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Stocks shaky on more bad news from the US…

admin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 15:40:14 +0000

More US data means more bad news as of late. Yesterday the initial claims data show another increase, this time to 472k, while the ISM dived to 56,4 pts., far deeper than the market anticipated While the first reflects a tendency evident from the start of this year, the latter confirms a deterioration in economic performance in the US. The data fits in the bearish stock market scenario with the Dow and S&P500 futures making new lows (at 9560 and 1006 points respectively).

…while euro rebounds…

During the last couple of years investors got used to a positive correlation between the stock markets and the EURUSD or at least to the money flowing towards the USD in uncertain times. Yesterday, as the major stock indices hit fresh 2010 lows in a response to poor US figures, the EURUSD was on its way up. It actually skyrocketed from 1,22 to 1,25 – the biggest move in this direction since the downtrend began in Dec’09. It automatically spurred talks of investors selling the dollar on deteriorating US fundamentals, especially given the superb performance of German exporters. Would that be true, the euro could be on a longer trip up and fore mostly, market reactions would reverse (with the euro now gaining on the poor US data and sliding on good one).

The trick, however, is that the situation was influenced by the ECB drawing back cash from the giant annual repo. First of all, the European banking sector didn’t apply for as much of a roll-over (shorter term operations) as market expected – a sign of decent liquidity and a good news for the euro. Second, the operations could have caused some direct demand for the euro on the spot market. Therefore, one should be cautious with declarations of longer-term changes in attitude towards the euro.

Nevertheless, one could have observed some early signs of trend reversing or at least stabilization on the EURUSD for a while (not going for fresh lows despite negative influence of the stock markets and premiums on debts of many European countries still around the highs), and therefore yesterday’s shot upwards was more likely to happen. A key resistance for the pair at the moment lays at 1,2660.

…sending gold down

If the euro’s upshot surprised some investors, gold’s tumble left them speechless. Despite the dollar’s depreciation and elevated fears on the stock markets, gold not only didn’t move up but it literally crashed with ounce prices going temporarily below 1200 USD. Some link this directly to positive signs from the European banking sector (alleviating fears and thus prompting liquidation from long gold positions) but the true reason might be an exhaustion of demand. Gold prices might have just completed a full 5-wave structure (or are about to do so in a near future) sending prices from 680 to 1260 USD per ounce and a large scale correction may be around a corner.

Events to watch – payrolls, payrolls, payrolls

If there is anything capable of changing the market picture in a significant way it is definitely the payrolls release (8.30 ET, 14.30 CET). However, for this to happen, the data needs to at least show a rise in employment in a private sector by some 120k which was expected a week ago (actual expectations might have slipped since then). The consensus for the headline is at -110k because of (this time negative) an impact from the census hiring.

Published on Fri, Jul 2 2010, 08:54 GMT

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Fed could emerge intact from Wall Street reform debate

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:20:29 +0000

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – After suffering more than a year of abuse over its role in the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve is poised to emerge with its powers relatively intact as lawmakers finalize a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations.

Politics | Deals

With congressional elections looming in November, Democrats in charge of the process say the House of Representatives and Senate bills are relatively close. They aim to finish hammering out differences in the two versions by June 24 so President Barack Obama can sign the reforms into law by early July.

On Wednesday, House and Senate negotiators are expected to back away from measures for the Fed that would expose the central bank’s monetary policy to scrutiny and make one of its top officials a political appointee.

The committee convenes at 11:00 a.m. EDT for its second full day of work.

The Fed has admitted it was too complacent about its oversight duties before the 2007-2009 financial crisis that prompted the worst recession in generations.

While the Fed has endured tongue-lashings from lawmakers who say it is too close to the banks it regulates, much of that anger may have dissipated since Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke sweated through a tense Senate confirmation vote in January.

BANKS FACE LIMITS

House Democrats on the reform panel said on Tuesday they would drop a provision included in their version of the bill that would have opened the Fed’s interest rate policy to congressional audits.

House Democrats also said they would try to defeat an aspect of the Senate bill that would allow the U.S. president, rather than banks, to name the head of the New York Fed.

Both provisions would undermine the bank’s independence, Fed officials have argued.

The committee must also resolve disputes about how to limit banks’ risky trading activities, how to protect consumers and whether to limit fees on debit-card transactions.

