The Japanese giant said on Tuesday that it would partner with Daihatsu and Suzuki to develop smaller electric vans, aiming to begin production next year.

Nancy Pelosi's visit will be the first by a Speaker of the US House of Representatives in 25 years

China's holdings of US government debt fell to $980.8 billion in May, the lowest since May 2010. Yields of US Treasuries slid about 15 basis points during the month.

Japan's aims is to send a clear signal of government backing for the project and bucks moves by West that has prohibited firms from making new investments in Russia

TSMC, a key Apple supplier and the world's largest contract chipmaker, said profit soared by 76% in the April-June period, to T$237 billion ($7.9 billion)

Taiwan is weighing a fine of up to T$25 million ($835,600) on Foxconn for funding struggling Chinese chip conglomerate Tsinghua Unigroup without government approval

Taiwan has told Foxconn it must seek permission to invest in Tsinghua Unigroup, after reports that a China-listed subsidiary wants to invest $1.5bn as part of its push into computer chips

The launch comes after Hyundai announced plans to build EV plants both at home and the US, where the Ioniq 5 and Kia's EV 6 SUV together became the second-best selling EVs

Over 40,000 new cases were announced on Wednesday, the highest level since May 11 and there are fears cases could soar to 200,000 by mid-August, the PM said

South Korean central bank raised benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 2.25%, the biggest hike since the bank adopted the current policy system in 1999

The Reuters Tankan showed sentiment among Japanese manufacturers and the services sector improving only modestly over the next three months

Covid curbs in Shanghai reignited worries of a wider economic disruption, while possible delisting risks of major Chinese firms from US exchanges dragged Hong Kong shares to a six-week low.