TOKYO -- Tokyo stocks plunged Wednesday, with the Nikkei suffering its largest drop this year, amid concerns over the downgrading of U.S. debt and gain-locking moves.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 768.89 points, or 2.30 percent, from Tuesday at 32,707.69, after losing over 800 points at one point. (Japan-Market-Stocks)
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KUALA LUMPUR -- Analysts have foreseen Malaysia's manufacturing sector to stay weak ahead due to the slowing global economy.
Kenanga Research said in a note that the weaker purchasing managers index (PMI) reading in July was in line with its expectation that the manufacturing condition in Malaysia will remain weak in the third quarter. (Malaysia-Manufacturing Sector-Analysts)
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COLOMBO -- Sri Lanka's Export Development Board (EDB) on Wednesday said it is developing a five-year strategic plan to increase the country's annual exports to 31.3 billion U.S. dollars by 2027.
The EDB also plans to increase Sri Lankan exports to the country's top 10 existing export markets by 10 percent annually, and identify 10-15 potential new markets and increase Sri Lanka's market share in them by 5 percent annually. (Sri Lanka-Export-Growth)
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SEOUL -- South Korea's construction permits fell in double digits in the first half of this year owing to the real estate market slump, government data showed Wednesday.
The surface area of permitted constructions stood at 72,029,000 square meters nationwide during the January-June period, down 22.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. (South Korea-Construction Permits)
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WELLINGTON -- New Zealand's unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.6 percent in the June 2023 quarter, compared with 3.4 percent last quarter, due to a rise in the working age population and people made themselves available to work, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Wednesday.
"Despite the strong quarterly increase, the June 2023 quarter underutilization rate remains relatively low compared with historical averages," work and wellbeing statistics senior manager Becky Collett said. (New Zealand-Unemployment Rate) ■
