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  • Reuters

    FOREX-Dollar firms as banking crisis worries fade

    The U.S. dollar was a tad higher on Thursday as receding concerns over the banking sector bolstered risk sentiment and investors switched their attention to the Federal Reserve's battle against inflation. "The broader risk sentiment appears sustained as bank contagion concerns continued to fade and a rally in China equities grabs some attention," said Christopher Wong, a currency strategist at OCBC in Singapore. Asian equities got a boost from Alibaba this week after the tech behemoth announced plans on Tuesday to split into six units, which investors have taken as a signal that Beijing's regulatory crackdown on corporations is ending.

  • Reuters

    China plans random, spot checks at hospitals to track COVID

    For months, the country has faced pressure from countries and health experts to reveal and be more forthcoming with COVID data, most notably official numbers around severe hospitalisations and deaths. Recently, advisers to the World Health Organization urged China to release all information related to the origin of the COVID pandemic. In new measures announced by the National Health Commission, provincial governments will be tasked with daily random supervision and inspections covering an array of areas that include vaccination management at medical and health institutions, including checking the receipt and storage of new coronavirus vaccines.

  • Reuters

    GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks creep toward quarterly gain as bank fears subside

    Asia's stock markets held recent gains on Thursday, as fears of a banking crisis receded and investors weighed whether a break-up of Chinese conglomerate Alibaba signals Beijing's regulatory storm aimed at tech companies might finally be clearing. Like the S&P 500 it's recovered from March lows hit as fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank reverberated around global markets. Calmer markets mean investors can now afford to focus more on economics, with German, Spanish and Italian inflation data due later in the day.