what to see in asia today
Hong Kong beverage maker Vitasoy reports fourth-quarter earnings © Nelson Ching/Bloomberg
China: The People’s Bank of China is scheduled to release its latest policy rate. Analysts polled by Reuters expect lending benchmarks to be cut for the first time in 10 months as the post-coronavirus recovery slows. Last week the central bank unexpectedly lowered a key short-term interest rate and announced tax breaks for businesses. The 7-day reverse repurchase rate was cut by 10 basis points to 1.9%. Analysts at Nomura said they expect two more rounds of rate cuts of 10 basis points each this year.
Economic data: Japan releases industrial production data for April. Hong Kong released its consumer price index for May. New Zealand releases second-quarter consumer confidence data.
event: Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi left Tokyo to visit Britain and France. The IMD World Competitiveness Center publishes its annual country rankings. Indonesia’s central bank begins a three-day board meeting.
Business results: Hong Kong beverage maker Vitasoy announced its fourth-quarter earnings.
EU ministers deadlocked over electricity market reform
EU countries have failed to approve major reforms to the bloc’s energy market amid disagreements between France and Germany over state aid to power producers.
A meeting of energy ministers in Luxembourg on Monday will agree on a common position on market reforms that would pave the way for cleaner energy and prevent price volatility.
But Paris and Berlin remain divided on whether state-backed contracts that ensure power producers only charge a fixed price for electricity and return extra profits should be applied to existing operators – a move that would make it easier for France to subsidize nuclear power.
read more about EU Energy Market.
Airbus secures record deal to sell 500 planes to India’s IndiGo
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers, airline co-founder Rahul Bhatia, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury and Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer celebrate the deal (from left) © Christophe Petit-Tesson/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Airbus has secured the largest aircraft order in history, selling 500 narrow-body jets to India’s IndiGo after striking a multibillion-dollar deal.
The deal for the Airbus A320 family of jets was the largest by number of aircraft, surpassing an order for 470 Airbus and Boeing planes placed by rival Air India in February. It is also larger than IndiGo’s current fleet of 300 aircraft.
The world’s largest plane maker did not disclose financial details of the deal announced on the first day of the biennial Paris Air Show, its first meeting in four years amid a recovery in passenger demand.
Read more about IndiGo deals.
UK warns against ‘over-reliance’ on Chinese EV batteries
British Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said on Monday that the UK must avoid “overreliance” on China for electric car battery technology.
The warning comes as the British government is involved in finalizing a prospective deal between China’s Envision Energy and Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata Motors to build Britain’s second major electric car battery factory in Somerset .
The deal with India’s Tata, expected to close within weeks, would give a big boost to the UK car industry, which is struggling to attract investment from battery makers, but would also leave the industry heavily reliant on Envision.
read more about UK and battery technology.