Overseas investors bought Malaysian stocks for a third straight month in Dec 2011, the longest monthly streak since Jul 2011, as the benchmark index posted its largest quarterly gain in more than a year. Foreign funds purchased a net RM800m (US$255m) of Malaysian shares last month (RM700m in Nov and RM1.5bn in Oct), according to data on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange’s website. (BT)
European banks deposited €453.18 billion, breaking the all-time record set last week of €452.03 billion, at the European Central Bank’s overnight deposit facility paying 0.25% interest on 3 Jan in fear of counterparty failure to repay the loans, while short-term emergency borrowing from the central bank remained elevated. (Wall Street Journal)
In a local government debt audit covering the year 2010, China found some Rmb530.9bn in misused funds which were illegally diverted to property and the capital markets as well as “fake” investments, according to the National Audit Office. The financing vehicles also offered loans secured with improper collateral. (AFP)
The People’s Bank of China is upgrading China’s National Advanced Payment System (Cnaps) to improve bank’s efficiency in clearing yuan funds across its borders, an effort that will further promote the global use of the yuan. (Wall Street Journal)
India’s economy will potentially grow faster next fiscal year than in 2011/12 on account of an improved external environment and the government’s shift in policy focus to promoting growth from containing inflation, according to chief economic adviser Kaushik Basu who also opined that public finances will remain under pressure in 2012/13. (Reuters)
Average housing prices in 100 major cities in China were up 2.86% yoy in Dec (4.06% in Nov). House prices fell 0.3% mom to Rmb8,809/sqm in Dec, down from Rmb8,832 in Nov. (WSJ)
The HSBC Market Business Activity Index for India rose to 54.2 in Dec from 53.2 in Nov, staying above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction. (Reuters)
Singapore’s private residential property index rose from 205.7 pts in 3Q to 206.2 points in 4Q, an increase of 0.2% qoq (1.3% in 3Q), according to flash estimates by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. (ST)
Price rises of resale Housing Board (HDB) flats in Singapore moderated in 4Q11, rising 1.7% qoq (+3.8% in 3Q). (ST)
Singapore’s purchasing managers index rose to 49.5 from 48.7 in Nov. Economists had expected an index reading of 48.8. (Bloomberg)
Singapore’s electronics sector index declined to 49.7 in Dec from 50.9 in Nov, lower than the 51.2 that the market had forecast. (Bloomberg, Channel News Asia)
Indonesia’s Danareksa consumer confidence index rose 0.2 pt to 91.6 in Dec marking the highest result in six months. (Jakarta Globe)
Thailand: Inflation slows to 9-month low as flood damage eases
Thailand’s inflation rate eased in December to a nine-month low on declining food costs as the nation recovers from the worst floods in almost 70 years. An index of consumer prices climbed 3.53% from a year earlier, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday. The Thai economy may have contracted 5% last quarter from a year earlier, according to the finance ministry, after the flooding and a faltering global recovery led to a slump in industrial output. The Bank of Thailand cut interest rates for the first time in more than two years in November, joining Asian neighbors from Indonesia to China in seeking to support growth. (Bloomberg)
India: Services expand at fastest pace in five months, PMI shows
India’s services industry expanded in December at the fastest pace in five months, signaling price pressures may crimp scope to cut interest rates. The Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 54.2 from 53.2 in November, HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said yesterday. Readings above 50 indicate expansion. The data add to recent signs that some industries in India and China are weathering the impact of Europe’s fiscal crisis, after a Chinese non-manufacturing index rose in December. The Reserve Bank of India refrained from raising interest rates for the first time in eight meetings last month, seeking to protect the economy as its expansion moderates. (Bloomberg)
China: December home prices fall for 4th month
China’s home prices fell for a fourth month in December after the government reiterated plans to maintain property curbs, according to SouFun Holdings Ltd. Residential prices dropped 0.25% last month from November, said SouFun, the nation’s biggest real estate website owner. Prices slid in 60 out of 100 cities tracked by the company, including all of the country’s 10 biggest cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, it said yesterday. The government said last month at an annual economic planning meeting that it won’t back away from real-estate industry curbs this year that are damping home sales and pulling down prices. The nation’s financial centre of Shanghai and some other Chinese cities have also said they will continue to impose the home purchase restrictions this year. (Bloomberg)
EU: Inflation slows, giving ECB room to cut rates
Euro-region inflation slowed for the first time in five months in December, giving the European Central Bank room to lower borrowing costs further as the economy edges toward a recession. The inflation rate in the 17-nation euro area fell to 2.8% from 3% in November, the European Union’s statistics office said in an initial estimate yesterday. Euro-area services and manufacturing output contracted less than initially estimated last month and French consumer spending unexpectedly declined in November from October, separate reports showed. Europe’s economy is showing increasing signs of a slowdown as governments struggle to contain the region’s debt crisis, adding pressure on the ECB to lower the benchmark interest rate from the current 1%, which matches a record low. (Bloomberg)
UK: Mortgage approvals were little changed in November
UK mortgage approvals were little changed in November as weakening consumer confidence and economic uncertainty restrained demand for property. Lenders granted 52,854 loans to buy homes compared with a revised 52,786 the previous month, the Bank of England said yesterday. While approvals have risen from about 47,300 a year ago and are at the highest in two years, the November reading is still less than half the monthly average of 103,000 in the decade to 2007, before the financial crisis struck. Nationwide Building Society said last week that house prices may decline this year as the fallout from the euro-area sovereign debt crisis pushes up unemployment and undermines household sentiment. (Bloomberg)
US orders for manufactured goods increased 1.8% mom in Nov (-0.2% in Oct) Economists had expected orders to increase 1.7% in Nov. Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft fell 1.2% after declining 0.9% in Oct. (Reuters)
Applications for US home mortgages fell 4.1% in the week ended 30 Dec, weighed down by a 9.6% drop in purchase loan requests and a 2.5% decline in refinancing requests, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed. (Reuters)
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