20121018 1009 Local & Global Economy Related News.

The government is considering defraying infrastructure costs so that private  developers can build more houses at below market price, said PM Datuk  Seri Najib Tun Razak. He said that he had asked the 1Malaysia Housing  Progamme Corporation (PR1MA) to have discussions with private developers to  come up with a second model to build more affordable houses. (Financial Daily)

The total  sukuk issuance in Malaysia amounted to RM219.4bn during the  first eight months of 2012 against RM120.7bn in the corresponding period in  2011. Securities Commission (SC) executive director, Zainal Izlan Zainal Abidin  said 2012 witnessed encouraging performance of the Islamic capital market and  the sukuk segment is set to register another record year in terms of total  issuance value. (Bernama)

US housing starts  rose to a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of 872,000  units in Sep from a revised 758,000 units in Aug, beating expectations of a level  of 765,000 units.  Permits  rose to a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of  894,000 (a revised 801,000 in Aug), again beating consensus of 810,000.  (Bloomberg)

The US MBA purchase applications index gained 1.0% wow in the 12 Oct  week (2.0% in the earlier week), whilst the  refinance index  lost 5.0% wow  (-2.0% in the prior week). (Bloomberg)

Eurozone construction output  grew 0.7% mom in Aug (a revised 0.1% in  Jul), the second straight month of increase. On a yoy basis, output was down  5.5% in Aug, following a 6.2% drop in Jul. (Dow Jones)

China's Premier Wen Jiabao said the economy began stabilising in the  past three months and should meet 2012 targets. (AFP)

 Japan’s machine tool orders fell 2.8% yoy in Sep following a 3.0% decline  in the previous month. (RTTNews)

 Japan's prime minister Yoshihiko Noda instructed his ministers to plan  for an economic stimulus reportedly worth up to ¥1.0tr. (AFP)

Singapore’s exports  fell 3.4% yoy, after a revised decline of 10.7% in Aug,  missing market expectations for a 2.3% rise.  Electronic exports declined  16.4% yoy in Sep  after falling 11.0% in Aug, while  non-electronics  shipments grew 4.2%, reversing a 10.5% fall the previous month. (WSJ)

The Bank of Thailand cut its one-day bond repurchase rate by a quarter  of a percentage point to 2.75%. The monetary policy committee voted 5-2 in  favor of a cut. The decision was predicted by three of 23 economists in a  Bloomberg News survey. (Bloomberg)

Vietnam’s trade surplus in Sep reached more than US$170m, a three-time  increase against Aug. (Vietnam News)