| Chinese travelers face Covid tests in Europe and the US. The Bank of Japan provides insight into its shock pivot. Tesla faithfuls keep buying up shares. Here's what you need to know today. Italian health authorities announced that they would begin testing all travelers from China for Covid after almost half of the passengers on two flights to Milan were found to have the virus. The US and other nations then announced their own new testing requirements for flights coming from China as the country abandons its Covid Zero policy. This comes as Chinese demand for holiday travel surged after the country announced that quarantine requirements would end in January, resulting in a 254% jump in flight bookings on Trip.com. Asia markets are set to fall after US equities slumped on concerns that the end of China's Covid restrictions could lead to a rise in cases around the world. It's been a markets year to forget: Global equities have lost a fifth of their value — the largest decline since 2008 on an annual basis — and an index of global bonds has slumped 16%. It turns out the Bank of Japan's shock move to double its yield cap earlier this month was more aimed at keeping stimulus on tap than changing policy trajectory, according to a summary of opinions from the meeting. The revelation caused the yen to weaken against the dollar. The central bank's dovish stance was reinforced as it announced an unscheduled bond buying operation after global yields surged. Japan's factory output shrank for a third straight month in November, supporting the BOJ's view that the economy's fragile recovery is still in need of support. The worst year ever for Tesla shares hasn't shaken individual investors' faith in the electric-vehicle maker and its billionaire CEO Elon Musk. Retail traders have been strong buyers of the stock every day this month, driving their net purchases to record highs in both December and the fourth quarter, according to Vanda Research. South Korean day traders bought a net $2.8 billion worth of Tesla stock this year, including $160 million in shares this month through Dec. 27, on track for a third month of net purchases. With Bitcoin on pace for one of its worst years on record, enterprise-software firm MicroStrategy announced its first ever sale of the token. Solana's SOL token, once championed by fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, tumbled Wednesday, bringing year-to-date losses to 94%. Meanwhile Solana's founders scrambled to distance themselves from Bankman-Fried's defunct FTX empire. The turmoil is also hitting other digital assets: Global monthly NFT sales plunged 89% in November. One theme that came to the fore in 2022 has been the relentless selling of many emerging-market assets as the Federal Reserve's rapid interest-rate hikes drove the dollar to eye-watering gains. That's helped to drive steeper declines over the past 18 months or so for the region's equities than those seen globally. There are signs of a turnaround in both flows and in stock prices that bode for a better 2023 in Asia. But much still depends on both how successful China is in reviving its economy and on whether the Fed gets the sort of inflation outcomes it needs to halt monetary tightening. That could offer Asian equities the chance for a strong bounce back from their worst two-year drop in more than a decade. Garfield Reynolds is Chief Rates Correspondent for Bloomberg News in Asia, based in Sydney. | 
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