On Tuesday, credit-rating agencies like Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s dodged a bullet as the committee cut a measure that would have set up a clearinghouse to eliminate perceived conflicts of interest in the ratings industry.

Instead, the committee told regulators to study conflicts of interest that critics say led to overly rosy ratings before the crisis and then take action if they deem it necessary.

Banks are pressing to limit the impact of a proposal that would limit their ability to trade on their own accounts and invest in private equity and hedge funds. But their prospects appear to be dimming.

Banks also appear likely to face some limits on their lucrative swaps-trading operations as Democrats near consensus on a proposal by Senator Blanche Lincoln that would require banks to spin off their operations to a separately capitalized affiliate.

FED HAS SOME VICTORIES

On Wednesday, House Democrats hope to raise the client-care standard for brokers who offer financial advice to the level now followed by investment advisers.

But the provisions dealing with the Fed are likely to attract the greatest interest.

The central bank has already scored several victories as the financial reform effort works its way through Congress.

It fought off a Senate push last month that would have stripped the Fed of its oversight of smaller banks and looks set to emerge as the most powerful financial regulator when reforms are complete.

But the Fed is still likely to see its wings clipped.

While it will not have to reveal its monetary policy deliberations to investigators, the Senate wants a one-time look at the Fed’s emergency lending during the crisis.

House Democrats want to broaden that audit to cover regular discount window lending and open market transactions on an ongoing basis, albeit with a three-year lag.

(Additional reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh and Pedro Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by John O’Callaghan)

Politics

Deals

feeds.reuters.com

US trade defi cit widens from $39.4bn to $40.4bn in March

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 02:21:51 +0000

News and views

US equities gained and treasury yields gained, but currency and commodity markets wee mixed. The modest lift in optimism seems to have been inspired by Spain’s announcement of spending cuts worth €15bn, with Portugal expected to follow with their own new targets in the next few days. Also comforting was Portugal’s ability to issue €1bn bonds. The CRB commodities index rose 0.7%, although oil fell 1.2% (inventories reported higher), and copper struggled (-1.0%). Gold made a fresh record high of $1249. US 3mth Libor continued its rise, up 0.7bp to 0.43%. US 10yr treasuries followed equities’ lead and are 4bp higher in yield. The 10yr auction was solid, the yield on market and bids of 3 times the offered amount.

The US dollar index dipped in late Asian trading, but recovered fully in Europe/NY. EUR did the opposite, rising to 1.2740 in Asia, but falling back to 1.2620 in NY. GBP underperformed the majors, after a dovish BoE infl ation report, falling from 1.5050 to 1.4830. USD/JPY ground higher from 92.80 to 93.30.

AUD is little changed from its 0.8910 Sydney close, having tested 0.8980 during Europe.

NZD tested 0.7200 but fell back to 0.7110. AUD/NZD is slightly higher at 1.2535.

US trade defi cit widens from $39.4bn to $40.4bn in March. A 3.2% surge in exports (despite another fall in the lumpy civilian aircraft component) was more than offset by a broad-based 3.1% imports gain, which included a sharp jump in civilian aircraft and oil volumes (but not prices).

Euroland GDP grew 0.2% in Q1, refl ecting a similar sized gain in Germany, but softer 0.1% growth in France and a solid 0.5% bounce in Italy. Back revisions to national data were not incorporated in the fl ash Euroland estimate, so Q4 remains at 0.0% for now, but that may be revised higher when more GDP detail is published on 4/6. Other data included a 1.3% rise in Euroland industrial production in March, the tenth straight monthly gain after the collapse in output in late 2008/early 2009.

Estonia admission to euro approved. This will take place in January 2011, making Estonia the 17th country to adopt the euro (apparently it’s too late for them to back out now!).

Bank of England infl ation report. The BoE still sees infl ation above target for a while, but below 2% by 2012 which is most relevant when setting monetary policy. The Governor said he had seen the broad fi scal plans of the new coalition which included more aggressive budget cuts than committed to by the previous government. These were not included in the Bank’s projections but he welcomed them as they reduced the downside risk that would fl ow from adverse market reaction to lack of progress on the fi scal front.

UK labour market still fragile. Although benefi t claimant count unemployment fell 27k in April, the more respected but less timely household survey found a 53k increase in unemployment in Q1, and a 76k fall in jobs in the quarter.

