介绍:
China's non-manufacturing PMI rises in May
China's service sector grew at its fastest pace in six months in May, helping allay fears of a sharp slowdown in its economy.
The National Bureau of Statistics says the country's non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose from 54.8 in April to 55.5 this month.
China's service sector, which includes construction and aviation, accounts for almost 43% of its overall economy.
The PMI is a key indicator of the health of the sector and a reading above 50 indicates expansion.
HSBC PMI shows economy is stabilizing
Meanwhile, HSBC's final PMI reading for China's manufacturing sector rebounded in May but was weaker than the preliminary reading.
According to HSBC and research company Markit, the index stood at 49.4 last month compared to 48.1 in April.
It was revised down from the flash reading of 49.7.
Compared to the official PMI reading released by the NBS, the HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index focuses more on activity in private and export-oriented firms.
The official PMI, unveiled on Saturday, rose to a five-month high of 50.8 in May.
Chinese bank borrows first KRW funds from swap deal with S.Korea
Anchor:
The Bank of Communications has become the first Chinese bank to borrow South Korean won as part of a yuan-won swap arrangement.
It borrowed 400-million won from the People's Bank of China as part of the currency swap.
The money is going to be lent to a China-based multinational and a joint-venture.
The Chinese and South Korean governments have an agreement to allow the exchange of some 56-million US dollars worth of one-another's currencies.
To find out more about this, CRI's Shane Bigham spoke earlier with Gao Shang, an analyst with Beijing-based Guantong Futures.
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Back Anchor:
Gao Shang, Analyst with Guantong Futures.
Eurozone jobless rate at 11.7 pct in April
Official figures show that Eurozone inflation fell to 0.5 percent in May, down from 0.7 percent in April but below the 0.2 percent target.
The drop means the European Central Bank will be expected to act to boost growth when it meets on Thursday.
Figures from EU statistics office Eurostat also showed that the eurozone unemployment rate fell slightly to 11.7 percent in April from 11.8 percent in March.
The drop means the number of people unemployed now stands less than 19 million.
France calls US €7bn fine on BNP-Parisbas 'unreasonable'
France's foreign minister has criticised a potential 10 billion US dollar fine for banking giant BNP Paribas as "not reasonable".
Media reports have suggested the bank might have to pay the fine for allegedly evading American sanctions on Iran, Sudan and Cuba.
In the first public comments by a senior French official on the high-profile case, Laurent Fabius says "the fine has to be proportionate and reasonable. These figures are not reasonable."
His warning comes just two days ahead of Barack Obama's visit to France, where the US President is set to hold bilateral talks with French President Francois Hollande.
Last year BNP set aside some 1 billion dollars to resolve the US sanctions case.
The US Justice Department is currently looking into the claims.
Apple unveils new operating system and apps
Apple has updated its mobile and desktop operating systems at an annual developer's conference in San Francisco.
Apple Software-engineering boss Craig Federighi announced the company's latest operating system for MACs, "Yosemite."
"Yosemite is a fantastic new release, with a new interface, big enhancements to our most popular apps and something all new, we call continuity."
Apple also unveiled its iOS 8 operating system, calling it the company's biggest release "since the launch of the App Store."
The firm also unveiled iCloud Drive, an internet-based storage app that mimics Dropbox.
Apple has improved its iMessage app with extra features, some of which are similar to rival service WhatsApp, recently acquired by Facebook for 19 billion US dollars.
The company introduced HealthKit software that works with third-party wearable health devices.
A parallel app, called Health, measures users' personalised healthcare statistics, and even contacts their hospital directly if it notices irregularities.
Apple shares slid 0.7 percent when the market closed as investors are waiting for Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook to keep a promise to create new product categories.
Japan sees largest wage drop in April since Dec. 2009
New figures show that average inflation-adjusted wages in April for workers in Japan dropped 3 percent from a year earlier.
This is the biggest year-on-year slide since December 2009.
The Japanese labor ministry says the drop could be attributed to a sales tax rise on April 1st, which triggered price rises.
The average monthly pay for workers in Japan rose nearly 1 percent in April from a year earlier, to about 2700 U.S. dollars.
The average basic salary fell for the 23rd straight month, declining 0.2 percent to about 2,400 dollars.
Alibaba will begin offering mobile numbers
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has released its mobile phone service package.
All services including making phone calls and sending messages will be charged based on the traffic flow.
The company says it will start offering mobile numbers directly soon.
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