Many Federal Reserve policy makers said additional stimulus would
probably be needed soon unless the economy shows signs of a durable pickup,
according to the record of the Federal Open Market Committee’s July 31-Aug. 1
gathering released today in Washington.
Policy makers said after the
meeting that they will step up record stimulus if needed to spur growth and cut
a jobless rate stuck above 8 percent since February 2009. Chairman Ben S.
Bernanke will have an opportunity to clarify his views in an Aug. 31 speech at
a forum for central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he signaled a
second round of bond buying by the Fed in 2010. Fed officials next meet on
Sept. 12-13.
Japan’s trade with the rest of
the world in July showed a shortfall of 517.4 billion yen ($6.5 billion), the
largest ever deficit for the month and nearly double the 275 billion yen
deficit that had been forecast.
The figure also marked a drastic
reversal of June’s numbers, when Japan recorded a small but respectable surplus
of 60.3 billion yen.
The data showed “the recent trend
in which weakness in China and Europe has been putting major downward pressure
on Japan’s trade is getting even more serious,” said Takahiro Sekido, Japan
strategist of Global Markets Research at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
The latest figures “indicate that
they are not just risks anymore but a reality,” he told Dow Jones Newswires,
adding the result may encourage the Bank of Japan to take “preemptive” action
to shore up the economy, where exports play a vital role.
He said he expected the next
monetary easing moves by the Japanese central bank to come in late October, when
it is slated to release a semi-annual outlook report.
Overall exports slid 8.1 percent
to 5.31 trillion yen with shipments of electronic parts falling, even as
automobile exports rose.
Philippines
The country’s balance of payments
registered a surplus of $3.182 billion in July, up by 151 percent from $1.267
billion in the same month in 2011, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported on
Wednesday.
For the first seven months of
this year, the BOP surplus stood at $4.498 billion, down by 28 percent from
$6.283 billion in the same period in 2011.
The year-on-year growth in the
BOP surplus during the month was credited partly to the increase in foreign
portfolio investments, which were driven by the upbeat sentiment on the
Philippines.
During the month, credit-rating
firm Standard & Poor’s upgraded the Philippines’ credit rating from two
notches to just one notch below investment grade. S&P cited the Philippine
government’s improving fiscal condition, the growing economy, and the country’s
rising foreign exchange reserves.
A balance of payment surplus
happens when the foreign currency inflows exceed the outflows.
Malaysia
KLCI index gained 2.46 points or
0.15% on Wednesday. The Finance Index increased 0.30% to 14848.91 points, the
Properties Index up 0.09% to 1061.56 points and the Plantation Index rose 0.22%
to 8660.78 points. The market traded within a range of 5.80 points between an
intra-day high of 1655.39 and a low of 1649.59 during the session.
Actively traded stocks include
INGENS-WA, INGENS, ASUPREM, UTOPIA, NICORP, INIX, MAYBANK, SCOMI, THHEAVY and
THHEAVY-WA. Trading volume decreased to 1353.10 mil shares worth RM1622.63 mil
as compared to Friday’s 1481.48 mil shares worth RM1645.91 mil.
Leading Movers were MAYBANK (+14
sen to RM9.19), UMW (+36 sen to RM10.32), PETDAG (+62 sen to RM23.00), PETGAS
(+22 sen to RM19.50) and TENAGA (+4 sen to RM6.84). Lagging Movers were DIGI
(-2 sen to RM4.91), CIMB (-5 sen to RM7.81), GENM (-9 sen to RM3.40), AMMB (-7
sen to RM6.32) and GENTING (-3 sen to RM9.03). Market breadth was positive with
399 gainers as compared to 379 losers.
Indonesia
Coordinating Minister for the
Economy Hatta Rajasa has been urging two major foreign mining subsidiaries,
Freeport Indonesia and NNT, which is the local unit of US mining giant Newmont
Mining, to go public.
Hatta said that in meetings with
the management of the two companies, agreements had been reached regarding an
IPO; but he also said that renegotiations on revenue sharing with the two
companies had to be completed before an IPO could take place.
The government has been seeking
higher revenues from long term mining contracts.
