Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) international reserves amounted to RM429.6bn (US$134.5bn) as at 31 Jul 2012, up slightly from RM429.4bn (US$134.4bn) as at 13 Jul 2012. The reserves position was sufficient to finance 9.5 months of retained imports and was 4.3 times the short-term external debt. (BNM)
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) revised down its global rice forecast for 2012 by 7.8m tonnes to 724.5m tonnes due to low monsoon rainfall in India, but said world output should still be greater than in 2011. (AFP)
US job openings climbed by 105,000 to 3.76m, the most since Jul 2008, from a revised 3.66m the prior month, the Labor Department said. (Bloomberg)
US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said new regulatory structures such as the Dodd-Frank Act and the Basel accords are important in helping to prevent another crisis because they give regulators a more holistic view of the financial system. (Bloomberg)
US consumer credit rose by a seasonally adjusted US$6.46bn to US$2.577tr in Jun (a revised US$16.7bn gain in May), undershooting economists’ forecasts for a US$10bn expansion. (WSJ)
The US ICSC-Goldman Store Sales index rose 1.4% yoy in the 4 Aug week (1.8% in the prior week), whilst on a wow basis, the gauge experienced no change (-1.7% in the earlier week). (Bloomberg)
Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi said the government will extend its dollar credit facility aimed at helping companies invest overseas by six months as part of its efforts to cope with a strong yen. (Reuters)
Sales at South Korean department and discount stores run by the country's top three chain operators in Jul fell 0.9% yoy following a 2.0% decline in Jun, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said. (Reuters)
Foreign investors are cutting their holdings in India’s state-controlled companies to a three-year low as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government sacrifices shareholder return to revive the weakest economy in nine years. (Bloomberg)
Fitch Ratings has cut the outlook for India's vast retail sector from stable to negative, saying consumer spending was at its weakest in seven years.(AFP)
Overseas funds pared stakes in the 40 biggest state-owned firms in India to an average 7.31% at the end of Jun, the lowest level since Mar 2009. (Bloomberg)
Singapore’s foreign reserves rose to US$244.14bn in Jul from US$243.38 in Jun. (Bloomberg)
Indonesia’s foreign reserves inched up to US$106.56bn in Jul from US$106.5 in Jun. (Bloomberg)
Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development plans to modify the rules governing the purchasing of rice for temporary reserve to boost farmers' profits. (Vietnam News)
The State Bank of Viet Nam has asked the Government to allow foreign investors to buy more shares in commercial banks, according to acting Chief Inspector of the State Bank of Viet Nam Nguyen Huu Nghia. (Vietnam News)
Standard & Poor's revised its outlook on Greece's long-term rating to "negative", reflecting the potential for a downgrade if Greece fails to secure the next disbursement from the EU/IMF financing program. It affirmed its "CCC" foreign and "C" local currency credit ratings on Greece. (Reuters)
Australia's central bank kept its main cash rate at 3.5% for a second month, saying it was too soon to gauge the full impact of past cuts while noting early signs the stimulus was working. (Reuters)
No comments:
Post a Comment