Luokung Technology, a provider of map software and cloud services, faces removal from the Nasdaq Stock Market from March 15 while another four companies, including phone maker Xiaomi, which trade over the counter in New York have also been blacklisted.

It has been a rough quarter for the US economy, with the country plunging into a pandemic-fueled recession. Yet the stock market is alive and kicking - in fact, it's having its best quarter in more than 20 years.

Taiwan's stock market is racing toward its first record high in almost three decades. Investors are taking an upbeat view on the global semiconductor industry, but President Trump's standoff with China over technology has also helped.

For investors in Taiwan's $841 billion stock market, Tim Cook matters more than Tsai Ing-wen. "Any negative from Tsai can easily be washed out if the iPhone 7 does well," said JPMorgan.

China's economic slowdown, coupled with turbulence in the stock market, is prompting investors to take a second look at China's high startup valuations. Startups such as Xiaomi, which raised vast sums on China's mobile Internet boom, are now facing growing pressure to live up to expectations.

Stocks around the world plunged again on Thursday. The market volatility in China has raised concerns that a new financial crisis may be just around the corner.

The first mobile phone manufacturer to take advantage of Google's Android software, HTC was once a strong player in the market, but in the past several years has steadily lost ground to competitors Samsung, Apple and, more recently, efficient Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Huawei.

Slower growth in China and continuing stock market uncertainty pose a threat to global economic growth, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

Mainland Chinese shares made solid gains after reports that a government agency and Chinese funds are looking to add billions into the stock market.

The dramatic sell-off in China's main stock market has continued despite efforts by regulators to try to stem the losses.

Taiwan's securities regulator and the stock exchange have in recent days let slip that individual investors from the mainland may be able to begin investing in Taiwan's stock market by the third quarter of 2015.

Japanese regulators approved a merger between the nation's two biggest stock exchanges, paving the way for the first tie-up of major bourses after US$32 billion of global deals failed since last February.

LDK Solar Co., Ltd., a leading vertically integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic products, today announced that its Board of Directors approved a share buyback program that authorizes LDK Solar to repurchase up to US$110 million of its American Depository Shares ("ADSs") in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions. The program does not obligate LDK Solar to acquire any particular amount of its ADSs and may be modified or suspended at any time at the sole discretion of LDK Solar.

Shares and other risky assets from the Australian dollar to commodities such as copper and oil slumped on Tuesday while safe-haven assets like US Treasuries rallied as Japan's nuclear crisis worsened.

The devastation in Japan is set to worsen the negative short-term sentiment gripping a vulnerable US stock market, with companies exposed to Japan and the nuclear energy sector likely to take the biggest hits.