Emerging Asian markets are exposed to liquidity outflow being as vulnerable to global recession as in 2008, said the Asian Development Bank. There is a high risk of deep crisis in the developed economies followed by slow recovery, the organization added. Policy makers have to be ready to handle the impact of the global slowdown to support emerging markets in their countries, said Iwan Azis
Libya has restarted its oil production after war and the move will have a strong impact on the oil markets in the next months, said Abdullah Al-Badri, OPEC Secretary. The Libyan oil production is expected to hit the pre-war level in the second part of 2012. At the moment Libyan oil output reached 840,000 bpd being about 50% of prewar level of 1.6 million
China's government has started to focus on the lowering impact of the developed economies recession rather than on domestic inflation rate. Fine-tune of polices indicate the shift; the government decreased the reserve requirements for banks and is expected to cut taxes further to stimulate country's economic growth. China has to focus on providing adequate money supply thus inspiring economic development, said Yuan Gangming, researcher at Tsinghua
The difference between wages is getting bigger in almost all leading economies in the world, according to OECD. The survey researched 22 countries and indicated that the wage inequality between reach and poor essentially increased in 17 of these countries. The most unequal countries are Chile, Mexico, Turkey and the United States. Even in more egalitarian nations like Germany, Denmark and Sweden the gap is
Gold futures experienced essential losses falling below three-day low following the meeting of Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, and Nicolas Sarkozy, French President that added optimism for progress in combating with the euro-zone crisis. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gold futures for delivery in February were traded at USD1,748.15 a troy ounce at the early U.S. trade, easing down by 0.18% since opening.
Central bank of Australia decreased the key interest rate for the second consecutive month amid concerns about deteriorating global economic situation and lower domestic inflation worries. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut the key cash rate to 4.25% while some analysts expected the rate to remain unchanged.
Japan's Q3 growth of the GDP is going to be downgraded to an annual increase of 5.1% from 6.0% expected. Experts explain the decrease as a result of lower capital investment, reported Market New International. However, preliminary data of the GDP indicated the country's economy increased 1.5% on a quarterly basis indicating the first increase in the last four quarters.
Research in Motion, Blackberry producer, announced it is going to cooperate with Indonesian government to investigate Blackberry sales promotion in Indonesia that turned violent. The stampede appeared after the company promised to sell new device with 50% discount to first 1,000 customers; thousands of people started queuing before the midnight. Many people were injured when the crowd run out of control. The company suspects Andrew
Natural gas futures tumbled on Monday to two-week low as investors were put off by mild weather forecast limiting the heating demand. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in January were traded at USD3.487 per million British thermal units at the early U.S. trade, losing 2.69% since opening.
UK retail sales declined to 6-month low, as deteriorating economic outlook hit the consumption, reported British Retail Consortium. Sales in shops that are open at least one year lost 1.6% on a yearly basis, the biggest slump since May. Food sales added 1.5% while non-food trades edged down 2.1%. BRC's general director Stephen Robertson suggests the figures are quite pessimistic, especially amid forthcoming Christmas.
Clothing retailer Esprit Holdings Ltd. which is struggling to recoup from massive drop in profits experienced biggest drop in stock price since October 12. Esprit Holdings Ltd listed in Hong Kong lost 10.7% after its CEO Chew Fook Aun reported his resignation. Esprit shares are 71% down on a yearly basis. Chew Fook Aun explained he is leaving due to personal reasons.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict Bank of Canada will leave its key interest rate untouched today as country's price stability and economic growth are threatened by European debt crisis. Economists expect Canadian central bank to keep interest rate at 1%, unchanged since September 2010. Some investors are speculating Bank of Canada may cut the rate next year.
Australian dollar dropped against all of his main counterparts as the Reserve Bank of Australia lowered benchmark borrowing costs by 25 b.p. for a second consecutive month. Australian dollar lost 0.9% against US dollar reaching $1.0181 in Sydney trade. New Zealand's currency also depreciated after Standard & Poor's placed 15 euro-area countries on watch negative. Kiwi gave up 0.5% against US dollar to $0.7761.
On Monday US shares closed higher as Italian PM proposed austerity measures and investor confidence rose ahead of European summit. Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7% or 78.41 points and closed at 12,097.83. S&P 500 Index added 1% or 12.80 points to 1,257.08. Nasdaq Composite Index surged 1.1% or 28.83 points reaching 2,655.76.
On Monday German Chancellor and Merkel and French President Sarkozy announced they are aiming at revamping current treaties to strengthen the euro region's fiscal restraints and bring back confidence in Euro. Changes include developing tighter fiscal alliance along with stricter budget rules which would automatically penalize countries which violate deficit and debt limits.
On Monday Standard & Poor's positioned sovereign credit ratings of 15 nations on CreditWatch negative that could lead to downgrade in forthcoming few months. According to S&P statement, disagreements among European leaders on how to resolve the European debt turmoil are putting negative pressure on overall credit rating of the Eurozone. 15 countries include 6 AAA rated countries: Germany, France, Netherlands Austria, Luxembourg and Finland. Greece
Asian stocks closed lower on Tuesday as Standard & Poor's positioned most of Eurozone on monitoring for a credit rating downgrade and Australian central bank has cut its benchmark interest rate. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down 1.6%, Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8%, while South Korea's Kospi fell 1.2%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 1.1% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declined 1.0%.
Canadian stocks experienced gains following the news about new European treaty aimed at strengthening fiscal regulations in the euro-zone. The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 165.88 points to 12,240.97, after slight losses on Friday. The S&P/TSX Capped Diversified Metals and Mining Index increased by 4%, the S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index gained 2.2% and the S&P/TSX Capped Industrials Index increased by 1.8%.
The new sales of cars are expected to expand in 2012 as customers who postponed a car purchases last year are likely to return to the car market in the beginning of 2012, reported car-shopping website Edmunds.com. At least 100,000 deferred car purchases will return to car market by March 2012. Last week, car producers have already indicated strong sales in the US.
SuccessFactors shares increased over 50% to $39.71 following the announcement of the company's takeover by SAP AG, software developer, for $3.4 billion, or $40 a piece. Meanwhile, SAP AG shares lost 35 cents to $59.19. Other tech companies also experienced gains, Taleo Corp.'s shares increased by 18% to $39.04, Salesforce.com Inc. gained 5% to $125.97 and Oracle Corp. edged up 2% to $31.98.
Budget of 2012 Olympics security in London almost doubled to $1.6 billion, according to Associated Press. However, the event did not exceed the budget framework, said Hugh Robertson, Olympics minister. Initially, it was planned to have 10,000 security guards; however, now thousands of military staff are part of the games organization, said AP.
The pound increased against the US dollar following agreement of German and French leaders on struggling with the EU debt crisis. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor and Nicolas Sarkozy, French President agreed on automatic penalties imposed on deficit violators. GBP/USD approached to 1.5696 at the early U.S. trade consolidated at 1.5696, adding 0.62%.
UK Markit/CIPS PMI indicates a negligent growth of the service industry in November with the index increased to 52.1 from 51.3 in October. The indicator also signals on stagnating economy in the last quarter of 2011 and indicates that the pace of losing jobs is accelerating in the last 15 months, according to Markit.
Copper futures declined slightly on the increasing worries across lower PMI in China, the world largest consumer. China's HSBC services purchasing managers' index indicated that services sector activity declined to three-month low to 52.5 last month from 54.1 in October. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for March delivery were traded at USD3.582 a pound at the early European