China, the world's biggest holder of foreign exchange reserves, renewed its commitment to the U.S. Treasury market on Tuesday but said it would be wary of adding to its gold holdings. The country's chief currency regulator said China would attract more capital inflows this year, partly reflecting expectations of a stronger yuan, but he left the market none the wiser as to when Beijing might let the currency resume its rise.
Australian business confidence rose strongly for a second straight month in February while sales and profits both recovered from their January dip, providing further evidence the economy was running at a brisk pace. The monthly survey of over 400 firms by National Australia Bank showed its measure of business confidence rose 4 points to +19 in February. That was the highest since last November, which itself was the highest reading since 2002.
South Korean producer inflation slowed in February, data showed on Tuesday, underlining market expectations the central bank will keep its policy rates on hold this week. The producer price index in February rose 2.4 percent from a year earlier, down from a 10-month high of 2.8 percent in January, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. The index gained 0.3 percent in February from the previous month after rising 0.7 percent in January, the central bank said.
Shareholders cheered China Southern Airlines' $1.58 billion fundraising plan, lifting the airline's shares to a 21-month high in Hong Kong on expectations the move could speed up the airline's debt repayments, cutting its gearing by half. HSBC upgraded the stock to overweight from underweight and raised its price target by 42 percent to HK$4.20 soon after China Southern's announcement. The country's top carrier by fleet size plans to issue new shares to raise up to 10.75 billion yuan ($1.58 billion) to repay debt.
Sony will launch 3D televisions in June, entering an increasingly crowded market that is betting the revolutionary TV will become the next hot product in the electronics industry. The maker of Bravia flat TVs hopes 3D models to make up 10 percent of more than 25 million LCD TVs it aims to sell in the next financial year. Sony holds high hopes of a shift to 3D as it will likely give a boost to many of its business operations, which range from TVs, digital cameras, and Blu-ray DVD players to digital cinema projectors on the hardware side and from videogames and TV programmes to feature films on the software side.
Australian business confidence rose strongly for a second straight month in February while sales and profits both recovered from their January dip, providing further evidence the economy was running at a brisk pace. The monthly survey of over 400 firms by National Australia Bank showed its measure of business confidence rose 4 points to +19 in February. That was the highest since last November, which itself was the highest reading since 2002.
South Korean producer inflation slowed in February, data showed on Tuesday, underlining market expectations the central bank will keep its policy rates on hold this week. The producer price index in February rose 2.4 percent from a year earlier, down from a 10-month high of 2.8 percent in January, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. The index gained 0.3 percent in February from the previous month after rising 0.7 percent in January, the central bank said.
Shareholders cheered China Southern Airlines' $1.58 billion fundraising plan, lifting the airline's shares to a 21-month high in Hong Kong on expectations the move could speed up the airline's debt repayments, cutting its gearing by half. HSBC upgraded the stock to overweight from underweight and raised its price target by 42 percent to HK$4.20 soon after China Southern's announcement. The country's top carrier by fleet size plans to issue new shares to raise up to 10.75 billion yuan ($1.58 billion) to repay debt. 
Sony will launch 3D televisions in June, entering an increasingly crowded market that is betting the revolutionary TV will become the next hot product in the electronics industry. The maker of Bravia flat TVs hopes 3D models to make up 10 percent of more than 25 million LCD TVs it aims to sell in the next financial year. Sony holds high hopes of a shift to 3D as it will likely give a boost to many of its business operations, which range from TVs, digital cameras, and Blu-ray DVD players to digital cinema projectors on the hardware side and from videogames and TV programmes to feature films on the software side.
