Forex News from InstaForex

Japan Industrial Production Eases In August

Industrial output in Japan fell a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on month in August, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in Wednesday's preliminary reading. That was well shy of forecasts for an increase of 1.0 percent following the 0.8 percent decline in July. On a yearly basis, industrial production added just 0.2 percent - also below expectations for a gain of 1.8 percent following the flat reading in the previous month. Upon the release of the data, the METI downgraded its assessment of industrial production, saying that it has weakened; previously, the METI said output had been fluctuating indecisively. Industries that mainly contributed to the monthly decline included business-oriented machinery, electrical machinery and transport equipment. According to the survey of production forecast in manufacturing, production is expected to rise 0.1 percent in September and jump 4.4 percent in October. Industries that mainly contribute to the increase in September included electrical machinery, communications equipment and chemicals. Industries that mainly contribute to the increase in October included business-oriented machinery, transport equipment and electrical machinery. Shipments in August were down 0.5 percent on month, down for the second straight month. They were also up 0.8 percent on year. Industries that mainly contributed to the decline included business-oriented machinery, fabricated metals and paper products. Inventories in August added 0.4 percent on month, reversing the previous month's losses. They were also up 2.2 percent on year. The inventory ratio in July climbed 6.1 percent on month, rising for the first time in three months. It also showed an increase of 1.0 percent on year. Also on Wednesday, the METI said that retail sales in Japan were up 0.8 percent on year in August. That missed expectations for an increase of 1.2 percent following the 1.8 percent jump in July. Sales from large retailers jumped an annual 1.8 percent - beating forecasts for an increase of 1.3 percent following the 2.1 percent spike in the previous month. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales were flat in August versus expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent and down from 1.4 percent a month earlier.

News are provided by InstaForex

British pound weakens ahead of Carney speech

The British pound on Tuesday hit its lowest in nearly five months as traders look forward to Bank of England Governor Mark Carney's speech for clues on when interest rates might begin to increase. Sterling stood at 74.13 pence per euro. Against the US dollar, the currency closed at $1.5128. It seems the market refuses to price in anything such as the rate profile the central banks are attempting to convey, for all the ECB seeks “to talk up the prospect of more QE, and Carney talks about higher rates,” said Adam Cole, Head of FX Strategy at RBC Capital Markets. Investors expect the BOE to follow the Federal Reserve in raising rates from their current lows. But the central is not rushing, with the UK inflation still at zero.

News are provided by InstaForex

U.S. Dollar Rises Against Most Majors

The U.S. dollar strengthened against most major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday. The U.S. dollar rose to a 3-day high of 1.1155 against the euro, from yesterday's closing value of 1.1176. Against the yen and the Swiss franc, the greenback edged up to 120.27 and 0.9759 from yesterday's closing quotes of 119.87 and 0.9731, respectively. If the greenback extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.10 against the euro, 122.00 against the yen and 0.98 against the franc.

News are provided by InstaForex

Japan Household Spending Climbs In September

The average of household spending in Japan jumped 2.9 percent on year in August, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday - standing at 291,156 yen. That topped forecasts for an increase of 0.3 percent following the 0.2 percent annual contraction in July. The average of monthly income per household stood at 475,369 yen, up 2.2 percent on year, while the average of consumption expenditures per household was 317,195 yen, up 3.4 percent on year. Individually, spending on housing jumped 15.2 percent on year, followed by education (13.3 percent), communication (8.6 percent), furniture (7.7 percent), fuel (6.8 percent), recreation (1.5 percent) and food (0.6 percent). Spending on clothing was down 4.9 percent, and medical care was down 4.2 percent. Also on Friday: . The ministry said that the unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 3.4 percent in August. That was above forecasts for 3.3 percent, which would have been unchanged from the July reading. The job-to-applicant ratio was 1.23, beating forecasts for 1.22 and up from 1.21 in the previous month. The participation rate was 59.6, unchanged from the previous month. The number of employed persons in August was 63.79 million, an increase of 160,000 or 0.3 percent on year. The number of unemployed persons in August was 2.25 million, a decrease of 60,000 or 2.6 percent on year. . The monetary base in Japan jumped 35.1 percent on year in September, the Bank of Japan said, coming in at 332.194 trillion yen. That follows the 33.3 percent spike in August. Banknotes in circulation climbed an annual 5.9 percent, while coins in circulation gained 0.7 percent. Current account balances surged 52.4 percent on year, including a 51.5 percent spike in reserve balances. The adjusted monetary base climbed 46.3 percent to 332.512 trillion yen. For the third quarter of 2015, the monetary base jumped 33.7 percent on year.

