Asia

Geographically, India-based fintechs dominated funding in APAC, accounting for 42 per cent and 34 per cent of total deal value and volume, respectively, in the region. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, fintech companies based in APAC surpassed previous deal values and volumes observed in the March quarter over the past three years.

"Asian oil demand growth is expected to slow in 2022 as China's demand has been hit by a resurgence of Covid-19, with lockdown measures imposed across many major cities," said Lim Jit Yang, advisor for Asia-Pacific oil markets at S&P Global Commodity Insights. Based on the latest April outlook, China's growth will be flat this year, after growing by 550,000 barrels per day in 2021.

Share prices have tumbled in Asia after a fire broke out earlier in the day at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the largest in Europe, BBC reported. Tokyo and Hong Kong faced the steepest falls, with Japan's benchmark Nikkei index 2.5 per cent lower and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong down by 2.6 per cent.

Stock markets in Asia have tumbled to their lowest in nearly 15 months after America's central bank chief confirmed widely expected plans to increase interest rates this year, beginning in March, The Guardian reported. With investors also concerned about political tensions between Russia and Ukraine, supply chain problems, and rising oil prices, the prospect of sustained increases in the cost of borrowing by the world's most powerful economy sent a spasm of anxiety through financial markets on Thursday.