Malaysia: Beats investment target as 2012 gets ‘challenging’
Private investment in Malaysia beat the government’s target last year with International Business Machines Corp and Toshiba Corp among companies pledging to further spend in Southeast Asia’s third-biggest economy. Investment exceeded RM90bn (USD29bn), surpassing the government’s RM83bn target, International Trade and Investment Minister Mustapa Mohamed told reporters in Putrajaya, outside of Kuala Lumpur. The final 2011 tally is still being finalized and may grow, he said. [Bloomberg]
China: Foreign-exchange reserves dropped for the first time in more than a decade as foreign investment moderated, the trade surplus narrowed and Europe's crisis spurred investors to sell emerging-market assets. The holdings, the world's biggest, fell to USD 3.18tr on Dec. 31 from USD 3.2tr Sept. 30, People's Bank of China data released in Beijing showed. (Source: Bloomberg)
China: Growth may slow to 10-quarter low, worse to come
China’s economy probably grew the least in 10 quarters in the last three months of 2011 and may cool further as export demand slumps and officials prolong a campaign against property bubbles. Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose 8.7% from a year earlier, the slowest pace since the second quarter of 2009, according to the median forecast surveyed by Bloomberg News. The data, and indicators for investment, retail sales and industrial production, are scheduled for release tomorrow in Beijing. [Bloomberg]
S. Korea: The Bank of Korea held off from raising borrowing costs for the seventh straight month, highlighting growing risks to its economy from Europe's debt crisis even as a weaker won threatens to fuel inflation. Governor Kim Choong Soo and his board kept the benchmark seven-day repurchase rate unchanged at 3.25%, the central bank said in a statement in Seoul. (Source: Bloomberg)
Singapore: Retail sales rose for a ninth month as consumers bought more telecommunication products and increased purchases at gas stations. The retail sales index rose 6.4% YoY in November after gaining a revised 8.4% YoY in October, the Statistics Department said in a statement. (Source: Bloomberg)
India: Inflation slows to two-year low as rate pressure eases
India’s inflation slowed to the lowest level in two years, giving the central bank scope to keep interest rates on hold for a second straight meeting next week. The benchmark wholesale-price index rose 7.47% in Dec from a year earlier, the commerce ministry said in a statement in New Delhi, compared with a 9.11% gain in November. Easing prices may strengthen the ruling Congress party’s bid in state elections starting this month after corruption allegations undermined Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition in the past year. [Bloomberg]
UK: Home sellers cut prices as recovery in ‘paralysis’
UK home sellers cut asking prices for a third month in January, according to Rightmove Plc, which said the property market will remain “challenging” this year. Average asking prices in England and Wales fell 0.8% from December to GBP224,060 (USD343,000), the lowest in a year, the operator of Britain’s biggest property website said in London. In the capital, values gained 0.8%. UK property prices may remain under pressure as unemployment rises and euro-region turmoil threatens economic growth. [Bloomberg]
EU: EFSF loses AAA rating after S&P downgrades of France, Austria
The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the euro area’s bailout fund, lost its top credit rating at Standard & Poor’s after earlier downgrades of France and Austria. The rating was cut to AA+ from AAA, S&P said yesterday in a statement and removed the facility from CreditWatch with negative implications. S&P had said on 6 Dec that the loss of an AAA rating by any of EFSF’s guarantors may lead to a downgrade. Klaus Regling, chief executive officer of the facility, said the downgrade won’t hamper its capacity of EUR440bn (USD557bn). [Bloomberg]
EU: Euro leaders race to salvage rescue plans after ratings cuts
European leaders will this week try to rescue under-fire efforts to deliver new fiscal rules and cut Greece’s debt burden as investors ignore Standard & Poor’s euro-region downgrades. Greek officials will reconvene with creditors on 18 Jan after discussions stalled last week and governments elsewhere are preparing for a 30 Jan summit as the European Central Bank warns against “watering down” a revamp of budget laws. French borrowing costs fell today as the government in Paris sold EUR8.59bn (USD10.9bn) in debt. [Bloomberg]
U.K: Factory-gate prices unexpectedly fall on energy prices in December. The cost of goods at factory gates declined 0.2% MoM from November. Annual price growth slowed to 4.8% the least in a year. (Source: Bloomberg)
Standard & Poor's takes various rating actions on 16 Eurozone sovereign governments. S&P has lowered long-term ratings on 9 eurozone sovereigns (by 2 notches: Cyprus, Italy, Portugal, Spain; by 1 notch: Austria, France, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia) and affirmed ratings on 7 (Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands), citing that the policy initiatives taken by European policymakers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the eurozone. (Source: Standard & Poor's).
U.S: Consumer sentiment climbs more than forecast in January, reaching its highest level in eight months on signs the labor market is improving. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment climbed to 74 from 69.9 at the end of December. The measure has increased 9.9 points in the last two months, the biggest such gain since April-May 2009. (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S: Trade gap widened more than forecast in November as American exports declined and companies stepped up imports of crude oil and automobiles. The gap expanded 10.4% to USD 47.8b, the widest since June, from a USD 43.3b shortfall in October. (Source: Bloomberg)
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