International News

China’s economy ends 2022 in slump as Covid infections surge

  Bloomberg China’s economy ended the year in a major slump as business and consumer spending plunged in December, with more disruption likely in the first few months of the year as Covid infections surge across the country. Official data showed the decline in manufacturing worsened last month, while activity in the services sector plunged the most since February 2020. ...

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Swedish housing market prices down almost 17%

  Bloomberg The drop for home prices in Sweden continued unabated in the last month of the year, suggesting that 2023 could offer little relief for an already troubled housing market. Prices across the country are now down almost 17% since a peak in the spring, according to state-owned mortgage lender SBAB. The worst slump for the market since the ...

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Arrivals from China, HK must test Covid negative, says Canada

  Bloomberg Canada will require travellers arriving from China from January 5 to provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 test result, taken no more than two days before their departure, to airlines prior to boarding. The requirement applies to those aged two years of age and older and will also apply to those traveling from the Chinese territories of Hong ...

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Venezuela, Colombia open bridge to bolster trade ties

  Bloomberg Venezuela and Colombia officials opened the Atanasio Girardot international bridge, allowing vehicles carrying both passengers and cargo to cross the border between both countries. Completed in 2016 but never used, the bridge also known as Tienditas was inaugurated with a ceremony led by authorities from both countries, including Colombia’s commerce minister German Umana and transportation minister Guillermo Reyes, ...

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Brazil markets sink as traders mull Lula’s plan to beef up state

Bloomberg Brazilian assets tumbled on the first session of 2023 as traders digested plans by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to use state-owned companies to drive economic growth. Petrobras slumped as much as 6.9% in Sao Paulo, the main drag on the benchmark Ibovespa index, which fell 3.1% as of 11:47 am. Lender Banco do Brasil SA dropped as ...

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US is in recession ‘by any definition’: Burry

  Bloomberg Scion Asset Management founder Michael Burry said while inflation has peaked, it is likely to pick up again in response to government stimulus. “The US in recession by any definition,” Burry, the investor made famous by Christian Bale in the 2015 movie The Big Short, said on Twitter. “Fed will cut and government will stimulate. And we will ...

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Germany vows crackdown after brutal New Year’s violence

Bloomberg Germany vowed to crack down on people responsible for violence around the weekend’s New Year celebrations, in which dozens of police, paramedics and firefighters were injured. “The government, and of course the chancellor as well, condemns these at times massive attacks in the strongest possible terms,” Christiane Hoffmann, a spokeswoman for Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said on Monday at the ...

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Xi: Tough challenges remain in China’s fight against Covid-19

Bloomberg President Xi Jinping said tough challenges remain in China’s fight against Covid-19 and acknowledged divisions in society that led to rare spontaneous protests, after weeks of silence on a virus policy pivot that’s infected hundreds of millions and delivered a severe blow to economic activity. In a New Year’s address, Xi said the country is in a new phase ...

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Indonesia’s inflation beats highest forecast

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s inflation surprised on the upside in December, challenging the central bank and market’s view that price pressures were well on the wane. Consumer prices rose 5.51% from a year ago, driven by higher costs of gasoline, household fuels, air freight rates and transport fares, the nation’s statistics agency said. That beats even the highest forecast in a ...

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India’s unemployment rate surges to 16-month high

  Bloomberg India’s unemployment rate rose to a 16-month high in December as job creation in the slowing economy failed to keep pace with the growing workforce. The overall unemployment rate increased to 8.3%, up from 8% in November, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt Ltd. That’s the highest reading since August 2021. The rise ...

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