Malaysia: Industrial output growth quickens on manufacturing
Malaysia‟s industrial production growth quickened in April as rising demand spurred an increase in output of manufacturing and electricity. Production at factories, utilities and mines gained 3.2% y-o-y after rising a revised 1.5% in March, the statistics department said. The output gains may be short-lived as slowing growth in China and a worsening European debt crisis damp the outlook for goods made in Asia, prompting policy makers to spur domestic demand to boost their economies. Malaysia‟s exports unexpectedly fell for a second month in April, and purchasing managers‟ indexes in export-dependent Asian economies including China and South Korea signal manufacturing is still slowing. (Bloomberg)
Singapore: Exports rose in May on sales of electronics, drugs
Singapore‟s export growth quickened in May as shipments of electronics and pharmaceuticals increased. Non-oil domestic exports climbed 3.2% y-o-y, after a revised 1.7% gain in April, the trade promotion agency said. Growth in overseas shipments may be tempered in coming months as purchasing managers‟ indexes in export-dependent Asian economies including China and South Korea signal manufacturing is still slowing, forcing officials to evaluate whether to add stimulus to spur growth. Policy makers across the globe are girding for a deeper impact from Europe‟s debt woes, with China and Australia lowering interest rates last week. (Bloomberg)
China: Trade surprise signals domestic stimulus focus
China‟s exports rose in May at more than double the pace analysts estimated while industrial output and retail sales trailed forecasts, signaling that last week‟s interest-rate cut was aimed at countering a domestic slowdown. Overseas shipments climbed 15.3% y-o-y, the customs bureau said. Industrial output gained by less than 10% for a second month and retail sales increased the least in almost six years excluding holiday-month distortions, statistics bureau reports showed. China‟s trade resilience signals Europe‟s crisis has yet to spark a collapse in world commerce on the scale of 2008, even as Spain‟s banking woes threaten to deepen the trauma. (Bloomberg)
China: Record May lending seen helping Wen to stabilize growth
China‟s new loans exceeded estimates in May and more money went into longer-term lending, signaling support for investment projects that may help to prevent a deeper economic slowdown. Local-currency lending was RMB793.2bn (USD125bn), the People‟s Bank of China said. Loans extended for a year or more accounted for 34% of the total, up from 28% in April. Premier Wen Jiabao‟s efforts to engineer resurgence in the world‟s second-biggest economy may be aided by the jump in lending and signs of resilience in exports. At the same time, industrial-output growth was close to the lowest since 2009 in May, indicating additional measures will still be needed after last week‟s interest-rate cut. (Bloomberg)
US: Fed says US wealth fell 38.8% in 2007-2010 on home values
The average American family lost 38.8% of its wealth from 2007 to 2010, with the biggest losses concentrated among households with the most assets tied to their homes, a Federal Reserve study shows. Median net worth declined to USD77,300 in 2010, an 18-year low, from USD126,400 in 2007, the central bank said. Mean net worth fell 14.7% to a nine-year low of USD498,800 from USD584,600, the central bank said. The declines in household wealth in the course of the longest and deepest recession since the Great Depression have held back the consumer spending that makes up about 70% of the economy (Bloomberg)
US stocks drop as optimism about Spain bailout fades
US stocks fell, following the biggest weekly rally in the Standard & Poor‟s 500 Index this year, as optimism over Spain‟s bailout plan gave way to skepticism it will succeed in halting the debt crisis. The S&P 500 fell 1.3% to 1,308.93 at 4 pm New York time, after futures on the index surged as much as 1.5% following Spain‟s request. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 142.97 pts, or 1.1%, to 12,411.23. Spain requested as much as EUR100bn (USD125bn) of European bailout funds to shore up its banking system. The crisis in Spain, coinciding with the prospect of Greece leaving the euro after elections, roiled markets around the world, sending the euro to an almost two-year low and pushing Spanish borrowing costs to near euro-era records. (Bloomberg)
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