Childhood obesity has increased drastically worldwide and WHO seeks political involvement in handling the issue. About 48% of obese and overweight children aged 5 and below reportedly belong to Asia and Africa.
Asia/Pacific
China stocks soar, but Shanghai suffers biggest monthly drop in 7 years
At the end of the month, Chinese stocks rallied and closed higher on Friday. Despite this, Shanghai Composite Index suffered its biggest monthly fall in the past seven years. The Chinese benchmark index Shanghai Composite tumbled 22.6 percent in January and this is the biggest monthly fall since October 2008. Chinese currency Yuan was marginally moved up against the US dollar on support extended by People's Bank of China (PBOC).
Data portray poor Japanese economy
The economy of Japan struggled last month according to a wave of data released by the Bank of Japan. The industrial production was down 1.4% over the prior month.
POSCO marks the smallest profit amid steel oversupply from China
South Korean steelmaker POSCO announced a consolidated net profit, excluding minority interests, of 181 billion won for 2015, down from 626 billion won in the previous year.
Foreign investors bail on Russian stocks
Global investors are withdrawing from Russian stock markets as volatility is high in equities and currency Ruble. The continuous drop in oil price is impacting the Russian economy much as it's the main revenue source for the country. The gap between onshore and offshore traded equities is narrowing down as foreign investors are selling off.
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Gold soared to three-month high early this week as investors switched over to safe have following the concerns about the global economy. The US Federal Reserve indicated a challenging global economy and this may not prevent it from raising interest rate. Gold price reached to $1,127.80 on 27 January and this propelled investors to book profits.
Apple is rumored to launch a new hybrid iPhone called iPhone 5se and new Apple Watch models. The rumor mill has churned out the latest on Apple: Apple will be releasing a new special edition phone based on one of its earlier iPhones, which is expected to be smaller and supports Apple Pay and for capturing Live Photos.
Korean automaker KIA will launch its sporty hatchback KIA Rio GT in 2018. The car will compete against Ford Fiesta ST in sportscar segment.
Wynn Palace, an under construction casino, is widely expected to attract Chinese consumers and thus transform Macau to a popular tourist region. The casino project has been expected to be completed by June 25 followed by a revision on deadline. But work progress seems to be slow and the contractor for the $4.1 billion project is probably going the miss the extended time frame further. Steve Wynn, founder of Wynn Macau Ltd. has sent a letter to the construction company cautioning to count compensation up to $200 million if it fails to meet the revised deadline.
China's President Xi Jinping and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani enter a new era of cooperation between two countries. In their meeting on Saturday, both countries agreed to expand trade to $600 billion in the next 10 years and bilateral cooperation.
Future Land Development shares have witnessed a fall of around 14% and appear to be the lowest since September 7. Meanwhile, Moody’s has changed outlook on the business to negative from stable on Monday. Fearing further price falling, the company has arranged suspension of its shares listed in the Hong Kong and Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Business economists seem to be more doubtful regarding their companies' future profits and sales. According to a survey, these economists expect slower GDP growth.
The Miata hasn’t witnessed the best presentation through the years. Mazda has represented MX-5 generation Miata in the Tokyo Auto Salon 2016. The uproar from the audience indicates that the Miata generation now claims due status in the sports car segment. The new widened Miata has absorbed inspirations from a lot of tuning cultures and thus proclaimed as the largest road racers in the US.
Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant of Henan province is one of the largest iPhone assemblers for Apple. A fire, originated from the central air conditioning fan and ventilation ducts on the roof on Sunday evening. Local fire safety authorities have brought the situation under control and now probing the incident to unearth the reason behind the fire incident.