News are provided by InstaForex

Euro escalates ahead of US jobs data

The euro lost its ground Thursday, a day before the US jobs data that may affect the Federal Reserve's timing of raising interest rates this year. Traders are anticipating the nonfarm payrolls data, which many of them believe the figures may give a clearest picture of the overall US economy. Against the US dollar, the common currency closed at $1.1196. Thursday's move emphasizes the uncertainty encompassing the market “regarding the Fed's timing,” said Joe Manimbo, Senior Market Analyst at Western Union.

News are provided by InstaForex

Australia Job Ads Rise At Faster Rate In September l

Job advertisements in Australia climbed for the second straight month in September at a faster pace, latest survey from the Australian and New Zealand Banking Group revealed Monday. Total job ads rose a seasonally adjusted 3.9 percent month-over-month in September, much faster than the 1.3 percent increase in August. In July, ads had fallen 0.4 percent. Internet job ads also grew at a faster pace of 4.0 percent monthly in September, following a 1.3 percent rise in the previous month. Meanwhile, newspaper ads fell 2.7 percent over the prior month, marking its first drop in three months. On an annual basis, job ads surged 10.5 percent in September, slightly slower than August's 10.7 percent growth. "The positive trend in job advertising is a sign that the economy is so far adjusting relatively well to significant headwinds from falling commodity prices and mining investment," ANZ Chief Economist Warren Hogan, said. "While we expect momentum in non-mining activity to remain quite good in the near-term, our view is that the significant support to growth from the factors above will wane heading into 2016." "For this reason, we expect employment growth to remain reasonably healthy over the remainder of 2015 but to then soften next year. This is likely to prompt the Reserve Bank to provide a little more monetary policy support to prevent the unemployment rate from rising further."

News are provided by InstaForex

Australia Job Ads Rise At Faster Rate In September l

Job advertisements in Australia climbed for the second straight month in September at a faster pace, latest survey from the Australian and New Zealand Banking Group revealed Monday. Total job ads rose a seasonally adjusted 3.9 percent month-over-month in September, much faster than the 1.3 percent increase in August. In July, ads had fallen 0.4 percent. Internet job ads also grew at a faster pace of 4.0 percent monthly in September, following a 1.3 percent rise in the previous month. Meanwhile, newspaper ads fell 2.7 percent over the prior month, marking its first drop in three months. On an annual basis, job ads surged 10.5 percent in September, slightly slower than August's 10.7 percent growth. "The positive trend in job advertising is a sign that the economy is so far adjusting relatively well to significant headwinds from falling commodity prices and mining investment," ANZ Chief Economist Warren Hogan, said. "While we expect momentum in non-mining activity to remain quite good in the near-term, our view is that the significant support to growth from the factors above will wane heading into 2016." "For this reason, we expect employment growth to remain reasonably healthy over the remainder of 2015 but to then soften next year. This is likely to prompt the Reserve Bank to provide a little more monetary policy support to prevent the unemployment rate from rising further."

News are provided by InstaForex

US dollar holds losses as traders pare back rate bets

The US dollar nursed losses Monday as disappointing US jobs data made investors scale back bets the Federal Reserve was on course to increase interest rates as early as this month. Last week, the nonfarm payrolls report showed the US employers added only 142,000 jobs in September. The greenback finished at $1.1233 from Friday's $1.1319. Against the Japanese yen, the currency closed at ¥120.01 from ¥118.68. “Though the Fed anticipated to defer its first rate hike until the first quarter of 2016, we still believe “the US economy is one of the few capable of generating inflation due to a relative tight labour market,” said strategists at Barclays. Uncertainty regarding the Fed's timing of rate increase has kept the currency locked in ranges although the US central bank is still expected to be the first one to raise rates in the near term.

News are provided by InstaForex

Japanese yen declines as haven demand falters on higher stocks

The Japanese yen plummeted Tuesday as a rebound in commodities and stocks dampened demand for safe haven. The currency ended at ¥120.48 per US dollar and ¥85.36 per Australian dollar. Stocks and commodities, as US rate hike bets are scaled back, noticed a “big rebound and eased risk aversion,” said Etsuko Yamashita, Chief Economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan will commence their two-day meeting today.

