Thursday, May 12, 2011

20110512 0956 Global Market Related News.

DJIA chart reading : correction range bound upside biased.

Hang Seng chart reading : pullback correction downside biased.  

Asian Stocks, Commodities Drop on Inflation Concern (Source: Bloomberg)
Asian stocks fell, dragging a regional benchmark index down for the first day this week as commodity prices tumbled amid concern that China will enact further monetary tightening.

World stocks tick higher; euro, oil fall
LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - World stocks rose for a second straight day thanks to favourable U.S. and European corporate earnings, while the euro slipped on uncertainty over whether debt-laden Greece would need additional financial aid. Oil prices and the euro dipped after China's April inflation came in slightly above expectations, but other data, including industrial output, suggested slower activity and less room for aggressive tightening to curb growth.

Trade Deficit in U.S. Widened in March on Oil Imports (Source: Bloomberg)
The U.S. trade deficit widened more than forecast in March as the highest oil prices in more than two years boosted imports, eclipsing record exports .

U.S. Budget Deficit Narrowed to $40.5 Billion in April as Revenue Climbed (Source: Bloomberg)
The U.S. government’s monthly budget deficit narrowed to $40.5 billion in April from a year earlier as tax revenue climbed. Last month’s figure compares with a shortfall of $82.7 billion in April 2010, according to the Treasury Department’s monthly budget statement, released today in Washington. The White House and Congress are struggling to rein in the budget deficit and agree to terms to raise a legal limit on the national debt. Without an increase in the debt cap, the Treasury’s borrowing authority will probably run out in early August, according to official estimates. “We have seen income tax increases start to trend higher,” said Sean Incremona, a senior economist at 4Cast Inc in New York. “There is an underlying positive trend.” Incremona forecast a deficit of $41 billion.

U.S. Stocks Fall as Commodities Drop Amid Concern Interest Rates Will Rise (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S. stocks slumped, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its biggest decline since March, as commodities tumbled amid a strengthening dollar and concern that accelerating global inflation may curb economic growth. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) and Halliburton Co. (HAL) fell at least 4 percent as data from China raised expectations about higher interest rates. Yahoo! Inc. dropped 7.3 percent on concern that its stake in a Chinese Internet business may lose value after a transfer of ownership in the company’s online payment business. Walt Disney Co. (DIS), the biggest theme-park operator, slumped 5.4 percent after profit missed estimates.

Skype Gets 40% Markup With Microsoft Bid Dwarfing Owners’ Filing: Real M&A (Source: Bloomberg)
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is paying a dot-com era price for Skype Technologies SA, almost 40 percent more than the world’s most popular Internet calling service itself says the business is worth. Microsoft, the world’s largest software company, agreed to pay $8.5 billion for Luxembourg-based Skype, which lost money in four of the past five years even as it quadrupled sales. The takeover, the largest for an Internet company since May 2000, is 32 times Skype’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s 39 percent more than the multiple Skype used to value its own equity in an April regulatory filing.

US import, small business data point to inflation
WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) - The cost of imported products in the United States rose for a seventh straight month in April thanks to a weaker dollar, and more owners of small businesses raised prices, in potentially worrying signs of inflation.
Import costs rose 2.2 percent after increasing 2.6 percent in March, the Labor Department said on Tuesday. While the rate of increase slowed as food and energy costs moderated, it surpassed economists' expectations for a 1.8 percent gain.

China's economy cools, limiting need for tighter policy
BEIJING, May 11 (Reuters) - China's industrial output growth eased much more than expected in April to suggest the world's second-biggest economy is cooling, reducing the need for further aggressive monetary policy tightening even as inflation remains stubbornly high.
Consumer inflation eased modestly to 5.3 percent in April from a 32-month high in March of 5.4 percent. The outcome topped expectations but still underlined the view that price pressures are peaking and may start to ease in the second half of 2011. 

China Inflation Spreading Beyond Food Adds Pressure (Source: Bloomberg)
China’s inflation is spreading beyond food, signaling Premier Wen Jiabao’s strategy of quarter-point interest-rate increases every two months has yet to contain consumer prices. Clothing costs climbed 1.4 percent in April from a year earlier, the biggest gain since 1997, a statistics bureau report showed yesterday. Non-food inflation held at 2.7 percent, the fastest pace in at least six years, while overall consumer prices rose 5.3 percent.

