Overnight on Wall St The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its
business activity index, which measures activity at factories in the
mid-Atlantic region, was at minus 7.1 in August. Any reading below zero
indicates a contraction in manufacturing in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New
Jersey and Delaware.
The report offers an early sign
of the health of U.S. manufacturing. A national reading indicated the sector
shrank in June and July.
Still, the Philadelphia Fed’s
report showed a smaller contraction in August than in July, which economists
said took some of the edge off the bad news. Wall Street analysts were
expecting a reading of minus 5.
The dollar hit a one-month high
against the yen amid cooled expectations for further monetary easing by the
Federal Reserve. U.S. stocks rose following comments from German Chancellor
Angela Merkel that appeared to back the European Central Bank’s efforts to
fight the euro zone debt crisis.
The festering crisis in Europe is
a menace to U.S. manufacturers and already is weighing on the global economy.
China said on Thursday the outlook for its exports has darkened.
Also looming over the economy,
the government is on track to raise taxes and cut spending next year – a
prospect that is already hurting business sentiment.
Singapore
Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and
South Korea are projected to be the world’s richest economies on a per capita basis
by 2050 as the region’s rapid growth boosts wealth creation, a study showed.
The survey by property giant
Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank, reported in Singapore media Wednesday, also
showed multi-millionaires in Asia will continue to outnumber those in North
America and Western Europe by 2050.
Singapore topped the list in 2010
and is expected to keep the top spot in 2050, when the city-state’s gross
domestic product (GDP) per capita would reach US$137,710 (S$172,000).
It will be trailed by Hong Kong
(US$116,639), Taiwan (US$114,093) and South Korea (US$107,752) with the United
States coming in fifth place, falling from third place in 2010.
Singapore’s 2010 GDP per capita
stood at US$56,532, while Hong Kong (US$45,301) – the only other Asian economy
in the top 10 that year – was in fourth place.
Taiwan and South Korea were not
even in the top 10 in 2010.
Thailand
The World Bank still has
confidence that the Thai economy would grow by 4.5 per cent this year, as
previously projected, the bank’s senior economist Kirida Paopichit said on
Wednesday.
A major positive factor that
would boost economic growth in the second half of the year was the full
recovery in the industrial sector after it was severely hit by the great flood
late last year, while, the impact of the eurozone debt crisis on the export sector
was still minimal, she said.
Ms Kirida said the growth figure
in the fourth quarter of the year would be much higher than the same period
last year, when industry was hit by the devastating flood.
Foreign direct investment would
continue to flow into Thailand because it is an attractive investment
destination for foreign investors on the back of its strong economic
fundamentals, she added.
However, the senior economist
warned that the government should review its policy on trade and investment in the
service sector.
Indonesia
President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono announced on Thursday evening the government’s target of 6.8 percent
economic growth for 2013 and its decision to include a new factor in
calculating the state budget.
In a speech on the 2013 state
budget draft, the president said the government would factor gas lifting into
the macroeconomic assumptions used to calculate the state budget, along with
six other assumptions regularly used in the past.
Indonesia’s growth target of 6.8
percent for next year is higher than the target this year of between 6.3
percent and 6.5 percent. The target for last year was 6.5 percent.
The 2013 inflation rate is
targeted at 4.9 percent, only slightly higher than this year’s target of 4.8
percent, while the three-month treasury bill (SPN) rate is expected to stand at
5 percent.
The rupiah is expected to reach
an average of Rp 9,300 per dollar, with the price of oil at an average of $100
per barrel and oil lifting reaching 900,000 barrels per day.
“In addition to the six
macroeconomic assumptions, starting with the 2013 state budget draft, the
government will also use gas lifting as a basis for the calculation of state
revenue from non-oil natural resources,” Yudhoyono said in front of members of
the House of Representatives in Jakarta.
“In 2013, we assume that gas
lifting will be at around 1.36 million barrels of oil equivalent per day,” he
added.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong unemployment rate stood
at 3.2 percent in May-July 2012, same as that in April-June 2012, Census and
Statistics Department announced today. The underemployment rate, meanwhile,
increased to 1.5 percent in May-July, from 1.4 percent in the three-month
period ended June.
Total employment increased to
3.675 million in the period from 3.671 million in the period ended June. Labour
force grew 7,300 to 3.804 million over the same period.
The number of unemployed rose
3,000 to 128,500.
“Thanks to the resilient
performance of the domestic sector, the labour market held tight despite a
tepid overall economic growth,” said the Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Matthew Cheung Kin-chung. “It is noteworthy that the recent private sector
vacancy figures still demonstrate a generally positive hiring sentiment among
employers.”
Philippines
Philippine exports grew by only
4.2 percent in June after a double-digit rebound in May. The National
Statistics Office (NSO) on Friday reported that exports for the month reached
$4.31 billion, with electronics shipments dipping 14.6 percent to $1.89
billion.Total exports in the first half of 2012 rose 7.7 percent to $26.75
billion from $24.85 billion in the same period last year.
Shipments to Japan, the country’s
top exports market in June, decreased 24.7 percent after registering an annual
gain of 81.5 percent the previous month due to downward adjustment in
purchases. Exports to East Asia, the top export destination by economic bloc,
fell 5.4 percent from a year earlier, after a 25.6-percent annual climb in May,
and exports to Asean member-countries saw a 6.4-percent drop in June. Other top
buyers of Philippine products in June were the United States with $674.21
million, and China with $534.63 million.
Yesterday in Asia
Tokyo rose 1.88 percent,
or 167.72 points, to 9,092.76, Sydney climbed 1.14 percent, or 49.0 points, to
4,330.2 and Seoul closed flat, adding 0.95 points, to 1,957.91.
But Hong Kong gave up its morning
gains and slipped 0.45 percent, or 89.34 points, to 19,962.95 while Shanghai
shed 0.32 percent, or 6.75 points, to 2,112.20.
Singapore was flat,
edging up 0.78 points to 3,062.89. United Overseas Bank climbed 0.20 percent to
Sg$20.20 and Singapore Airlines inched up 0.09 percent to Sg$10.94.
Taipei rose 0.30 percent,
or 22.47 points, to 7,490.21. Leading smartphone maker HTC added 2.67 percent
to end at Tw$250.0 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was 0.12
percent lower at Tw$82.9.
Manila fell 0.90 percent,
or 47.15 points, to 5,219.51. Metropolitan Bank and Trust slid 2.69 percent to
92.30 pesos, Ayala Corp. dropped 0.89 percent to 421.20 pesos, while its
flagship Ayala Land ended 2.39 percent lower at 22.45 pesos.
Wellington slipped 0.41
percent, or 14.99 points, 3,616.20. Fletcher Building closed down 0.92 percent
at NZ$6.53 and Telecom was off 2.82 percent at NZ$2.76.
Jakarta rose 0.45 percent,
or 18.52 points, to 4,160.51. Telkom rose 6.0 percent to 9,800 rupiah, Bank
Rakyat increased 0.7 percent to 7,150 rupiah and mining company Aneka Tambang
jumped 1.65 percent to 1,230 rupiah.
Kuala Lumpur fell 0.22
percent, or 3.69 points, to 1,650.09.
Bangkok dipped 0.20 percent,
or 2.43 points, to 1,224.40. Banpu dropped 3 percent to 452 baht, while SCC
lost 1.45 percent to 339 baht.
India’s Sensex index fell 0.40
percent or 70.99 points to 17,657.21. Private aluminium producer Hindalco fell
2.62 percent to 117 rupees while the largest private bank ICICI Bank slid 1.3
percent to 956.5.
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