News are provided by InstaForex

Australia retains rates as Aussie alleviates commodity price plunge

Australia's central bank on Tuesday left interest rates unchanged as the Australian dollar eased the impact of commodity prices' downfall and a weaker Chinese economy. In a statement, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens said the cash rate is still at a record low of 2%. The RBA reduced the rate twice this year, in May and February. The Aussie has lost almost 9% in the second quarter. Stevens emphasized there had been further softening in China and east Asia lately, and that the currency is adjusting to the considerable declines in major commodity prices. The Aussie ended at 71.18 US cents from 70.83 US cents ahead of the rate decision.

News are provided by InstaForex

Asian shares accelerate as Samsung beats profit projections

Asian stocks ascended on sixth day as Samsung Electronics Co. shares leaped following its quarterly profit surpassed predictions and traders anticipated Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.2% to 129.23 in Tokyo. Samsung surged 3.8% on better than expected profit in the third quarter, as the weaker Korean won bolstered component revenue and dampened the effect of price reductions on Galaxy smartphones. Also, Japan's Topix index gained 0.2%, while South Korea's Kospi index added 0.4%. Chinese markets are still closed for a holiday, while Hong Kong is yet to resume trading.

News are provided by InstaForex

Taiwan CPI Rises Unexpectedly In September

Taiwan's consumer prices increased unexpectedly in September, figures from the Taiwan National Statistics showed Wednesday. The consumer price index rose 0.28 percent year-over-year in September, confounding economists' expectations for a 0.5 percent fall. In August, prices had fallen the same 0.5 percent. Food prices grew 5.85 percent annually in September and health costs went up by 0.31 percent. Meanwhile, costs for transport and communication declined 6.59 percent and clothing prices dropped by 0.67 percent. On a monthly basis, consumer prices climbed 0.68 percent in September. In a separate report, the statistical office announced that wholesale prices fell at a slower pace of 8.6 percent yearly in September, following a 9.4 percent decrease in August. Economists had expected a 8.8 percent decline for the month. Prices have been falling since September last year. Month-on-month, wholesale prices edged up 0.09 percent. Import prices plunged 12.2 percent in September from a year ago, while it rose 0.07 percent from the preceding month.

News are provided by InstaForex

Japan August Current Account Surplus Y1.653 Billion

Japan posted a current account surplus of 1.653 billion yen in August, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday. That exceeded forecasts for a surplus of 1.226 billion yen following the 1.808 billion yen surplus in July. The trade balance came in at a deficit of 326.1 billion yen following the 108.0 billion yen shortfall in the previous month. Exports added 3.6 percent on year to 5.857 trillion yen after climbing 4.6 percent to 6.544 trillion in July. Imports slipped an annual 4.9 percent to 6.184 trillion yen after dipping 6.5 percent to 6.652 trillion yen a month earlier. The capital account reflected a shortfall of 10.1 billion yen, the ministry said, while the financial account saw a surplus of 1.938 trillion yen. The adjusted current account balance was a surplus of 1.590 trillion yen, topping expectations for 1.226 trillion yen and up from 1.321 trillion yen a month earlier.

News are provided by InstaForex

Global market at risk of new financial crisis, says IMF

The International Monetary Fund warned the world is at risk of a fresh financial crisis leading to global recession if governments and policymakers misgovern market stability risks. IMF's head of financial stability José Viñals said the bad scenario does not depend on severe presumptions at all, indicating the increase in risk premiums and corporate defaults among emerging economies, and decrease in appetite for riskier assets. The institution, in its bi-annual global financial stability report, imitated the effects of the pressing financial perils in emerging markets turning sour from another shock to confidence or policy mishaps. IMF projected spending growth would slide sharply in advanced and emerging economies, resulting in a shortfall in output of 2.4% by 2017. Global growth would face the likelihood of slumping below 2% for a year.

