Town Hall News

By Shankar Ramakrishnan, Matt Tracy and Laura Matthews NEW YORK (Reuters) – Large U.S. companies have been on a bond issuance binge but this rapid pace in supply may be hard to sustain ahead of expected volatility related to extending the U.S. debt ceiling and another possible move higher in interest rates. Investment-grade rated companies issued $152 billion in May, making it the busiest May since 2020 when the pandemic […]

SEOUL (Reuters) – The South Korean government will overhaul the country’s emergency alert system, news agency Yonahp reported on Thursday, after an erroneous message tied to North Korea’s satellite launch this week led to confusion and complaints. The Office for Government Policy Coordination, the interior ministry and the Seoul metropolitan government will discuss improvements, the report said, citing a senior government official. The warning system will be updated to provide […]

SEOUL (Reuters) – The South Korean government will overhaul the country’s emergency alert system, news agency Yonahp reported on Thursday, after an erroneous message tied to North Korea’s satellite launch this week led to confusion and complaints. The Office for Government Policy Coordination, the interior ministry and the Seoul metropolitan government will discuss improvements, the report said, citing a senior government official. The warning system will be updated to provide […]

(Reuters) -A Russian missile attack on Kyiv killed three people including two children and injured 14 on Thursday, officials in the Ukrainian capital said. The Kyiv military administration said in a statement the attack struck the Desnyanskyi region on the capital’s eastern outskirts as well as Dniprovkskyi district, closer to the centre. It was the 18th attack on the capital this month. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said nine people needed […]

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk departed Shanghai Thursday morning, wrapping up a two-day trip to China in which he met government ministers, a key battery supplier and visited the automaker’s biggest production hub. Photos of Musk’s visit to Tesla’s Shanghai factory late Wednesday showed him holding up a “Giga Shanghai” sign, flanked by hundreds of staff including head of global manufacturing Tom Zhu. “A very rewarding day!,” […]

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada on Thursday told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin he wanted to deepen security cooperation with Washington and South Korea after North Korea’s failed rocket launch. “We need to strengthen ties between Japan and the U.S. and also between Japan, the U.S. and ROK (Republic of Korea), as it possible that North Korea launches again,” Hamada told Austin at a meeting in Tokyo Austin […]

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk departed Shanghai Thursday morning, wrapping up a two-day trip to China in which he met government ministers, a key battery supplier and visited the automaker’s biggest production hub. Photos of Musk’s visit to Tesla’s Shanghai factory late Wednesday showed him holding up a “Giga Shanghai” sign, flanked by hundreds of staff including head of global manufacturing Tom Zhu. “A very rewarding day!,” […]

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan must keep monetary policy ultra-loose as it will take time to re-anchor inflation expectations to its 2% target, International Monetary Fund’s chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told Reuters. But the central bank must be vigilant to the risk of price growth overshooting expectations, and be ready to tighten policy if inflation stays above its target for too long, he said. “There’s […]

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) – Factories in Asia’s largest economies stepped up a gear in May as supply chain problems eased, business surveys showed on Thursday, but sluggish global demand remained a major challenge for many of the region’s big exporters. Purchasing managers’ indexes (PMIs) for China and Japan showed swings in factory activity to growth in the month, in contrast to weak indicators from South Korea, Vietnam and […]