
Japanese big manufacturers' business confidence worsened in the three months to March compared with the previous quarter, the Bank of Japan's closely-watched tankan survey showed on Monday. The headline index for big manufacturers' sentiment stood at plus 11 in the first quarter, versus plus 10 seen by economists in a Reuters poll, the March tankan survey showed.

China's SAIC Motor aims to cut thousands of jobs this year at its joint ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen and at an electric-car unit, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The state-owned automaker hopes to cut 30% of employees at SAIC-GM, 10% at SAIC Volkswagen and more than half at its Rising Auto EV subsidiary, the people said.