analysis

Chinese business leaders met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, the latest of Beijing's efforts to boost foreign investment in China amid pending bilateral tensions with the United States. Blackstone #BX founder Stephen Schwarzman, Qualcomm #QCOM President and CEO Cristiano Amon, Bloomberg Chair Mark Carney and FedEx #FDX President Rajesh Subramaniam were among the attendees, according to state media. https://tinyurl.com/2cazdntv

Japan stepped closer to intervention with its strongest warning yet as the yen slid to the weakest level in about 34 years against the dollar in Tokyo on Wednesday, passing the 151.95 level that led Japan to intervene in October 2022. Traders later backed away when Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki ramped up his hints of possible action. The yen then strengthened later in the day after a report of a meeting between officials of the Finance Ministry, the central bank and the financial

Consumer confidence in France rose to 91 in March 2024, reaching January’s near two-year high and compared to market estimates and February’s 90. Consumers were less pessimistic about the financial situation (-34 vs - 10) and the standard of living (-41 vs -42), the unemployment outlook decreased (22 vs 26) and future inflation is low (-50 vs -48).

On Tuesday, H&M shares increased 14% in early deals after the Swedish retailer beat its financial first quarter profit expectations by 2.08 billion Swedish krona ($196 million) compared to the forecast of 1.43 billion krona by analysts in a LSEG poll. The company reiterated its target of 10% operating margin in the first quarter, which reached 53.7 billion krona from 54.9 billion krona. H&M previously announced a focus on profitability amid pressure from growing competition from Zara

** U.S. small-cap stocks ** are performing (https://www.ft.com/content/e0029cb2-df39-41bd-b17b-808503b240c3)**** the worst in more than 20 years compared with large caps, suggesting investors have chased mega-cap tech stocks while smaller groups are weighed down by high interest rates** https://tinyurl.com/2xmrptlc

Thailand's parliament approves same-sex marriage bill

Options traders are watching the Dollar-Yen pair as a rise to 152 could cause some barrier to appear at this level, according to traders.

EV makers offer deep discounts as Thai auto market weakens

Cambodia moves with the arrest of tycoons to 'drain the swamp' the swamp Cambodia moves

China’s Xi Jinping meets with top U.S. executives in Beijing