Bloomberg Hong Kong’s retail sales rose more than expected in July, reversing two months of declines as the city attempts to mount a recovery from Covid-19 curbs and other headwinds. Retail sales value rose 4.1% in July from a year ago, the Census and Statistics Department said on Wednesday. That compared to a median estimate of a 1.4% rise …

  Bloomberg In a year where initial public offerings (IPOs) globally have slumped by more than two-thirds, one would expect the summer break to be especially quiet. Not so in Asia, where stock listings have notched their second-highest August haul on record. First-time share sales in the Asia Pacific region totaled $14.9 billion this month, data compiled by Bloomberg show. …

  Bloomberg Japan’s financial regulator proposed easing corporate tax rules for crypto assets as well as lighter levies for individual stock investors in support of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s efforts to reinvigorate the economy. Companies should be exempted from paying taxes for paper gains on crypto coins that they hold after issuing them, the regulator proposed in its annual tax-code …