The Chicago Business BarometerTM, produced with MNI, rose 2.6 points in December, hitting a four-month high of 48.9.  Business sentiment dropped by 1.2 points to 46.2 in Q4, marking the lowest quarterly reading since Q2 2009. The index was below the 50-mark for the second successive quarter. Among the main five categories, Supplier Deliveries …

Hong Nam-ki.South Korea’s finance minister,  said on Monday the rate of decline in December exports will be significantly lower than in recent months. Recent trend in economic indicators supports expectations of an economic rebound next year, and the rate of decline in exports, which have been sluggish so far, … are expected to be significantly …

Industrial profits in November rose 5.4% from a year earlier to 593.9 billion yuan ($84.93 billion), snapping three months of decline, as production and sales quickened, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Friday. That compared with a 9.9% drop in October. For January-November, industrial firms notched profits of 5.61 trillion yuan, …