Economy, Consumer
136 storiesAmazon’s October Prime Day runs October 6-8 as retailers cut prices early
Amazon’s October Prime Day, also called Prime Big Deal Days, runs from October 6 at 3AM ET through 3AM ET on October 8, with discounts already live, according to The Verge, NBC News and Wired. Wired listed Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 at $190 ($…
Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days Begin With Discounts on Apple Macs, AirPods and iPads
Amazon's fall Prime Big Deal Days sale is live, with early discounts on Apple products including AirPods Pro 3 at $179.00, down from $249.00, AirPods Max 2 at $429.00, and about $200 off most M5 MacBook Air models. Outlets also reported all…
Japan government weighs second supplementary budget focused on disaster response
The Japanese government is considering a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2026, limited to necessary items such as disaster response rather than an economic-stimulus package, with spending expected to be small. It would cover recovery…
Japan farm ministry orders Fukui seafood firm over mislabeled Echizen crab gifts
Japan's agriculture ministry issued a measures order on Oct 6 against Fukumaru Foods, a seafood processor in Echizen Town, Fukui Prefecture, for labeling products as Echizen crab while using mizugani, a crab not counted as Echizen crab. The…
Japan August real wages rise 1.5% for eighth straight month
Japan's real wages rose 1.5% in August from a year earlier, the eighth consecutive monthly increase, according to the health, labour and welfare ministry's preliminary monthly labour survey published on 7 October. Nominal total cash earning…
Iraq devalues dinar to 1,500 per dollar as war disrupts oil shipping
Iraq devalued its currency on Wednesday, moving the official exchange rate from about 1,300 dinars to the dollar to 1,500, the central bank said. The AP reported the rate was set at a Cabinet meeting the night before, with banks selling dol…
IMF chief warns energy shock, debt and AI risks threaten global growth
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a speech in Singapore on Wednesday that countries rich and poor must act faster to cut debt and regulate artificial intelligence, warning of a triple shock from the AI boom, heavy borrowing…
Russian government to write off nearly 3 bln rubles of Belgorod region debt
The Russian government will write off almost 3 billion rubles of the Belgorod region's budget debt under a federal programme to support regions, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said, according to TASS, RIA Novosti, Kommersant and RBC. Komm…
China's FX reserves fall 1.11% to $3,400.3bn at end-September
China's foreign exchange reserves stood at $3,400.3 billion at the end of September 2026, down $38.1 billion, or 1.11%, from the end of August, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said. The regulator attributed the drop to a rising…
Bank of Korea: corporate spare cash hits record 67.1trn won on chip boom
The Bank of Korea said non-financial companies' net financial surplus reached a record 67.1 trillion won in the second quarter of 2026, driven by a semiconductor-driven surge in operating profits. Households' surplus fell to 60.7 trillion w…
IMF warns global government debt set to pass 100% of world GDP
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said global government debt is at its highest level since World War II and is likely to exceed 100% of world GDP, naming advanced economies led by the US as the worst offenders. Vedomosti reported …
Japan's August coincident economic index falls 1.9 points to 118.7, first drop in six months
Japan's Cabinet Office said its preliminary coincident economic index for August came in at 118.7, down 1.9 points from July — the first decline in six months. Nikkei reported the drop was the largest since January 2024, with typhoon and Ku…
Amazon's October Prime Day runs October 6-7 as outlets round up deals
Amazon's October Prime Day sale, also called Prime Big Deal Days, is running from October 6 through October 7, 2026. NBC News, The Verge and CNN published roundups of discounted products at price points under $50, under $25 and on seasonal …
China holiday consumption: long trips boom, trade-in subsidies lift store sales
China's National Day holiday brought a surge in long-distance travel, small-city tourism and immersive cultural experiences, according to Xinhua's market roundup published by China News Service. Trade-in subsidy programmes also boosted stor…
Japan's foreign reserves fall for fifth month to about $1.18 trillion
Japan's foreign exchange reserves stood at about $1.18 trillion at the end of September, down $29.128 billion from the end of August and a fifth consecutive monthly decline, according to data released by Japan's Ministry of Finance on Octob…
Trump says he told South Korea it must pay a price for lower tariffs
US President Donald Trump said on Oct 6 that he told South Korea it must pay a price to have tariffs lowered, and that South Korea recently provided $150 billion, all of it going to shipbuilding. Korean outlets link the remarks to MASGA, th…
Amazon's October Prime Big Deal Days sale draws deal coverage from tech and business outlets
Amazon's October sale event, called Prime Big Deal Days or October Prime Day, was live as of October 6, 2026, with outlets publishing lists of discounted electronics, headphones, phones, tablets and games. The Verge said the event runs thro…
World Bank raises East Asia-Pacific 2026 growth forecast to 4.5%
The World Bank raised its 2026 economic growth forecast for East Asia and the Pacific to 4.5%, up 0.3 percentage points from its April projection. The bank said the upgrade was driven largely by strong high-tech investment and exports linke…
Nippon Ham to cut Schauessen pack weight by 10g, keeping price unchanged
Nippon Ham said it will reduce the contents of its flagship “Schauessen” sausages from 117 grams to 107 grams per pack for deliveries from October 1, leaving the reference retail price of 702 yen including tax for two bundles unchanged — an…
Korea Q3 FDI arrivals hit record $14.87bn, up 30.6% on year
South Korea's foreign direct investment arrivals reached $14.87 billion in the first three quarters of 2026, up 30.6% from a year earlier and the highest on record, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Oct 7. Reported FDI comm…