Topic: China

Tracking China's economic course during the Lunar New Year can leave analysts howling at the moon. January auto sales tumbled, yet oil imports were the third highest on record. A closer examination of the data show bearish signals lurking beneath confusing headlines.

China's trade in January fell the most since the depths of the financial crisis, raising concerns Lunar New Year factory shutdowns do not fully explain a slump in imports and may instead be evidence of a further faltering in demand.

China's third-tier city of Wuhu, in eastern Anhui province, has relaxed restrictions on purchases of homes, easing limits on multiple home buyers and raising cash subsidies, the official China Securities Journal reported on Friday.

Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group plans to take its Hong Kong-listed unit, Alibaba.com, private, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. 

Bank of Communications, China's fifth-largest bank by assets, plans to raise 50 billion yuan ($7.9 billion) through a private share placement to meet stricter bank capital requirements, IFR reported on Thursday. 

Canaccord Financial and China's deep-pocketed Eximbank announced plans on Thursday to form a $1 billion fund to invest in Canadian resources, the newest push by the Asian giant to gain access to Canada's oil and minerals.

Asian shares ended lower on Friday, as investors remained concerned about Greece's commitment to debt restructuring even after it struck a long-awaited deal on fiscal reforms to secure crucial funding.

Trading in shares of Alibaba.com was halted on Thursday pending an announcement regarding its parent, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, which reportedly plans to buy back the 40 percent stake in it held by Yahoo.

Rio Tinto reported a 6 percent drop in underlying second-half profit and took a $9.3 billion charge mainly against its aluminum business, but appeased investors with a huge dividend hike, underscoring its long-term confidence.

China's inflation accelerated in January to a three-month high of 4.5 percent. That surprise, added to the country's central bank failing to cut reserve requirements for banks in the past month, could threaten the recent rally in Chinese stocks, according to one strategist.

China's annual inflation rate accelerated to 4.5 percent in January, well ahead of market expectations and breaking a five-month trend of easing price pressures as consumers ramped up spending during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday season.

The laws of probability dictate that the longer China delays a widely-expected cut to the required reserve ratio (RRR) for its banks, the more likely it is to come.

Asian shares ended mixed on Thursday, as markets were left without clear direction after Greek political leaders failed again to conclude a deal for a bailout package, which Athens needs to avoid a messy debt default.

Syngenta, the world's largest agrochemicals company, is aiming for higher earnings this year as price hikes and cost-cuts are expected to help it offset the impact of the strong Swiss franc and raw material prices.

China's steelmakers have racked up $400 billion in debt, which some may struggle to repay, making them a potential drag on a banking sector already facing rising bad loans from the property sector and local governments.