Japanese investors in February sold the most overseas debt in a month in nearly two years on concerns over monetary tightening by the world's major central banks and an escalation in Russia-Ukraine conflict.

BEIJING (Reuters) -China's factory inflation in February eased to the slowest annual pace in eight months, but analysts expect a pick-up in the coming months from surging prices of global commodities including oil, challenging policy-making to support the economy.

Bitcoin led a rally in cryptocurrencies on Wednesday after what appeared to be a prematurely published U.S. Treasury statement allayed market worries about a sudden tightening of U.S. rules around digital assets.

BEIJING (Reuters) -China's factory inflation in February eased to the slowest annual pace in eight months due to seasonal effects from the Lunar New Year holiday, but analysts expect it to rise in the coming months because of surging global commodity prices.

The crisis in Ukraine is giving the Bank of Japan a headache not facing other major central banks, forcing it to maintain a more dovish stance on monetary policy despite rising inflationary pressures and a dearth of tools to combat another economic downturn.

BEIJING (Reuters) -China's producer prices in February rose at the slowest annual pace since June, official data showed on Wednesday, amid skyrocketing commodity prices, an uncertain global economy and resurgent domestic COVID-19 outbreaks.