“We hope to complete the
renegotiation this year because all sides want it,” Hatta said, adding a list
of government desires, including requiring miners to return portions of land
they’re not using to the state, that smelters be built, that local
participation in mining be raised and, of course, the requirement for the IPO
and a higher government share of royalties, or revenue from gross sales.
The 7 percent stake in NNT is
valued at $246.8 million, the amount that the government and the miner agreed
to in a deal last year.
NNT runs the country’s
second-biggest copper and gold mine on Sumbawa island in West Nusa Tenggara
(NTB) province — the district head of West Sumbawa expects the central
government to give priority to the district in its attempt to acquire a 7 percent
stake in NNT, after the central government was blocked last month from buying
NTT’s 7 percent stake.
Under Newmont’s current contract
of work, the gold and copper miner is required to divest 51 percent of its
stake in several stages.
Thailand
The Kasikorn Research Centre
projected that the Thai economy in the second half of this year will likely to
grow 7-9 per cent despite risks such as export slowdown, inflation and a
possible higher production cost.
In the second half of this year,
the centre sees the Thai economy expanding within a range of 7-9 per cent,
compared to last year’s low economic performances impacted by a devastating
flood.
The Thai economy has been driven
by government spending but exports are still at risk. Private sector spending
may slow down after having sped up during the post-flood period in the first
half of this year.
Meanwhile, production cost and
inflation may rise, so the centre has retained its projection of Thai economic
growth at 4.5-5.5 per cent.
The centre saw the Thai economy
growing only 2.2 per cent in the first half of this year due to accelerating
spending of the government and private sectors and recovery of industrial
production.
The industrial production in the
first half of the year grew 4.2 per cent, compared to the same period last
year, higher than the 0.4 per cent growth registered in the first quarter
via Thai economy to grow 7-9% in
second half of 2012.
Top five most active values were
as follows;
DTAC stood at 87.50 baht, up 3.25
baht (3.86%)
INTUCH stood at 68.50 baht, up
1.75 baht (2.62%)
SCB stood at 153.50 baht, down
1.00 baht (0.65%)
KTB stood at 17.90 baht, up 0.50
baht (2.87%)
BBL stood at 196.00 baht, down
2.50 baht (1.26%)
Tokyo fell 0.27 percent,
or 25.18 points, to 9,131.74 after Japan reported a wider-than-expected trade
deficit in July as exports to Europe and Asian neighbors plunged.
Sydney dipped 0.17 percent,
or 7.4 points, to close at 4,376.0, as mining giant BHP Billiton delayed
expansion of its massive Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine after posting a
near 35 percent slump in annual net profit.
Seoul fell 0.41 percent,
or 8.03 points, to 1,935.19, Hong Kong was down 1.06 percent, or 212.31 points,
to 19,887.78, while Shanghai slipped 0.50 percent, or 10.56 points, to 2,107.71.
Taipei fell 0.14 percent,
or 10.23 points, to 7,496.58.
TSMC fell 1.44 percent to Tw$82.4
while Hon Hai Precision was 0.23 percent higher at Tw$86.1.
Wellington was down 0.80
percent, or 26.36 points at 3,658.38.
Fletcher Building was off 5.1
percent at NZ$6.32 after posting a 35-percent fall in annual net profit, while
Telecom Corp. slipped 1.1 percent to NZ$2.775.
Bangkok rose 0.15 percent,
or 1.85 points, to 1,234.14.
Banpu shed 0.43 percent to 458
baht while PTT dropped 0.59 percent to 339 baht.
Kuala Lumpur gained 0.15
percent, or 2.46 points, to 1,652.25.
Malayan Banking climbed 1.6
percent to 9.19 ringgit, while utility Tenaga Nasional added 0.6 percent to
6.84 ringgit.
Singapore slipped 0.53
percent, or 16.30 points, to 3,049.47.
City Developments gained 1.56
percent to Sg$11.70 and United Overseas Bank added 0.45 percent to Sg$19.98.
Manila fell 1.05 percent,
or 54.66 points, to 5,152.15.
Mumbai slipped 0.21
percent, or 38.4 points, to 17,846.86.
India’s biggest mobile phone firm
Bharti Airtel fell 2.82 percent to 251.35 while state-run Corporation Bank lost
3.01 percent to 377 rupees.
Jakarta was closed for a
public holiday.
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