Asian Shares Subdued Ahead Of Fed Meeting
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks fell in muted trading on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve s monetary policy announcement due out later in the day.
With bond markets flagging the threat of inflation, market participants are looking for central bank s forecasts for the economy, inflation and interest rates.
Chinese and Hong Kong shares ended on a flat note as the U.S. sanctioned an additional 24 Chinese and Hong Kong officials over Beijing s ongoing crackdown on political freedoms in the semi-autonomous city.
China s benchmark Shanghai Composite index finished marginally lower at 3,445.55, while Hong Kong s Hang Seng index ended marginally higher at 29,034.12.
3/17/2021 9:49:15 PM GMT | By Ross J Burland
New Zealand s Gross Domestic Product (sa) arrived -1.0% QoQ vs the expected 0.2%.
GDP for the year was -0.9% vs the expected 0.5% and prior 0.4%.
The data, while a downside surprise, is potentially less impactful considering policymakers are unlikely to be swayed much by the Q4 release due to covid and forward-looking performance. Our expectation is that 2021 is going to be a broadly sideways year for economic activity, as some industries struggle with capacity constraints and others remain suppressed on the back of the closed border, analysts at ANZ said. Vaccine efficacy and rollout, and the persistence of housing-induced domestic momentum from here, are arguably more important than how the economy capped off 2020, the analysts added.
New Zealand Has NZ$2 695 Billion Current Account Deficit In Q4 forextv.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from forextv.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Fijian-Indians in New Zealand fight to be recognised as Pasifika, not Asians
Fijian-Indians in New Zealand fight to be recognised as Pasifika, not Asians Thursday 18/03/2021
Fijian-Indians say they have a unique cultural identity, and want to be recognise as being Pasifika and not Asian. Photo / Alex Burton
The President of Fiji Girmit Foundation of NZ, Krish Naidu says Fijian-Indians are facing an identity crisis and missing out on key support and opportunities in areas like education and health because they are being classified as Asians and not Pacific Islanders in New Zealand.
Naidu says by not recognising Fijian-Indians as a Pacific community, the New Zealand government was disqualifying the community from sharing any of the resources and support allocated to these communities.
When is New Zealand GDP report and how could it affect NZD/USD? fxstreet.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from fxstreet.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.