Canadian trade surplus C$0.3bn in March. This narrower surplus refl ected a modest export fall and a 2% rise in imports. Other data included a 0.3% rise in March new house prices, the ninth in a row.

Outlook

AUD/USD and NZD/USD outlook next 24 hours: Australia’s employment report today poses risks for the AUD, which looks soggy and should remain below 0.9050. The NZD also looks weak in the short term, capped by 0.7200, and more likely to move towards 0.7050.

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Published on Thu, May 13 2010, 04:43 GMT

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NZD underperformed, falling from 0.7200 to 0.7100

admin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 00:51:08 +0000

News and views

Risk markets partly rebounded after a barely changed stance by the Federal Reserve last night. US rates would remain low for an “extended period”, and there was no mention of asset sales, but the assessment of the labour market improved slightly. Even earlier, though, sentiment towards Europe had stabilised, investors seen buying the bonds of Greece and Portugal at stretched levels on expectations a bigger rescue deal would eventuate. A downgrade of Spain by Standard & Poor’s from AA+ to AA caused only a minor and temporary reaction. US company earnings continued to beat analyst estimates (Dow Chemical stock rose 6%), and the S&P500 is currently up 0.7%. Commodities fi rmed, oil (+0.9%) performing well despite an inventory increase. With safe-haven needs diminished, US treasuries were sold 7-8bp across the curve.

The US dollar is little changed from Sydney’s close, consolidating around 82.40. The EUR, too, started to form a base after Sydney, briefl y dipping to a fresh 12-month low of 1.3115 on the Spain news, but recovering to 1.3200 thereafter. Safe-haven yen was the day’s underperformer, the dollar rising from 93.00 to 94.30.

The AUD gained during a choppy evening, briefl y dipping to 0.9160 before recovering to 0.9260. Some volatility was attributed to misreporting of RBA-watcher McCrann’s thoughts on the May meeting, in the end both he and fellow watcher Mitchell saying a hike was likely.

Outperformer NZD gained to 0.7180, and has surged further this morning on RBNZ expectations to 0.7220. AUD/NZD ranged between 1.2840 and 1.2900.

The AUD was around 0.9245 at the Sydney close, falling to 0.9160 with the EUR, and slipping to 0.9136 at the NZ open.

NZD underperformed, falling from 0.7200 to 0.7100. AUD/NZD recovered from just above 1.2800 to 1.2900, then consolidated around 1.2870.

The Fed left its funds target unchanged at 0-0.25% following this week’s FOMC meeting. The statement was similar to that issued after the previous meeting on March 16, with just a few tweaks in the economic assessment paragraph; the commitment to maintain “exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period” was in the statement again, as it has been for more than a year now. Also as in January and March, there was one dissenter, Tom Hoenig, who preferred to drop the “extended period” commitment. The remainder of the statement was briefer than in March, dropping reference to the now completed mortgage-backed security purchases, though it reiterated that the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility is scheduled to close on June 30 for loans backed by new-issue commercial mortgage-backed securities. One slightly odd note was that the comment “employers remain reluctant to add to payrolls” was retained as in March, despite the assertion “that the labor market is beginning to improve” just two sentences prior. But overall, steady as she goes for the Fed, with no fresh hints that we are getting closer to any sort of monetary tightening, whether via higher rates or asset sales.

Japanese retail sales rose by 0.8% in March, well above consensus expectations of a 0.6% fall in the month. Year-ended growth accelerated to 4.7% in Mar, from 4.2% in Feb. The gain in the month was broad based, with all but one sub-category of retail sales rising in Mar.

German infl ation eased slightly in April, in monthly (–0.1%) and annual (1.0% yr) terms.

Canadian house prices rose 9.9% yr in Feb, according to Teranet-National Bank. This series is only starting to gain widespread attention and we do not yet have access to back history so we will refrain from further analysis for the time being.

Spanish government debt was downgraded a notch top AA by Standard & Poor’s, following the Greek and Portuguese downgrades yesterday.

Outlook

AUD/USD and NZD/USD outlook next 24 hours: Sentiment is weak this morning, and should limit any gains. AUD should be capped by 0.9250, at least until the important infl ation release (which will have implications for a May hike). The NZD’s break above 0.7200 proved false, and 0.7180 should cap action today. Business confi dence should be watched.

