ECB 'not done with rate hikes'

Investors shouldn't count on the European Central Bank's unprecedented bout of interest-rate hikes ending in July, Governing Council member Martins Kazaks said.

Moreover, he described market bets for borrowing costs to be cut in the spring of next year as "significantly premature."

The remarks are the toughest since the ECB slowed the pace of its rate hikes last week, while pledging that it's not following the Federal Reserve's example by opening the door to a pause. Most members of the 26-strong Governing Council have mostly reiterated President Christine Lagarde's stance that there's more ground to cover.

In other news, China's investment in Europe reached a 10-year low in 2022 of just EUR7.9 billion (HK$67.9 billion), a 22 per cent decline year-on-year, mainly due to the lack of mergers and acquisitions activities,according to a study by Rhodium Group and the Mercator Institute for China Studies.