China: China's trade surplus narrowed in 2010 for the second straight year
China's trade surplus narrowed in 2010 for the second straight year, data showed on Monday, giving Beijing grounds to rebuff U.S. pressure for faster currency appreciation ahead of President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington next week.The Chinese government will point to the numbers and, especially, heady import growth as evidence of steady progress toward reform of its economy that is giving the world a lift.
Malaysia: Slower industrial output expected
With sluggish external demand, especially for products in the electrical and electronics sector, industrial output in Malaysia is expected to ease for November 2010. A poll conducted expects the Industrial Production Index (IPI), which measures changes in the manufacturing, electricity and mining indices, to post a 5.5% growth. The Statistics Department will release the data today. (BT)
Malaysia: Moderate growth in total trade
Malaysia's total trade, which bounced back last year from a lashing global economic crisis, is projected to grow at a moderate 5% in 2011, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamad said. Uncertainties in the global economy, from the unstable recovery in the US and pounding debt issues in Europe, will impact the export performance of a small trading nation like Malaysia. Mustapa, however, said Malaysia's exports are well diversified and this will be a cushion against these global uncertainties. (BT)
China: Shanghai surpasses Singapore as world’s busiest port
Shanghai surpassed Singapore in container traffic last year, making China’s wealthiest city the world’s busiest port as the country churns out more export goods and boosts trade volumes. Traffic in 2010 rose to 29.05m, 20- foot equivalent units, or TEUs, the Shanghai municipal government said in a media release on its website. That’s about 500,000 TEUs more than Singapore, the release said. Shanghai’s cargo volume was about 650m metric tons last year, it said. (Bloomberg)
EU: Economy expands 0.3%, less than estimated
Europe’s economy expanded less than initially estimated in the third quarter as companies trimmed spending to weather the region’s worsening debt crisis. Gross domestic product in the Euro region rose 0.3% from the second quarter instead of 0.4% reported on 2 Dec 2010, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said. (Bloomberg)
US: Payrolls report confirms Fed view for slow US jobs recovery
Employers in the US added fewer jobs than forecast in December, confirming Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s view that it could take “four to five more years” for the labor market to completely mend. Payrolls increased 103,000, less than the median projection of 150,000 in a survey, Labor Department figures showed. The jobless rate fell to 9.4%, partly reflecting a shrinking workforce as discouraged Americans stopped looking for work. (Bloomberg)
US: Retail sales probably climbed in December
Retail sales probably climbed for a sixth month in December 2010, a sign consumers are contributing more to the US expansion even as the labor market struggles to accelerate, economists said before a report this week. The projected 0.8% gain in purchases would match the previous month’s increase, according to the median of 58 estimates in a survey ahead of Commerce Department figures on 14 Jan. (Bloomberg)
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