China Pledges Increased Access for U.S. Companies Without Budging on Yuan (Source: Bloomberg)
China pledged to open more of its markets to U.S. companies after a two-day gathering of top officials that underscored the gap between the two nations over how fast the Chinese currency should rise. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner continued his push for a stronger yuan, which lawmakers say would boost American competiveness and job growth. Chinese officials agreed on the upward direction of the currency, while splitting on the pace. “We have differences on the degree of appreciation,” Deputy Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said yesterday in Washington.

Japanese Stocks Retreat First Time in Three Days as Oil, Metals Tumble (Source: Bloomberg)
Japanese stocks declined for the first time in three days as commodities tumbled amid concern that accelerating global inflation may curb economic growth.

Indonesia May Extend Pause in Rate Increase Amid Slowing Inflation, Growth (Source: Bloomberg)
Indonesia’s central bank will probably keep interest rates unchanged for a third consecutive meeting to support the economy, allowing gains in the rupiah to reduce inflationary pressures. Bank Indonesia will keep its benchmark reference rate at 6.75 percent, according to all 10 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The central bank is due to release its decision in Jakarta tomorrow.

Bank of England Signals Rate Increase This Year as Inflation Accelerates (Source: Bloomberg)
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said that inflation remains “uncomfortably high,” and officials signaled they may need to raise interest rates later this year even as the economy struggles to build momentum.

German Inflation Accelerated More Than First Estimated Last Month to 2.7% (Source: Bloomberg)
Inflation in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, accelerated more than initially estimated in April after energy costs surged. The inflation rate, calculated using a harmonized European Union method, jumped to 2.7 percent from 2.3 percent in March, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today. That’s an upward revision from the first estimate of 2.6 percent on April 27. From March, consumer prices rose 0.3 percent, more than the 0.2 percent initially reported.

Salgado Says Spanish Budget Deficit Is Shrinking, No New Measures Needed (Source: Bloomberg)
Spain doesn’t plan additional budget cuts as the deficit is already narrowing in line with the government’s plans, Finance Minister Elena Salgado said. “The deficit is being reduced in line with forecasts, revenues are in line with forecasts and the reduction in spending is as we expected, so there will be no additional measures,” she told lawmakers in Parliament today when asked if the government is planning new cuts.

Euro Trades Near 3-Week Low on Greece Concern (Source: Bloomberg)
The euro traded 0.3 percent from a three-week low against the dollar on concern Greece may not receive additional aid fast enough to avoid debt restructuring. The common currency maintained its loss against most of its major counterparts after European leaders slowed Greece’s drive for extra aid, saying the debt-wracked nation must first make good on pledges to overhaul its economy. The yen snapped yesterday’s 1.3 percent gain against the euro before a report today forecast to show Japan’s trade surplus narrowed in March following the nation’s worst earthquake.

Real Weakens on Plunge in Commodities, International Gains for U.S. Dollar (Source: Bloomberg)
Brazil’s reall fell the most in a week as commodity prices declined and the dollar gained against currencies from countries that export raw materials. The real weakened 1.1 percent to 1.6218 per dollar at 5 p.m. in New York, from 1.6037 yesterday. The currency declined 1.9 percent on May 4.

Australia seeks to harness mining boom, avoid inflation
CANBERRA, May 10 (Reuters) - Australia expects a fiscal surplus in 2012/13 and will seek to ease a shortage of skilled workers that threatens to fuel inflation as the economy rides an historic resources boom, the minority Labour government said in its first budget on Tuesday.
Treasurer Wayne Swan said Australia -- the only major developed nation to avoid recession during the global financial crisis -- faced major hurdles in handling the Asia-led resources boom, a soaring Australian dollar and a two-speed economy that has left non-mining industries struggling.

FOREX-Euro hurt by Greek debt worry; sterling rises
LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - The euro slipped on Wednesday, with risks to the downside on mounting uncertainty over whether euro zone officials would provide timely financial aid to debt-laden Greece and Portugal.
Sterling  hit a 6-week high against the euro  after the Bank of England raised its medium-term inflation forecasts in its Quarterly Inflation Report, with markets now expecting a UK rate hike by year-end.

No comments: