China May Tip World Into Recession: Morgan Stanley

Forget about all the shoes, toys and other exports. China may soon have another thing to offer the world: a recession.

Asia markets rise on US debt deal hopes

Asian stock markets have risen on hopes the US will reach a deal on raising its debt ceiling, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

Asia Rubber-China sniffs around; Qingdao stocks down 3.4 pct

SINGAPORE, July 17 (Reuters) - China has started to make inquiries after rubber prices sank to multi-year lows, but the country's tyre makers are likely to turn to cheaper stocks in the bonded warehouses due to uncertainties over the economy, dealers said on Wednesday.

China's economy, inflation trend stable - central bank

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank said on Tuesday that it will "fine tune" policy to cushion the economy against global risks while closely watching the possible impact from recent policy loosening in the United States and Europe.

Asia's rapid growth fuelling inequality, the ADB warns

Asia's rapid economic growth may undermine stability because the gap between the rich and poor is widening, the Asia Development Bank has warned.

Global shares rise on central banks' loan move

European shares have risen further, following gains in Asia, as markets continue to react to Thursday's news of emergency measures by central banks.

Frankfurt's Dax was up 1.1%, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.7% and the Cac 40 in Paris added 0.6% by mid-afternoon.

Earlier, Japan's Nikkei 225 index had risen 2.3% and South Korea's Kospi index gained 3.7%.

BHP Billiton profits jump as commodity prices rise

Mining giant BHP Billiton has reported a big jump in annual profits thanks to soaring prices for commodities.

The firm recorded a profit of $23.6bn (£14.3bn) for the year to 30 June, up from $12.7bn a year ago.

The price of commodities has been pushed higher in recent years because of strong demand from emerging economies, and BHP said it expected this trend to continue.

ASEAN's role growing as Asia becomes centre of global economic growth

Asia is now the centre of global economic growth, and this makes the role of ASEAN more critical than ever before, said Dr Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN.

He was speaking on Thursday at a session of the "Delhi Dialogue" in the Indian capital, New Delhi.

Dr Surin added that if ASEAN nations face a financial crisis today, its impact will be far worse than the US sub-prime crisis in 2009.