Reuters

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai consumer confidence dropped for a third straight month in May, falling to its lowest level since October last year on concerns over a slow economic recovery and political uncertainty, a survey showed on Thursday.

The consumer index of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce fell to 60.5 in May from 62.1 in April, the university said in a statement.

Thai courts will convene on a trio of politically charged... (continue reading...)

By Sameer Manekar

(Reuters) - Analysts have solidified their bearish positions on most Asian currencies as higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates and a resilient dollar are likely to continue to hurt the local units, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.

The Indonesian rupiah and the Philippine peso were the most shorted currencies in the region, with bearish bets on both at multi-week highs, a fortnightly poll of 10 analysts showed.

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Kevin Buckland

The verdict from investors appears to be that benign U.S. inflation trumps the Fed's rate outlook, clearing the way for gains in Asian equities, and potentially in Europe too.

The initial shock at projections for just one U.S. rate cut this year despite a very tame CPI reading just hours earlier was mitigated by Fed Chair Jay Powell's comments that many officials were... (continue reading...)

By Casey Hall, Lucy Craymer and Mei Mei Chu

SHANGHAI/WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Global food companies from dairy producers to pork exporters are on high alert for potential retaliatory tariffs from China following the European Union's decision on Wednesday to impose anti-subsidy duties on Chinese-made EVs.

China's state media have reported that domestic companies are preparing to request investigations into some EU dairy and pork imports over... (continue reading...)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's Ant Group said Thursday it invested a record high 21.19 billion yuan ($2.92 billion) in technology research and development in 2023, largely focussed on AI technology.

The firm, which disclosed the investments as part of its 2023 sustainability report, last year received Chinese government approval to release products powered by its "Bailing" artificial intelligence (AI) large language model to the public.

The... (continue reading...)