China Unveils Huge Stimulus for Ailing Economy

In what amounts to a massive adrenaline shot for the world’s second biggest economy, China’s central bank unveiled a series of economic stimulus measures on Tuesday. China’s economy has been dogged by a property market crisis, consumer price weakness and rising global trade tensions. And Tuesday’s announcement underscored the mounting alarm within President Xi Jinping’s government over slowing growth and depressed investor confidence. China’s economy sits dangerously close to a deflationary cycle and economists believe the stimulus measures have bought the country some time and helped change the narrative around the slump. Only in the past few weeks have banks from Goldman Sachs to UBS cut their forecasts for China’s economic growth following a slew of bad data that raised alarms about falling prices. Stocks rallied following the news. Here’s your markets wrap.

The US Justice Department sued Visa, alleging the global payments giant illegally monopolized the debit-card market. It’s the Biden administration’s first major antitrust case targeting the financial services industry. Antitrust enforcers alleged that Visa, which handles more than 60% of US debit transactions, entered into a series of agreements penalizing merchants who sought to use alternatives and paid potential rivals to stay out of the market. It’s the latest suit that alleges antitrust behavior stifled innovation. The DOJ has taken on Alphabet’s Google and Live Nation with similar suits.