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Published on Thu, Apr 29 2010, 04:33 GMT

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Key fundamentals from the euro zone and U.K. after introducing aid for Greece

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:05:55 +0000

This week, the euro zone will release its confidence for March and unemployment for February data, while the U.K. will release its final GDP reading for the fourth quarter. However, the main focus remains on deficit issues in EU countries after offering help to Greece.

In the euro zone, confidence slipped suddenly in February after reaching a record in January. After the improvement signaled in the third quarter, the pace of progress slowed in the fourth quarter and in the first quarter of 2010, raising concerns recovery may falter or be sluggish this year.

Other data to be released this week will show that unemployment climb to 10.0% in March from 9.9%, but meanwhile the main focus is not the rising jobless rate as before but is on the swelling budget deficit across EU members.

The data released recently from the euro zone is showing deterioration due to the cold weather, the unwinding of stimulus measures, and the Greek woes that reduced confidence in the euro area countries.

However, the outlook may improve in the coming period after the EU endorsed the German-French proposal of giving an aid to Greece through a combination between the IMF and EU loans. But debt concerns are still persisting despite the aid introduced last week to Greece as many EU countries are still suffering from high debt and may not be able to reduce their debt to the 3% ceiling set by the EU this year.

For instance, Fitch Ratings lowered Portugal’s sovereign credit rating to AA-minus from AA on Wednesday and said that it sees negative outlook for the country. Spain is also suffering from high debt along with other macroeconomic problems which may open the door for European economies to ask for assistance in the coming period.

Moving to the British economy, growth rebounded to 0.3% from 0.2% contraction in the third quarter, while annually GDP came in at -3.3% from -3.2%. Growth estimates this week are showing that the final reading will remain unchanged from the flash reading.

The preliminary reading showed that the incline was led by services output was which was revised to 0.5% from the previous 0.1%. The reading was lifted also by private consumption that climbed to 0.4% from 0.1% and government spending which spiked to 1.2% from the revised 0.4%.

Data released recently from the U.K. is showing improvement and providing evidence the economy is on the right track towards recovery. However, Darling mentioned in the annual budget report that growth this year will be between 1%-1.5% inline with previous expectations, while it is presumed to range between 3 and 3.5% next year, which lower than the prior expectations of 3.75%.

Nonetheless, aside from the political pressure of having a minority government, the main focus remains budget deficit woes that are threatening recovery in the economy. Darling said in his budget statement to the Parliament that he pledges to slash the budget deficit by half within four years, as the government is going to reduce borrowing without hurting the recovery of the nation.

Darling revealed that borrowing will retreat to 131 billion pounds in 2011-2012 then to 110 billion pounds in 2013-2012 till reaching 89 billion pounds by 2014-2015 then 74 billion pounds after that.

Published on Sun, Mar 28 2010, 09:34 GMT

fxstreet.com

Sirius XM gets 2nd warning from Nasdaq (AP)

admin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:44:11 +0000

as in most other businesses, a few at the top are making millions (CEO's and Howard Stern), while loyal stockholders and customers get screwed. That said, we actually have Sirius radio in our cars, and on TV, and love it, though we've listened to Stern for a total of only five minutes in the last 1.5 years. We didn't find him entertaining or interesting and have no idea why he got the deal he got. We sure didn't buy Sirius because of him, but because we got tired of hearing the same songs over and over, regardless of whether it's the pop station or the rock station. Or we'd flip over to AM where we got tired of hearing the same couple of shows, each with one guy telling us his opinions, and how we need to think. No one's opinion is so valid to me that I'd listen to it daily for 3 hours plus commercials. THey call them “talk” shows, but they're really the “listen to my opinion and believe me” shows where they pat everyone on the back who called to kiss their rear, while hanging up on those who didn't. yawn……..

us.rd.yahoo.com

$4 billion yanked from stock funds in February (Reuters)

