Bose Corporation, a US-based company that specialises in audio equipment, is to build a manufacturing facility in Malaysia, marking its first big venture into the Asian region. Its Vice President Manufacturing and Global Supply Chain, Bryan Fontaine said the facility to be located in Batu Kawan, Penang, on 9.2 hectares of land, is scheduled for opening in mid-2013 and will cater to its Asia-Pacific (APAC) business includes Australia, China, India, Japan, the UAE and the Asean countries. Fontaine, who declined to disclose the total investment in Malaysia, said it would be multi-phased and multi-layered, and eventually see the plant expand to 600,000 square feet. (Bernama, BT)
Indonesia’s foreign reserves rose to US$116.41bn in Apr (US$110.49bn in Mar), which could have been partly boosted by the proceeds of the government's US$2.5bn international bond offering in Apr. (Dow Jones)
Indonesia’s unemployment rate in Feb reached 6.32%, lower than the 6.8% of Feb 2011. (Jakarta Post)
Indonesia: Posts slowest GDP in six quarters
Indonesia posted its slowest growth in six quarters in 1Q12, as exports fell due to weaker global demand. The central bank might have to hold its policy rate steady for the whole year to spur the domestic economy. Government data yesterday showed 1Q growth was 6.3% from a year ago, as expected, and still among the highest in the region, but exporters expect a shrinkage this year due to the weak recovery in the US and the ongoing debt problems in the Eurozone. (Bloomberg)
India: Vows cuts in Iran-oil imports as Clinton talks sanctions
India will curtail its imports of Iranian oil by 20%, officials said, as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks in New Delhi to enlist India’s help with sanctions aimed at pressuring Iran over its nuclear program. Asia’s third-biggest oil importer will cut purchases of crude from Iran to 14m tonnes from 17.5 m tonnes in the 12 months ending 31 March, according to two Indian diplomats and two refinery officials who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The officials said Iranian crude would account for 7% of India’s imports in fiscal year 2013, down from 10% currently. (Bloomberg)
South Korea: Producer-Price Inflation eases before rate decision
South Korean producer-price inflation cooled to the slowest pace in 26 months on a decline in meat and fish costs, according to a report released two days before a monetary-policy meeting. Prices climbed 2.4% in April from a year earlier, the smallest gain since February 2010, after a 2.8% increase in March, the Bank of Korea said in a statement in Seoul yesterday. Prices fell 0.1% from March. Consumer prices rose 2.5% in April from a year earlier, the slowest pace in 21 months, a government report showed on 1 May. (Bloomberg)
The Philippines’ foreign reserves declined marginally to US$76bn in Apr from US$76.1bn in Mar, as remittances and inflows remained robust. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Singapore’s foreign reserves increased to US$246.11bn in Apr from US$243.58bn in Mar.
Spain: Industrial production declined the most in more than two years in March as the economy sank into its second recession since 2009 and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy stepped up austerity efforts. Output at factories, refineries and mines adjusted for the number of working days fell 7.5% YoY, the most since October 2009. That compares with a revised decline of 5.3% YoY in February. (Source: Bloomberg)
Taiwan: Exports fell for a third time in four months in April, as Europe's debt crisis and slower Chinese growth crimped demand for its electronics products. Shipments abroad fell 6.4% YoY compared with a 3.2% YoY decline in March, the Ministry of Finance said. (Source: Bloomberg)
Taiwan: Inflation accelerates for a second month in April on food prices. The consumer-price index climbed 1.44% YoY, compared with a revised 1.25% YoY increase in March. (Source: Bloomberg)
Australia: Retail sales rose in 1Q12, capping the best quarter since 2009 as consumers spent more at restaurants and clothing stores. Sales adjusted to remove inflation jumped 1.8% QoQ in the three months through March from the prior quarter, the Bureau of Statistics said. That was the biggest gain since the second quarter of 2009. (Source: Bloomberg)
EU: Europe, IMF vow to pursue budget checks on next Greek government
Europe and the International Monetary Fund pledged to resume checks on Greece’s eligibility for more aid disbursements when a new Greek government emerges after voters split over the rescue conditions. The European Commission in Brussels said it “hopes and expects” Greece will fulfill the budget-austerity requirements for a loan payment due in June following the 6 May election. The Washington-based IMF said “we look forward to being in contact with the new Greek government once it has been formed.” (Bloomberg)
EU: German factory orders rose more than forecast in March
German factory orders rose more than economists forecast in March as demand from outside the euro area helped Europe’s largest economy weather the debt crisis. Factory orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, jumped 2.2% from February, when they gained a revised 0.6%, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predicted a 0.5% increase, according to the median of 37 estimates. From a year ago, orders dropped 1.3% when adjusted for work days. (Bloomberg)
EU: Merkel rejects stimulus in challenge to Hollande’s growth plans
German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected government stimulus as the way to spur economic growth in Europe, setting up a clash with French President-elect Francois Hollande before he’s even taken office. In her first response to Hollande’s victory in yesterday’s French election, Merkel rejected a return to the “huge” stimulus programs following the financial crisis in favor of business-friendly economic changes. She and Hollande will talk “very openly” about the form of growth to pursue, a discussion now taking place across Europe and “to which the new French president will bring his own accents.” (Bloomberg)
EU: ECB financing to Portuguese banks declined in April
The European Central Bank’s financing to Portuguese lenders fell in April from the previous month, the Bank of Portugal said. ECB financing decreased to EUR55.4bn (USD72.2bn) from a record EUR56.3bn in March, the Lisbon- based Bank of Portugal said today on the BPStat portion of its website. Financing reached a record in March after the Frankfurt- based ECB awarded EUR529.5bn to 800 financial institutions at the end of February. The central bank’s second round of three-year loans was designed to avert credit paralysis and ease concern that Europe’s banks would run out of cash or curb lending as the debt crisis drove up borrowing costs.(Bloomberg)
Total US consumer credit grew by US$21.36bn in Mar (US$9.27bn in Feb) - more than twice the US$9.8bn rise that economists had forecast. (Reuters)
Europe’s banks are increasingly hoarding cash, anxious the continent's crisis could intensify. At the end of Mar, 10 of Europe's biggest banks had parked a total of US$1.2tr at central banks around the world, US$128bn higher, or a 12% jump, since Dec and up 66% from the end of 2010. (WSJ)
Greece's first efforts to negotiate a cross-party coalition government following weekend elections stumbled, after conservative leader Antonis Samaras failed to reach a deal with rival lawmakers, raising the specter of fresh elections and casting doubts over the country's future in the euro zone. (WSJ)
The US will post a budget surplus for Apr of US$58bn, the first month it will have done so since the 2007-2009 financial crisis, forecast the Congressional Budget Office. (Reuters)
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