Finance & markets, Economy, Health
332 storiesNikkei average recovers 70,000 level for first time in about three months
Tokyo's Nikkei average rose above 70,000 during trading on 5 October, the first time in about three months, as buying concentrated on semiconductor and AI-related shares. Nikkei reported the morning close at 70,037.61, up 1,728.15 points or…
Russian anti-plague lab researcher dies; US and EU say they are monitoring
A 28-year-old female researcher at the Irkutsk anti-plague research institute in Shelekhov, Russia, died after being diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown cause, the state agency Rospotrebnadzor said. About 200 people who may have had contact…
Korean court suspends market-cap delisting decisions; exchange halts two more exits
Seoul Southern District Court Civil Division 51 granted injunctions on Oct 2 suspending the Korea Exchange's delisting decisions against KOSPI-listed Joo Yeon Tech and KOSDAQ-listed KM Pharma until a main ruling. The court questioned the 45…
Nasdaq closes at record high as AI stocks rally despite rising Treasury yields
US stocks rose on October 5 local time, with the Nasdaq Composite closing at a record high as technology and AI-related shares gained despite rising Treasury yields. Yonhap reported the Dow rose 0.18% to 51,267.90 and the S&P 500 gained 0.6…
Russia quarantines hospital as lab worker’s death puts nearly 200 under observation
A female employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East died last week of pneumonia of unknown cause, Russian authorities said, and a hospital in the town of Shelekhov was placed under quarantine. Officia…
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…
China medical insurance pooled funds take in 2.07 trillion yuan in Jan-Aug
China's National Healthcare Security Administration released data showing that in January to August 2026 the basic medical insurance (including maternity insurance) pooled funds took in 2.072772 trillion yuan and spent 1.550414 trillion yua…
Celltrion's Avtozma wins FDA nod for pediatric COVID-19 use in US
Celltrion said the US Food and Drug Administration granted an additional approval for its Avtozma (tocilizumab) intravenous formulation to treat COVID-19 in patients aged 2 and older. The approval widens the drug's COVID-19 indication from …
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…
KOSPI opens down 1.11% at 6,864.25; KOSDAQ falls 0.27%
South Korea’s KOSPI opened 77.14 points, or 1.11%, lower at 6,864.25 on 7 October, while the KOSDAQ opened down 2.47 points, or 0.27%, at 917.45. The benchmark index rebounded to 6,944.83 by 09:25 as individual investors bought, then fell b…
South Korea study links severe gestational diabetes to higher diabetes risk in children
South Korea's National Institute of Health said children of mothers who had gestational diabetes are more likely to develop diabetes, with the risk rising to 4.3 times for type 2 diabetes among children of mothers who needed insulin during …
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…
China water ministry targets 40 major projects, 1 trillion yuan investment this year
China's Ministry of Water Resources said it will increase efforts to start 40 major water conservancy projects and complete 1 trillion yuan of water infrastructure investment in 2026. From January to September, 41,400 water projects of vari…
Trump says he has call scheduled with Putin over suspected plague death in Siberia
President Trump said Tuesday he has a call scheduled with Vladimir Putin about the suspected pneumonic plague case in Siberia, after saying Monday the US was willing to help Russia. The case follows the death of Darya Shipilova, 28, a worke…
Spot silver tops $62/oz intraday, up 2.73%; New York futures also gain
Spot silver extended gains through Oct. 5, rising 2% to $61.56/oz and later breaking above $62/oz for a 2.73% intraday gain, according to CLS and Yicai. New York silver futures were up more than 1% intraday at $61.04/oz earlier in the day, …
Kospi slips below 7,000 after holiday open; Kosdaq gains about 2%
South Korea's Kospi opened at 7,044.67 on Oct. 6, up 40.93 points (0.58%), the first session after the Gaecheonjeol holiday, and the Kosdaq opened at 902.16, up 8.87 points (0.99%). The Kospi gave back the gain within minutes and was at 6,9…
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…
WHO says risk low as US presses Russia for transparency on plague lab death
The U.S. State Department is monitoring reports of a fatal case of suspected pneumonic plague in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly called on Moscow to be more transparent about the death of a 28-year-ol…
WHO keeps low-risk view on Russian plague lab death; Russia denies accident
The World Health Organization said the public health risk to the general public appears low after a researcher at a plague research institute in Russia's Irkutsk region died following what reports described as a broken test tube of plague p…
KB Kookmin Card, MoonPay and Finger sign digital asset payment partnership
KB Kookmin Card said it signed a partnership with global digital asset payment infrastructure company MoonPay and fintech firm Finger to cooperate on digital asset and stablecoin-based payment services, with a joint concept proof planned. T…