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:33:24 +0000

BOSTON (Reuters) –
Investors in February pulled an estimated $3.7 billion from U.S. stock-focused mutual funds, dashing hopes of a rebound in demand for equities, while showering $19.7 billion on
, according to a report from Morningstar.
U.S. stock funds
last year, analysts thought the trend might have turned around in January, when investors added a net $2.7 billion. But the one-month inflow ended in February, fund analysts at Morningstar wrote in their latest monthly report.
Bond giant PIMCO was the top recipient of new money in February, receiving $7.2 billion in net inflow. Privately held
was second, receiving $6.9 billion in net inflow, followed by the fund unit of bank
.N), which got $2.7 billion.
, withdrawing $2.4 billion in February after yanking almost $
the prior month and $23 billion in 2009.
.N) also remained out of favor, seeing $478 million slip out the door after $461 million departed in January and $5.1 billion in 2009.
In addition to the continued popularity of taxable bond funds,
gained. Investors added almost $5 billion to muni funds in February, about the same as in January. The total $10.1 billion of inflow was the strongest two-month start ever experienced, Morningstar said.
received net inflow of $4.6 billion in February, reversing $16.7 billion of net outflow in January.

us.rd.yahoo.com

EADS sees no financial hit from U.S. tanker loss

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:06:02 +0000

EADS sees no financial hit from U.S. tanker loss
(Reuters) – The apparent loss this week of a U.S. in-flight refueling tanker contract worth up to $50 billion will not affect EADS’s (
EAD.PA
) finances, the European aerospace group’s chief executive said on Thursday.
On Monday EADS’s U.S. partner Northrop Grumman (
NOC.N
) dropped out of the competition to supply the U.S. military with in-flight refueling tanker aircraft, leaving U.S. rival Boeing (
BA.N
) as the sole bidder.
“We can’t say this would have an immediate financial impact for us. It is roughly 15 planes a year and we produce 500 annually, so this is not something that will disrupt the balance at EADS,” Louis Gallois told French radio RTL in an interview.
“But the deal would have seen us set up an assembly line in the United States and become a U.S. plane maker. This won’t be possible now,” Gallois added.
Northrop and EADS had won the competition in February 2008 but the Pentagon canceled the deal after government auditors upheld a Boeing protest.
With Northrop’s decision to pull out of the race, the tanker deal is within Boeing’s reach nearly nine years after the U.S. Air Force first mapped out a sole-source deal with Boeing that was later killed by Congress after a huge procurement scandal.
“The consequence of this is that the U.S. taxpayer will probably pay more because there is no competition and the U.S. Air Force will have less efficient, less modern material,” Gallois said.
Gallois ruled out the possibility of EADS coming back into the race with a solo bid before the bidding deadline on May 10.
“If we wanted to stay we would need to find another U.S. partner because we need one … Can you imagine finding a new partner and putting a bid together in 60 days,” he said, adding though that the United States may decide to extend the bidding deadline following a protest from the French government.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has accused Washington of breaching international trade rules.
President Nicolas Sarkozy is also due to discuss the situation with Barack Obama during a trip to Washington at the end of the month.

feeds.reuters.com

Zain expects return up to $5 billion from Bharti deal

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:09:19 +0000

Shares in Kuwaiti telecoms firm Zain surge 9 percent after said it expects up to $5 billion in returns from its $10.7 billion deal with Bharti Airtel, after it pays off obligations.
“This (deal) will result in shareholders equity of around $9 billion. And after paying specific obligations, the company expects returns of a maximum of $5 billion,” Zain said in statement on the Kuwaiti bourse website on Tuesday.
Zain shares surged to a 14-week high on the news after the Kuwait bourse lifted a 2-day trading halt, climbing 9.3 percent to 1.18 dinars, as Kuwait’s index rose 0.8 percent to its highest level since October 28.
The expected returns from the deal will enter the firm’s books in the second quarter of 2010, Zain said.
Bharti is likely to finance nearly all the deal’s purchase price with foreign currency loans, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Distribution of any special dividend from the sale will be a decision for Zain’s board and shareholders, Zain added.
The deal marks one of the biggest cross-border transactions ever in the Middle East and a turning point in the long running saga around the third-biggest telecoms operator in the region.
Bharti Airtel said on Monday it is in exclusive talks to buy Zain’s African assets, excluding Sudan and Morocco.
Zain said the deal includes a $150 million break fee, payable by either side, if the deal fails.

