The Bank of Japan decided to leave its key interest rate unchanged, said officials after the policy meeting. Central bank policy makers voted unanimously on keeping overnight rate at 0-0.1%. Country's economy has slowed down amid global uncertainty, appreciation of Yen and Thailand flooding. BOJ claimed no changes will be implemented until prices reach at least medium term stability.
Asian stock markets experienced a sharp increase on Wednesday led by resource firms and exporters, as investors regained optimism about the global economy outlook. China's Shanghai Composite rallied 0.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rocketed 1.6% while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 1.4%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 2.1% and South Korea's Kospi rallied 3.1%.
Germany's business confidence surprisingly surged in December for the second consecutive month, indicating the country is coping well with Eurozone's debt crisis. Business climate index, estimated by Ifo institute advanced from 106.6 in previous month to 107.2 in December. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted a decline to 106. Reading show German firms do not believe in worst crisis scenario, said Alexander Koch, UniCredit's economist in Munich.
France is expecting the UK to support the IMF fund aimed at combating with the Euro Zone's debt crisis, according to Valerie Pecresse, Budget Minister. The Eurogroup counts on the countries that are outside the EMU to boost the IMF fund by EUR50 billion, including EUR30 billion contributed by the UK. Moreover, Henri Guaino tried to reassure investors citing the successful Monday's auction and
Repsol YPF SA announced it plans to repurchase 10% of its shares from the largest shareholder Sacyr-Vallehermoso SA. Trading of two companies' shares was suspended on Tuesday before the opening of the market. Sacyr has a large portion of debts and its shares were traded at EUR4.03 while Repsol shares closed at EUR22.18. The share repurchase will end management clashes of two companies and will
The HTC was found guilty of Apple Inc.'s patent infringement. All phones that contain the technology stipulated by the Apple Inc. patent will be prohibited for sale at the US territory starting from 19 April, 2012. Initially Apple Inc. submitted 10 patent infringement claims but the court satisfied only one claim and the HTC is pleased with the court decision.
Europe's stocks increased being supported by banks. The Stoxx Europe 600 index added 5% to 234.94 mainly due to higher banking shares with UniCredit SpA and BNP Paribas SA both gaining 3.6%. The France's CAC 40 index rose by 1% and German DAX 30 index increased by 0.7%. However, the drug shares suffered losses with AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline PLC edging down by 1% and
17-nation currency recovered on Tuesday after European finance ministers agreed to provide extra funding worth $195 bn through IMF. Euro appreciation was also fuelled by unexpected rise in German business confidence. European common currency gained 0.3% against US dollar, reaching $1.3040. Currently EUR/USD is trading at $1.3079.
The central bank of Sweden, the Risksbank, reported it plans to decrease the repo rate to 1.75%, down by 0.25% citing the deepening recession in the Euro Zone that impacts country's exports. The bank also announced when the situation stabilizes the rate will be gradually raised. Moreover, Risksbank cut the GDP growth forecast to 1.3% next year and to 2.3% in 2013.
Japan is considering possible acquisitions of Chinese sovereign bonds. Japan is willing to diversify its foreign-exchange assets, said Jun Azumi, Japanese FM. Azumi considers investing in China's debt as mutually beneficial deal. Japanese PM Yoshihiko Noda claimed that Japan should be able to invest in second-biggest economy given that China is purchasing Japan's debt.
Crude oil futures edged up during the electronic trade on Tuesday recovering part of the previous losses. On Globex, light, sweet crude oil futures for delivery in January added 57 cents to $94.45 during the Asian afternoon trade, gaining 0.6% since opening. The markets were affected by pessimistic economic outlook but the oil is pure exception having the largest number of net long positions thus
Gold prices found support in the failure of the EU financial officials to allocate EUR200 billion to IMF. The failure to allocate enough funds increased the concerns over the Euro Zone thus rising gold's appeal as safe haven asset. The gold futures traded at USD1,602.65 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gaining 0.37%.
China invested about 620.7 billion yuan in power generation projects during this year that is 9.5% higher than in 2011, according to China Electricity Council. Despite expanding its power capacity by 66.27 million kilowatts, the power consumption of China still exceeds the supply, surging 11.85% in 2011 on a yearly basis.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange plans to discuss new measures aimed at improving the corporate governance to increase the confidence of investors after scandal with Olympus Corp. The TSE placed the shares of Olympus under the strict control as it examines company's financial malpractice resulted in hiding above $1.5 loss.
Natural gas prices decreased essentially and the forecast does not indicate any improvements. Currently the natural gas futures traded more than 60% less as compared to 2008 highs. The US still has a high natural gas inventory level despite small decline and the abnormally high temperatures in December are likely to continue to weight down on the natural gas price.
Experts have pessimistic forecasts on the development of China's economy next year. The economic growth is expected to fall to 7.9% in 2012, reported Nomura International Ltd. The most negative outlook predicts the China's economy might fall into recession as last time the growth was lower than 8% was before Asia-Pacific crisis in 1998. The government has to do its best to stimulate domestic demand
Swiss trade surplus increased more than expected last month, according to official data. The trade balance widened to CHF3.00 billion last month as compared to CHF2.16 billion in October. Analysts expected the figure to be CHF2.47 billion. After the data release, the Swiss Franc appreciated against the USD and the pair USD/CHF is currently traded at 0.9371, edging down 0.02%.
Yanzhou, China's mining company, started negotiations with Gloucester Coal Ltd. on the merger aimed at creating a mining company worth 8 billion Australian Dollars. Experts do not expect criticism from the Australian government despite the fact that previous large investment projects made by China's state supported companies came in for criticism from politicians.
China is likely to stay the biggest manufacturer in Asia during the next three-five years, reported Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. China's manufacturing has a high growth potential but the businesses have to invest essentially in innovation and new market development. However, many entrepreneurs consider the high tax burden to be the major obstacle to further business expansion.
The Pound edged higher against the USD during the Asian morning trade as investors started to sell Dollars to benefit from short-lasting Greenback's increase after Kim Jong death. GBP/USD traded at 1.5522, gaining 0.15%, after falling to 1.5497 during the last session.
China saw capital outflows for the second month in line in November that may force officials to ease the monetary policy. Country's positions for foreign-exchange purchases decreased by 27.9 billion Yuan indicating capital outflow thus forcing China's Central Cank to reduce the reserve-requirement ratio further, said Zhang Zhiwei, an economist from Nomura International Ltd.
Banks stay positive on the gold perspectives next year and make a forecast of 13%-28% increase of the yellow metal's price from the current level. The gold is likely to find support in negative real interest rates and growing inflationary concerns. UBS and Barclays Capital expect the gold price to climb to more than $2,000/oz next year.
German consumer climate index remained steady this month, according to industry data. The indicator remained unchanged at 5.6 not meeting the expectations of a decline to 5.5. However, despite better financial expectations, willingness to purchase decreased. After the data release, the Euro gained in value relative to the USD and the pair EUR/USD is currently traded at 1.3010, gaining 0.08%.
Iran wants to stop crude oil exports protesting against the sanctions of Western economies imposed due to Iranian nuclear project, said Mohammad Karim Shahrzad, Iran's MP. The shortage of oil supplies will hamper recovery of world economy. In case of attack on the country, Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz, narrow seaway that is used to transport 40% of world's oil, and will