* Dollar index clings near 3-week high set on Tuesday* Euro touches its lowest since Feb. 9 * Fed's Powell strikes hawkish tone in 1st testimony By Masayuki KitanoSINGAPORE, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The dollar stood near a three-week high against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's upbeat views on the economy bolstered bets on further Fed interest rate hik...Read More

BEIJING, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Growth in China's manufacturing sector in February slowed more than expected to it lowest since July 2016, as the week-long Lunar New Year holiday disrupted business activity and tougher pollution rules curtailed factory output.The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) released on Wednesday fell to 50.3 in February, from 51.3 in January. But it remained just above t...Read More

(Adds breakdown on industrial output)* Jan output -6.6 pct m/m vs forecast -4.2 pct* Output seen +9.0 pct in Feb, -2.7 pct in March* METI changes assessment: output recovering "gradually" By Stanley WhiteTOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Japan's industrial output tumbled in January, partly hurt by a decline in the production of cars due to lower sales to the United States, raising concerns tha...Read More

SEOUL, Feb 28 (Reuters) - South Korea's finance minister on Wednesday said the government will consider preparing a supplementary budget to create jobs and boost economic growth."We won't rule out the possibility of an extra budget," Kim Dong-yeon said at a parliament session when a lawmaker asked if the government's push to add jobs will mean increased fiscal expenditure. In 2017, South...Read More

* PREVIOUS TRADING SESSION MOVES:* SSEC -1.1 pct, CSI300 -1.4 pct, HSI -0.7 pct* HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used 13.1 pct* HK->Shenzhen Connect daily quota used 7.6 pct* CNY official close 6.317 per dollar* FTSE China A50 -1.9 pct, BNY Mellon ADR China Select Index -2.4 pct SHANGHAI, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Following is a list of recent corporate and policy announcements, as well as other...Read More

WELLINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - New Zealand businesses remained pessimistic about the outlook in February, though the mood improved somewhat from the previous month, an ANZ Bank survey showed on Wednesday.The survey's headline measure showed a net 19 percent of respondents expected the economy to deteriorate over the year ahead. It compared with a 37.8 percent pessimism level in the previousmonth's...Read More

Feb 28 (Reuters) - For other diaries, please see:Top Economic Events Emerging Markets Economic Events Government Debt Auctions Political and General News U.S. Federal Reserve Today in Washington DATE COUNTRY AUCTION DETAILS 28-FebGermany Auction of 10-year Federal bonds 28-FebSwedenAuction of Treasury bills1-MarSpain Bond auction1-MarUnited KingdomAuction of 0 3/4 % Treasury Gilt 20231-MarJapan 3...Read More

Feb 28 (Reuters) - For other diaries, please see:Top Economic Events Emerging Markets Economic Events Government Debt Auctions Political and General News U.S. Federal Reserve Today in Washington -----------------------------------------------------------This Diary is filed daily. ** Indicates new events ----------------------------------------------------------- WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28 SINGAPORE -...Read More

Feb 28 (Reuters) -For other diaries, please see:Top Economic Events Emerging Markets Economic Events Government Debt Auctions Political and General News U.S. Federal Reserve Today in Washington -----------------------------------------------------------This Diary is filed daily. ** Indicates new events ----------------------------------------------------------- WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28 OTTAWA - Cana...Read More

(Repeats to attach to additional alert)TOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Japan's industrial output tumbled 6.6 percent in January from the previous month, government data showed on Wednesday, in a sign of a dip in corporate activity.The fall compared with a median forecast for a 4.2 percent decline and followed a revised 2.9 percent rise in the previous month.Manufacturers surveyed by the Ministry of Eco...Read More

TOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Japanese retail sales rose 1.6 percent in January from a year earlier, compared with a median market forecast for a 2.1 percent increase, government data showed on Wednesday.For background, please see this PREVIEW To view full tables, go to the website of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry at: (Reporting by Izumi Nakagawa Editing by Chang-Ran Kim) Disclaimer: Th...Read More

TOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Japan's industrial output tumbled 6.6 percent in January from the previous month, government data showed on Wednesday, in a sign of a dip in corporate activity.The fall compared with a median forecast for a 4.2 percent decline and followed a revised 2.9 percent rise in the previous month.Manufacturers surveyed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expect output t...Read More

BRASILIA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Brazil Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said on Tuesday that the country's economy would grow by more than the 2.8 percent rate currently forecast by economists, also predicting 2019 growth would be greater than 2.5 percent.Meirelles said he would not be surprised if 2017 growth hit 1.1 percent instead of the 1 percent forecast. (Reporting by Marcela Ayres Writing b...Read More

Goldcorp has selected four finalists and eight semi-finalists to compete in the firm's 2018 #DisruptMining innovation contest.Read full newsRead More

(Adds background, details on retail unit)MEXICO CITY, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Mexican bottler and retailer Fomento Economico Mexicano (Femsa) on Tuesday said its net profit fell more than 70 percent in the fourth quarter, hit by the revaluation of assets in its Venezuelan Coca-Cola bottling operation.Net profit in the October-December period was more than 1.83 billion pesos ($93 million), down from ne...Read More

Gold is under stress on a higher USD after Powell sounded more optimistic in the Q&A session of his testimony. Earlier, Gold inched down after Powell said market volatility won’t stop more rate hikes. Gold is now trading around $1,317.00 a troy ounce in US session, down by almost 1.20% on a higher USD after the new Fed chair sounded more optimistic about inflation i...Read More

* Dec qtr growth seen at 6.9 pct y/y vs 6.3 pct in Sept qtr* Govt spending, manufacturing pick-up help economic recovery* IMF expects economic growth to rise to 7.4 pct in 2018 * GDP data due on Wednesday, Feb 28 at 1200 GMT By Manoj KumarNEW DELHI, Feb 28 (Reuters) - India might have regained the status of the world's fastest-growing major economy in the October-December quarter, driven by highe...Read More

In his first testimony to the Congress, Jerome Powell, the newly appointed chairman of the Federal Reserve, said that the economy was in fact normalizing. As such, he made it clear that in next month’s FOMC meeting each member will reevaluate the current monetary policy as it reflects upon the number of interest rate hikes this year.In other words, now that our economy is becoming more robus...Read More

In his first testimony to the Congress, Jerome Powell, the newly appointed chairman of the Federal Reserve, said that the economy was in fact normalizing. As such, he made it clear that in next month’s FOMC meeting each member will reevaluate the current monetary policy as it reflects upon the number of interest rate hikes this year.In other words, now that our economy is becoming more robus...Read More

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Chinese video streaming service provider iQiyi Inc, a unit of Baidu Inc , on Tuesday filed for an initial public offering of up to $1.50 billion with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.The company plans to list its American Depository Shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol "IQ." The company, known for its Netflix-like services, has over 50 million subscribed me...Read More