feeds.reuters.com

A number of fundamentals from Asian economies drive the revival of equity markets

admin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 15:03:24 +0000

Sat, Feb 13 2010, 10:36 GMT
by ecPulse.com analysis team
Last week witnessed a number of major fundamentals from Asian economies pushing equity markets up after fluctuations witnessed in the beginning of the week. Easing inflation in China and declining unemployment in Australia were enough to increase investors’ appetite for risk, helping Asian indices to rise, but still fears regarding the situation in Greece ignited concern in financial markets that makes us expect sharp moves next week.
There is no doubt that investors are still worried about the strength of the global recovery, despite that the EU Economic Summit in Brussels carried good news concerning the deficit crisis in Greece. Finance Ministers agreed to aid Greece to narrow its deficit that rose to 12.7% of last year’s GDP, while the union’s limit is 3.0%.
Inflation in China eased to 1.5% in January compared with a previous 1.9%, and it came less than the forecasted 2.1%. Producer prices rose 4.3% in January from a year earlier, compared with 1.7% in the previous month, while the purchasing price index came at 5.5% from 3.0%.
However, inflationary pressures eased after the People’s Bank of China decided last month to force banks to raise their deposits by 0.5%, which is helping to control lending growth to avoid an asset bubble formation, which threatens growth in the world’s fastest growing economy. On the other hand, the Chinese Banking Regulator Commission said China will control credit growth to reach 7.5 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion) during this year.
Monetary policy makers are still monitoring credit markets since the Chinese GDP grew 8.7% in 2009 more than the government’s target of 8.00%, raising concerns about a bubble in the properties and stocks market. Thus, the central bank may raise interest rates and loosen controls on the yuan in the upcoming period in order to keep inflation rate under control.
Moreover, a report showed Chinese exports climbed 21% in January from a year earlier recording $109 billion, while imports jumped 85.5% to record $95.43 billion. China’s trade balance surplus narrowed to $14.17 billion in January compared with a previous surplus of $18.43 billion, and it was anticipated to show a surplus of $20.00 billion.
Nevertheless, unemployment in Australia unexpectedly declined for the third straight month to 5.3% in January from 5.5% in December, while it was expected to incline to 5.6%. Employment change rose for the fifth straight month and it came at 52.7 thousand in January compared with a prior revised 37.5 thousand from 35.2 thousand, while forecasts referred to 15.0 thousand.
Such improvements in the labor market are proving that the business sector is much stronger and demand for workers is increasing alongside better sales and advancing exports. Demand from China for resources is inclining especially with the nation’s manufacturing sector rebounding, while commodities prices are recovering from last year’s low records adding to exports value.
Better conditions in the labor market are adding pressures on the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates next month, after they were kept at 3.75% in February to give more chance for earlier changes to show its effect on markets. The RBA raised borrowing costs by 25 basis points in December following two similar decisions in October and November to become the first central bank in the world to raise its benchmark three times in 2009.
As for Japan, the current account surplus narrowed to 900.8 billion in December compared with a previous surplus of 1103.0 billion yen in November, while the adjusted current account surplus came at 1100.5 billion yen following a surplus of 1304.8 billion yen.
The nation’s trade balance surplus widened to 631.2 billion yen from 490.6 billion yen, and it came less than market projections of 669.4 billion yen. The report showed Japanese exports gained on the year for the first time 15 months that makes us believe the world’s second largest economy will gain back the support of the exports sector after a long absence. Overseas shipments rose 11.7% in December from a year earlier giving hope for Japanese manufacturers after a prolonged drop.
Yet, The Bank of Korea decided to keep interest rates steady at the low record of 2.00% for the 12th straight month, inline with market expectations. Policy makers aim at giving the economy more time to benefit from low borrowing costs to support recovery in Asia’s fourth largest economy.
Mixed fundamentals seen recently in South Korea besides the government’s pressures, forced Governor Lee to keep rates steady. The Korean Finance Minister said “it is premature for South Korea to pursue an aggressive exit strategy such as an interest rate increase”, which makes us expect interest rates not to be raised in the first half of this year.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index ended Friday’s trading by climbing 0.6% to 116.70. As for Nikkei 225 it ended Friday’s trading by rising 1.29% to close at 10,092.20 points. Meanwhile the S&P/ASX 200 closed on Friday at 4562.10 after rising 0.17%. Hang Seng ended Friday’s trading by falling 0.11% to close at 20268.69 points.
Dear reader, our tour in Asian economies this came to an end, and we are waiting for more fundamentals to be released this week that may help us figure out where the Asian region is heading, towards recovery or still held by the recession?

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