of pandemic and a widening job crisis.

China’s government quietly issued new procurement guidelines in May that require up to 100% local content on hundreds of items including X-ray machines and magnetic resonance imaging equipment, erecting fresh barriers for foreign suppliers, three US-based sources told Reuters. 

Much stronger-than-expected profit reports from US companies in recent weeks have ratcheted up already high Wall Street forecasts on how second-quarter earnings growth will look versus last year.

Financial firms including British insurer Prudential, lenders Citi and HSBC and BlackRock Real Assets are devising plans to speed the closure of Asia’s coal-fired power plants in order to lower the biggest source of carbon emissions, five people with knowledge of the initiative said.

The Delta variant poses new risks for the world’s second-biggest economy as it spreads from the coast to China’s inland cities and presents fresh challenges to authorities who have for months managed to avert any widespread outbreak of the coronavirus.

New Zealand’s housing crisis is having a “punishing impact” on marginalised communities and leaving many people homeless, the human rights commission said on Monday as it launched an inquiry into the country’s red-hot property market. 

Oil prices fell on Monday as worries over China’s economy resurfaced after a survey showing growth in factory activity slipped sharply in the world’s second-largest oil consumer, with concerns compounded by higher crude output from OPEC producers.

Square Inc, the payments firm of Twitter Inc co-founder Jack Dorsey, will purchase buy now, pay later (BNPL) pioneer Afterpay Ltd for $29 billion, creating a global transactions giant in the biggest buyout of an Australian firm.

Asia’s factories hit a rough patch in July as rising input costs and a new wave of coronavirus infections overshadowed solid global demand, highlighting the fragile nature of the region’s recovery.