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South Korean PPI On Tap For Tuesday

FxOpen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:00:09 GMT

South Korea is scheduled to release January numbers for its producer price index on Tuesday, headlining a light day for Asian economic news.

Analysts are expecting PPI to climb 2.7 percent on year following the 1.8 percent annual expansion in December.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Swiss Retail Sales Rise In December

FxOpen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:19:15 GMT

Monday, Swiss retail sales grew 4.7% year-on-year in December, data released by the Federal Statistical Office showed.

ING Bank economist Julien Manceaux pointed out that the latest year-on-year figure was the best since June 2008. The economist expects a subdued employment growth to remain the dark side of the current recovery.

"This should continue to weigh on consumer confidence in the months ahead, which is likely to slow down the recovery," Manceaux said. "Switzerland should nevertheless still grow at a healthy pace in 2010." ING forecast at least 1.5% growth in Swiss GDP for 2010.

Month-on-month, retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 3.1% in December. Excluding fuel, retail sales grew 4.8% from a year ago in December and 2.7% on a monthly basis.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Taiwanese Jan. Exports Surge More Than Expected

FxOpen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:54:18 GMT

Taiwan's exports surged 75.8% on a yearly basis to US$21.75 billion in January, the Ministry of Finance said in a report on Monday. At the same time, imports jumped 114.7% to US$19.25 billion. Economists had expected an annual increase of 62.9% in exports and 100.8% growth in imports.

The trade balance showed a surplus of US$2.49 billion in January, larger than the consensus forecast of US$1.96 billion.

Taiwan's exports surged 75.8% on a yearly basis to US$21.75 billion in January, the Ministry of Finance said in a report on Monday. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)

India GDP Growth May Rise To 7.2% In 2009-10: Govt

FxOpen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:54:55 GMT

India's economy is likely to grow 7.2% in the 2009-10 fiscal year, advance estimates of the Central Statistical Organization showed on Monday. The economy had expanded 6.7% in 2008-09.

For the fiscal year ending on March 31, the financing, insurance, real estate & business services sector is forecast to show the biggest growth of 9.9%, slightly less than the 10.1% logged in the previous year. Manufacturing, one of the key sectors driving GDP growth, is expected to grow a robust 8.9%, much greater than the 3.2% recorded for the previous fiscal.

Mining and quarrying, utilities as well as trade, hotels, transport and communication are expected to show more than 8% growth each in 2009-10. However, construction sector is forecast to show only 6.5% expansion compared to 5.9% in the previous year. Further, farm output is expected to shrink 0.2% in 2009-10 after growing 1.6% in the previous year.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Japan Sees Y900.8B Current Account Surplus

FxOpen — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:54:56 GMT

Japan posted a current account surplus of 900.8 billion yen in December, the Ministry of Finance said in a preliminary report on Monday - up 452.8 percent on year.

That came in below analyst expectations for a surplus of 1.011 trillion yen following the 1.103 trillion yen surplus in November.

The trade balance showed a surplus of 631.2 billion yen - below expectations for a surplus of 669.4 billion yen after the 490.6 billion yen surplus in the previous month.

The trade balance was 631.2 billion yen, up from 490.6 billion in November. Imports were down 6.0 percent on year to 4.496 trillion yen after plunging an annual 18.2 percent to 4.213 trillion yen in the previous month. Exports jumped an annual 11.7 percent to 5.127 trillion yen after falling an annual 7.0 percent to 4.704 trillion yen a month earlier.

Goods and services came in at 505.0 billion yen, up from 439.5 billion yen in November.

Seasonally adjusted, the current account surplus was 1.100.5 trillion yen - again missing forecasts for a 1.250 trillion yen surplus after the 1.304 trillion yen surplus a month earlier.

Also on Monday, the Bank of Japan said that bank lending in Japan was down 1.7 percent on year in January, following a 1.2 percent annual contraction in December.

Including trusts, bank lending was down 1.5 percent on year after falling an annual 1.0 percent in the previous month.

Adjusted for special items, lending was down 1.4 percent on year after the 0.9 percent annual contraction a month earlier.

Lending from foreign banks plunged 33.0 percent on year after falling a revised 36.9 percent on year a month earlier.

Finally, the central bank said that the M2 money stock plus CDs was up 2.9 percent on year in January, standing at 766.5 trillion yen. That was slightly below analyst expectations for a 3.0 percent annual increase following the revised 3.1 percent annual gain in December.

The M3 money stock climbed 2.1 percent on year to 1,066 trillion yen - again, roughly in line with expectations for a 2.2 percent annual increase after the 2.2 percent annual gain a month earlier.

Seasonally adjusted at an annualized rate, M2 was up 2.8 percent, while M3 added 1.9 percent.

The L money stock was up 1.2 percent on year.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Japan Posts Y900.8B Current Account Surplus

FxOpen — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:33:28 GMT

Japan saw a current account surplus of 900.8 billion yen in December, the Ministry of Finance said in a preliminary report on Monday - up 452.8 percent on year.

