China, poised to become the world’s biggest aircraft buyer, will finalize orders for 184 Airbus SE A320 family aircraft soon, French President Emmanuel Macron said after talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.The previously unannounced orders are mainly for the A320neo jets, with deliveries to 13 airlines scheduled in 2019 and 2020, an aide to Macron told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday, without elaborating or providing the value of the deal.

Asia’s stock rally to record highs looked to take a breather on Wednesday as investors consider the impact of a jump in bond yields. The yen strengthened for a second day, with traders fixating on prospects for scaled-back debt purchases from the Bank of Japan.Reduced asset purchases by the world’s top central banks, rising commodity prices and looming U.S. debt sales all support the case for higher bond yields, in a potential test to surging equity valuations. Yields on 10-year U.S.

The company with the biggest grip on Thailand’s brick-and-mortar retail market is expecting a partnership with China’s JD.com Inc. to help it do the same in online sales.Central Group, which controls Thailand’s biggest operator of shopping malls and department stores, expects online sales to account for as much as 15 percent of its revenue in five years, from 2 percent now.

China took another step to clamp down on leverage in the financial system, ordering banks to ensure they aren’t exposed to risks from their entrusted loan business.Banks can only act as intermediaries when arranging entrusted loans, and must not provide guarantees or get involved in decision-making, according to new rules posted in a statement on the China Banking Regulatory Commission’s website over the weekend.The entrusted loan business, which normally involves companies providing finance

Thousands of tourists have floated in a hot-air balloon over Myanmar’s historic Bagan plains dotted with more than 2,200 ancient Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries. Chances are they rode one of Memories Group Ltd.’s inflatables.The company, the largest operator of balloons in the area, will start trading under the MEGL ticker on the Singapore stock exchange on Friday.

A hare can be outrun by a tortoise. Dalian Wanda Group Co.'s Wang Jianlin should have heeded the ancient wisdom and stuck with real estate.The conglomerate's fall from grace has been swift. As recently as 2015, Wanda was the fourth-largest property developer in China, generating 151 billion yuan (23.2 billion dollars) in sales, according to data from China Real Estate Information Corp.

India and Thailand may have to give freer rein to the rupee and baht this year to avoid triggering U.S. accusations that they’re manipulating their currencies to support exports.The Reserve Bank of India has already exceeded a key threshold on how much it can intervene to curb the rupee’s gains that the U.S. monitors, according to Nomura Holdings Inc.

China’s central bank will make modest increases in money-market rates in 2018 as it aims to keep up the pressure on deleveraging and prevent too much divergence with U.S. policy, according to a Bloomberg survey.The People’s Bank of China is seen raising interest rates on reverse-repurchase agreements by five basis points three times this year, starting in the first quarter, the survey shows.

Asian equities continued their positive start to the year on Wednesday following yet another record close on Wall Street, but the dollar faced further selling pressure.Analysts warned global markets could face an uncertain year as Donald Trump's tax cuts have already been priced into valuations, while central banks are also on course to start winding back on their years of cheap money.Investors have kicked 2018 off in buoyant mood as the world economy stirs to life and jobs creation, par

Singapore’s economy grew at a faster pace than economists estimated in the fourth quarter of 2017, boosted by services such as finance and insurance.Gross domestic product rose at a seasonally adjusted and annualized rate of 2.8 percent from the previous three months, according to preliminary figures from the trade ministry on Tuesday. The median estimate of eight economists in a Bloomberg survey was 1.6 percent.