China’s stimulus salvo shows early signs of economic growth at a higher level. upper trajectory. Factory activity rose unexpectedly after five months of contraction, even as exports continued to show weakness. This remains worrying and it is still unclear whether Beijing’s measures will finally convince consumers to start spending more. One of Asia’s largest alternative asset managers sees this momentum coming from elsewhere: a the deepening of the trade war with the United States. An escalation could prompt China to focus more on private consumption, Weijian Shan, executive chairman of PAG, said on the Asia Centric podcast with Bloomberg Intelligence.

Samsung recovered what was shaping up to be a day of dismal results. During a question-and-answer session on a call with analysts, the company reported that it was making significant progress toward obtaining certification from Nvidia for its most advanced AI memory chips. It was exactly the line investors were waiting for, especially after the Korean tech giant reported a surprise drop in semiconductor profits. Stocks erased losses to rise as much as 3.6% and closed with a slight gain, offering some relief to investors stung by their superb fall over the last three months.