March 31 (Reuters) - Oil futures dived more than $5 a barrel on Thursday morning on news that the Biden administration is weighing releasing some 1 million barrels of oil per day from strategic reserves for several months in a bid to calm soaring crude prices.

BEIJING, March 31 (Reuters) - Activity in China's factory and services sectors swung into negative territory in March, an official survey showed on Thursday, contracting simultaneously for the first time since the peak of the country's COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

BEIJING, March 30 (Reuters) - China's factory activity likely shrank in March, a Reuters poll showed, as the country imposed more mass testing and activity controls amid its worst resurgence of COVID-19 cases since early 2020.

SINGAPORE, March 30 (Reuters) - The battered yen bounced on Wednesday as traders began doubting whether Japanese authorities would tolerate too much more weakness, while hopes for a breakthrough in Russia-Ukraine peace talks helped the euro and dragged on the dollar.

HONG KONG, March 30 (Reuters) - Asia shares joined a global rally on Wednesday as hopes rose for a negotiated end to the Ukraine conflict, while bond markets signaled concern overnight that aggressive rate hikes could damage the U.S. economy after 10-year yields briefly dipped below two-year rates.

MELBOURNE, March 30 (Reuters) - Oil prices climbed on Wednesday, erasing losses from the previous session, on hopes of progress in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and providing a fresh reminder supply remains tight as data showed U.S. crude stocks fell sharply last week.