What to watch in Asia today
Events: New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins concludes his visit to China. The Energy Asia conference opens in Kuala Lumpur.
Markets: China’s stock exchanges, including Hong Kong’s, resume trading after the Dragon Boat festival long weekend.
Economic data: Singapore releases manufacturing data for May and ING analysts say the figures should remain in contraction, mirroring weakness in non-oil domestic exports. Taiwan announces industrial output figures for May.
Corporate results: China Gas presents fourth-quarter earnings.
The week ahead
Build it and they will vote for you. That is the essence of US president Joe Biden’s “Invest in America” roadshow, which kicks off on Monday with a big infrastructure funding announcement at the White House.
The press call provides the starting gun for a three-week tour of the country by Biden, vice-president Kamala Harris and senior cabinet members to trumpet the administration’s achievements and plans to replace creaking infrastructure, boost manufacturing capacity and nurture clean energy technology development.
It follows last year’s tour, in which Biden announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, and will ensure headlines for him and his team while Congress takes a two-week recess.
Read more about coming events in The Week Ahead.
Inflation and rising costs curb UK companies’ growth, says survey
Nine out of 10 medium-sized UK companies are halting growth plans because they cannot access capital, according to a study released on Sunday.
The survey by accounting and consulting group BDO said a quarter of companies surveyed were scaling back their business or reducing employee numbers.
Inflation and increased operating costs were among other problems, affecting 56 per cent of the 500 companies surveyed, BDO said.
“Despite staying resilient through an incredibly difficult time, tough challenges remain for mid-sized businesses, with access to capital becoming a critical issue,” said BDO partner Richard Austin.
China plays down impact of Russia’s aborted rebellion on bilateral ties
China has described Yevgeny Prigozhin’s attempted insurrection as Russia’s “internal affair” as it tried to play down any potential impact on their close ties during a visit by Moscow’s deputy foreign minister Andrei Rudenko to Beijing.
State media showed Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang smiling and walking with Rudenko on Sunday as China tried to gauge the impact of the rebellion by Prigozhin and his Wagner paramilitaries on the political stability of one of its most important allies.
Chinese state media said only that the pair “exchanged views . . . on Sino-Russian relations and international and regional issues of common concern”.
Read more about China’s reaction to the Russian insurrection.
Fearful Tory MPs go absent from Commons in bid to protect marginals
A growing number of Conservative MPs with slim majorities are cutting back time they spend in Westminster in a bid to shore up their electoral prospects in their constituencies, as gloom grips the party ahead of the next election.
US pollster Frank Luntz told Tory MPs that any with a majority of less than 15,000 votes were at risk of losing their seats. More than 180 have majorities below that threshold.
Conservative MPs defending marginals are able to apply for permission to be away from the Commons for up to one week each month and are being offered help to improve their chances of re-election.
Read more about the Conservative party election jitters.
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