20101014 0937 Local & Global Economics News.

Malaysia: Najib may jumpstart investment with budget incentives
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak may open up more services industries to foreign companies, moving to end a slump in investment that’s threatening the country’s goal of becoming a developed nation in the next decade. Najib, who will unveil the country’s 2011 budget this week, is counting on private investment to drive projects from railways to a Kuala Lumpur shopping district as he seeks to contain state spending. (Bloomberg)

HK: Moves to cool property
Hong Kong will restrict immigration based on property investment and increase housing supply to try to cool the overheating sector, its leader said, prompting a sharp drop in local real estate stocks. In his annual policy address laying out the city's policy blueprint for the coming year, Kong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said government will also supply more land for about 20,000 private flats annually over the coming decade, while about 61,000 private housing units would be added over the next three to four years. (Financial Daily)

China: Foreign-exchange reserves jump to USD2.65 trillion
China’s foreign-exchange reserves, the world’s largest, surged by a record to USD2.65 trillion at the end of September, adding fuel to complaints that the nation’s curbs on gains in the yuan are undermining the global recovery. Currency holdings rose about USD194bn in the third quarter, statement from the People’s Bank of China showed. September exports were the second-highest on record at USD145bn, a separate customs bureau report showed. (Bloomberg)

UK: Jobless claims rise the most in eight months
UK unemployment claims climbed for a second month in September with the biggest increase in eight months, a sign the economy is losing momentum. Jobless benefit claims rose by 5,300 from the previous month to 1.473 million, the Office for National Statistics said in London. Overall unemployment in the quarter through August fell by 20,000 to 2.45 million, led by 16 to 17 year-old people. (Bloomberg)

US: Inflation to fall short of Fed’s goal through 2012
Inflation in the US through 2012 will fall short of the Federal Reserve’s long-term goal as growth and employment are slow to rebound, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The Fed’s preferred price gauge, which is tied to consumer spending and excludes food and fuel costs, will climb 1.2% next year and 1.5% in 2012 on average. Most policy makers project those prices will increase 1.7% to 2% in the long run. (Bloomberg)

U.K: Consumer confidence plummeted in September to an 18 month low, Nationwide Building Society said. The index of sentiment fell 9 points from the previous month to 53, the lowest since March 2009. (Source: Bloomberg)

Japan: Machinery orders unexpectedly advanced in August . Factory orders rose 10.1% MoM from July, the largest increase since December. The data is an indicator of business investment in three to six months. (Source: Bloomberg)

China: Posted a USD16.9b trade surplus for September , capping the largest quarterly excess since the financial crisis in 2008. Exports rose 25.1% YoY and imports climbed 24.1% YoY. The third quarter trade gap was USD 65.6b, the most since a USD114b surplus in the final three months of 2008. (Source: Bloomberg)

Australia: Consumer confidence rebounded in October as the central bank extended a pause on interest rate increases and employment surged. The sentiment index rose 3.3% to 117 this month, after a 5% drop last month, according to a Westpac Banking Corp. and Melbourne Institute survey. (Source: Bloomberg)

Crude Oil: IEA raises oil demand forecasts amid OECD strength . Global oil demand will be higher than previously estimated this year and next amid signs of "apparently resurgent" consumption in the U.S, Germany and Japan in the past quarter, the IEA said. Crude oil use worldwide will average 86.9 million barrels a day in 2010 and 88.2 million barrels a day in 2011, the IEA said in its monthly Oil Market Report. That's 300,000 barrels a day more than last month's forecast for both those years. (Source: Bloomberg)