Malaysia: Export growth accelerates as commodities shipments gain
Malaysia’s export growth accelerated more than economists estimated as rising Asian demand for commodities countered falling shipments to the US and Europe, signaling trade disruptions from Japan’s earthquake are easing. Overseas shipments climbed 8.6% to RM57.35bn (USD19bn) in June from a year earlier after gaining 5.4% in May. Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s largest producer of palm oil, petroleum and gas after Indonesia, has benefited from sales to a region that led the global economic recovery from the 2009 recession. (Bloomberg)
US stocks plunge as S&P 500 posts biggest retreat since 2009
US stocks plunged, driving the S&P 500 Index to the biggest decline since February 2009, as concern the global economy is weakening prompted a global rout. All 10 S&P 500 groups slumped, led by losses topping 5.3% for energy, material and industrial shares. The S&P 500 decreased 4.8% to an eight-month low of 1,200.07. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 512.76 pts, or 4.3%, to 11,383.68, erasing its 2011 gain. Almost 14bn shares changed hands on US exchanges, 90% higher than the three-month average. (Bloomberg)
U.S: Initial jobless claims fell last week to 400,000. Applications for jobless benefits decreased 1,000 in the week ended July 30 to 400,000, the fewest in almost four months, the Labor Department said in Washington. The four-week average also declined to the lowest level since April. (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S: Chief executives less confident on sales, employment in July. Confidence among U.S. chief executive officers waned at the start of the third quarter as business leaders anticipated smaller gains in sales, employment and equipment purchases, a private survey showed. The Young Presidents' Organization gauge of sentiment dropped to 61.1 in July from April's record-high 64.1 reading, according to the Dallas-based group. Figures greater than 50 shows the executives' outlook was more positive than negative. (Source: Bloomberg)
US: Services growth slowest since February 2010
Service industries expanded in July at the slowest pace in 17 months as orders and employment cooled, indicating the biggest part of the U.S. economy had little spark to begin the second half of the year. The Institute for Supply Management’s index of non- manufacturing businesses, which covers about 90% of the economy, dropped to 52.7 from 53.3 in June. Readings above 50 signal expansion. Companies hired fewer workers last month than in June, a report from ADP Employer Services showed. (Bloomberg)
US: Consumer confidence fell last week to two-month low
Consumer confidence in the US dropped last week to the lowest level in more than two months, paced by growing dissatisfaction among women and high earners. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was minus 47.6 in the period to July 31, the lowest since May, compared with minus 46.8 the prior week. Confidence among women fell to the lowest level since October 2009, while Americans making more than USD100,000 a year were the most pessimistic since November 2009.The loss of confidence heightens the risk that consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of the economy, will be slow to rebound in the second half of the year. (Bloomberg)
E.U: Trichet says ECB resumed bond buying as debt crisis spreads. "I wouldnt be surprised that before the end of this teleconference you would see something on the market," Trichet told reporters in Frankfurt after the ECB kept its benchmark interest rate at 1.5%. "We were not unanimous but with overwhelming majority with regards to the bond purchases." (Source: Bloomberg)
Euro: Trichet says ECB to offer banks more cash as debt crisis spreads
European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet said the ECB will offer banks additional cash as the region’s debt crisis spreads, increasing pressure on policy makers to resume bond purchases. The ECB will lend euro-area banks as much money as they need for six months and extend its existing liquidity measures through the end of the year, Trichet said at a press conference in Frankfurt yesterday. European officials are trying to stop the region’s sovereign debt crisis spreading to Italy and Spain. (Bloomberg)
Germany: Factory orders in June unexpectedly rose on investment goods. Orders increased 1.8% MoM from May, when they rose a revised 1.5% MoM. In the year, orders rose 9.5% YoY, when adjusted for work days. (Source: Bloomberg)
Russia: Left interest rates unchanged for a third month as July inflation fell faster than economists expected and weakening global growth threatens to damp demand for the country's oil and gas exports. Bank Rossii held its refinancing rate at 8.25% after increases in February and April, the Moscow-based central bank said in a statement on its website. The overnight auction-based repurchase rate was held at 5.5% and the overnight deposit rate at 3.5%, matching economists' expectations. (Source: Bloomberg)
Japan: Exporters seek more aid after ‘too late’ Yen intervention
Japanese exporters called for more action to weaken a near-record high yen even after government intervention prompted the currency’s biggest drop since March. “The exchange rate is at a level that has an extremely damaging effect on the Japanese economy,” Osamu Masuko, president of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Motors Corp., said yesterday. The yen touched 80 to the dollar for the first time since 12 July after the government sold the currency and the Bank of Japan added to monetary stimulus measures. That still may not be enough for exporters including Mitsubishi, Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. whose overseas earnings have been crimped by the currency’s jump of about 7% in the past year. (Bloomberg)
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