That came in below analyst expectations for a surplus of 1.011 trillion yen following the 1.103 trillion yen surplus in November.

The trade balance showed a surplus of 631.2 billion yen - below expectations for a surplus of 669.4 billion yen after the 490.6 billion yen surplus in the previous month.

Seasonally adjusted, the current account surplus was 1.100.5 trillion yen - again missing forecasts for a 1.250 trillion yen surplus after the 1.304 trillion yen surplus a month earlier.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Japan M2 Money Stock Up 2.9% On Year In Jan

FxOpen — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:15:41 GMT

The M2 money stock plus CDs was up 2.9 percent on year in January, the Bank of Japan said on Monday, standing at 766.5 trillion yen. That was slightly below analyst expectations for a 3.0 percent annual increase following the revised 3.1 percent annual gain in December.

The M3 money stock climbed 2.1 percent on year to 1,066 trillion yen - again, roughly in line with expectations for a 2.2 percent annual increase after the 2.2 percent annual gain a month earlier.

Seasonally adjusted at an annualized rate, M2 was up 2.8 percent, while M3 added 1.9 percent.

The L money stock was up 1.2 percent on year.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Japan Current Account Due On Monday

FxOpen — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:44:40 GMT

Japan is scheduled to release current account numbers for December on Monday, headlining a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic news. Japan also is set to announce January figures for bank lending and money supply, as well as its economic watchers survey.

The current account is forecast to show a surplus of 1.011 trillion yen following the 1.103 trillion yen surplus in November. Bank lending is expected to ease 1 percent on year, while the money supply is forecast to add an annual 3 percent. The eco watcher survey saw a score of 35.4 in December.

Taiwan is set to provide January figures for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are forecast to surge 100.8 percent on year after adding 56.2 percent in December. Exports are called to rise 62.9 percent on year after climbing an annual 46.9 percent in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to show a surplus of $1.96 billion following the $1.65 billion surplus a month earlier.

Singapore will release its purchasing managers' index for electronics for January. Analysts are expecting the index to show a score of 53.5, up from 52.9 in December.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Treasury Economist Sees Hopeful Signs For Recovery

FxOpen — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:09:18 GMT

The Treasury Department saw hopeful signs in Friday's employment figures, which showed a loss of 20,000 jobs in the month of January but an unexpected drop in the unemployment rate.

The department's chief economist Alan Krueger said that while the overall job market is still weak, there are hopeful signs that it is stabilizing.

"Together, the economic statistics paint a picture of an economy that is healing in large part as a result of the Recovery Act and the financial stabilization plan," Krueger said. "Today we see further hopeful signs that the job market, along with the broader economy, is healing."

The job losses in January were significantly lower than in December, he said, continuing an overall trend of declining losses since the peak in January of last year.

"The unemployment rate surprised most analysts by falling 0.3 percent to 9.7 percent in January," he said. "That brings the unemployment rate under 10 percent for the first time since September 2009."

Despite those positive signs, Krueger said that the unemployment rate is still unacceptably high.

"There were some bright spots. Manufacturing gained 11,000 jobs," he said. "Service providing payrolls rose by 48,000."

He added, "On the down side, construction jobs were down 75,000 and job losses in construction over the past year have been particularly high in non-residential construction."

One leading indicator, hiring of temporary workers, is continuing to increase at about the same pace as it did last month, which he said may indicate that companies are using temporary positions to screen applicants for permanent positions.

Krueger said he couldn't be certain about the drop in unemployment but that there were signs that younger people were not entering the work force as rapidly, choosing instead to further their educations.

He added that the President plans to take additional steps to encourage companies to boost hiring and increase wages while also noting noted that there is additional government stimulus spending scheduled for this year.

"I think these programs are particularly well timed for the current economic climate," Krueger said. "We've always known that the job market would be a challenge."

He added, "It's extremely important that we support the economic recovery that's taking place."

The Treasury Department saw hopeful signs in Friday's employment figures, which showed a loss of 20,000 jobs in the month of January but an unexpected drop in the unemployment rate. The department's chief economist Alan Krueger said that while the overall job market is still weak, there are hopeful signs that it is stabilizing. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Consumer Credit Fell By $1.73 Bln In December

FxOpen — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:08:07 GMT

While the Federal Reserve released a report Friday afternoon showing that consumer credit fell for the eleventh consecutive month in December, the decrease in credit was much smaller than economists had been anticipating.

The report showed that consumer credit fell by $1.73 billion in December after a revised $21.8 billion decline in November. Economists had been expecting credit to decrease by a much more substantial $10.0 billion compared to the $17.5 billion decrease originally reported for the previous month.

The smaller than expected drop in total credit came as a $8.5 billion decrease in revolving credit, which includes credit cards, was partly offset by a $6.8 billion increase in non-revolving credit such as loans for new cars.