Euro zone consumers have slashed their inflation expectations, a European Central Bank survey showed on Tuesday, in comforting news for the ECB's efforts to contain prices.

Business morale at big Japanese manufacturers slid in January for the first time in four months and was expected to remain subdued, the Reuters Tankan poll showed, underscoring concerns about weak demand from China and elsewhere.

The head of Japan's biggest business lobby Keidanren on Tuesday called for wage hikes this year that exceed the inflation rate, setting the tone for annual wage talks that may pave the way for the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to exit its ultra-easy monetary policy.

China's population fell for a second consecutive year in 2023, as a record low birth rate and a wave of COVID-19 deaths when strict lockdowns ended accelerated a downturn that will have profound long-term effects on the economy's growth potential.

China's economy is expected to have grown by an "estimated" 5.2% in 2023, topping Beijing's target set at the beginning of last year, the country's Premier Li Qiang said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

China’s economy grew slightly less than expected in the fourth quarter amid consistent pressure from weak spending and a property market decline, although growth for 2023 managed to just edge past government targets.