News are provided by InstaForex

Moody's: Philippines Rating Resilient to Slowing Growth in Asia, Outlook Stable

Moody's Investors Service says that the Philippines' Baa2 government bond rating reflects the resilience of its economy to the current headwinds buffeting neighboring countries and emerging markets as a whole. Further, the stable outlook reflects Moody's expectation that positive economic and fiscal trends will be sustained over the next 1-2 years. However, these will be balanced against the persistent weaknesses in the sovereign's credit profile. Moody's conclusions were contained in its credit analysis on the Philippines, and which examines the sovereign in four categories: economic strength, which is assessed as "high"; institutional strength "moderate (+)"; fiscal strength "moderate"; and susceptibility to event risk "low". The report constitutes an annual update to investors and is not a rating action. Moody's report notes that domestic demand has cushioned the effects of weaker exports amid slowing growth in much of the Asia Pacific region. At the same time, the external risks to the government's external liquidity and funding conditions arising from the prospective tightening by the US Federal Reserve are manageable. Internally, although political noise has increased ahead of general elections next year, Moody's does not expect the improvements in institutional strength to reverse. Reform momentum has been largely sustained, leading to improved assessments of competitiveness and governance. However, bottlenecks in fiscal expenditure continue to weigh on growth and could threaten the government's capacity to meet its goal of increasing infrastructure spending to at least 5% of GDP by 2016. Nevertheless, the government's Public Private Partnership Program has gained some traction, following a slow start at the outset of the Aquino administration. Moody's expects government debt as a share of GDP to fall for a fifth consecutive year in 2015 as fiscal deficits remain narrower than budgeted. Both the public and private sector have also relied less on cross-border sources of financing in recent years, leading to improved external debt ratios and lowering the country's susceptibility to volatile capital flows. Nevertheless, the government's revenue--as measured against GDP--is low and debt affordability remains weak when compared to investment-grade peers, although both ratios have improved in recent years, says the rating agency. The relatively high proportion of government debt denominated in foreign currency renders the Philippines susceptible to currency risks, although this has also improved recently. In addition, the country's GDP per capita is among the lowest for investment-grade countries.

News are provided by InstaForex

JPMorgan’s Chang Says Fed Rate Hike Would Help Emerging Markets

Joyce Chang, global head of research at JPMorgan Chase & Co., said a U.S. Fed rate hike would help emerging markets by lowering uncertainty that has kept investors from taking on risk there. Last month, official kept the rate near zero to see if slower growth in China undermines their forecast that U.S. inflation will move back to the Fed's 2% target. David Fernandez, head of fixed-income, currencies and commodities research for the Asia Pacific region at Barclays Plc, said during the panel discussion that emerging markets would benefit if the U.S. Federal Reserve increased rates.

News are provided by InstaForex

BoJ Minutes: Economic Recovery Remains On Track

Members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy board said that the country's economic recovery is expected to continue, minutes from the bank's September 14 and 15 meeting revealed on Tuesday. At the meeting, decided to maintain its target of raising the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY 80 trillion. It also kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 0 to 0.10 percent. "Japan's economy has continued to recover moderately, although exports and production are affected by the slowdown in emerging economies. Overseas economies -- mainly advanced economies -- have continued to grow at a moderate pace, despite the slowdown in emerging economies," the minutes said. Exports and industrial production have been more or less flat. This was a downgrade from its earlier view that exports and industrial production have been picking up. Inflation expectations appear to be rising, the minutes said, due to the effects of the decline in energy prices. "The year-on-year rate of increase in the consumer price index (CPI, all items less fresh food) is about 0 percent. Inflation expectations appear to be rising on the whole from a somewhat longer-term perspective. The year-on-year rate of increase in the CPI is likely to be about 0 percent for the time being, due to the effects of the decline in energy prices," the minutes said. Downside risks include the health of commodity exporters and emerging markets, economic momentum in Europe and the pace of the economic recovery in the United States. The central bank will continue to take steps as needed to achieve its goals, the minutes said. "Quantitative and qualitative monetary easing (QQE) has been exerting its intended effects, and the Bank will continue with QQE, aiming to achieve the price stability target of 2 percent, as long as it is necessary for maintaining that target in a stable manner. It will examine both upside and downside risks to economic activity and prices, and make adjustments as appropriate," the minutes said. Also on Tuesday, the BoJ said that overall bank lending in Japan was up 2.6 percent on year in September, coming in at 491.312 trillion yen. That was shy of forecasts for 2.7 percent, which would have been unchanged from the previous month. Excluding trusts, bank lending also was up 2.6 percent to 427.163 trillion yen. That was beneath forecasts for 2.8 percent, which would have been unchanged from the August reading. Lending from trusts gained 2.2 percent to 64.149 trillion yen, while lending from foreign banks added 0.2 percent to 1.926 trillion yen.

News are provided by InstaForex

Senior Fed official urges delay in raising rates


Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard said the US central bank should not rush in increasing interest rates as global risks are clouding the overall US outlook, indicating risk management considerations call for an opportunity to wait if the perils diminish. Even though the outlook for domestic demand is good, global factors are “weighing on net exports and inflation,” and the foreign risks seemed inclined to the downside,” Brainard added. Fed officials voted to defer a rate hike to wait for more evidences on how slowing growth in China influences the US outlook. The official refused to disclose if she favored increasing rates this year or in 2016.

News are provided by InstaForex

South Korea Leading Index Gains 0.2% In August - Conference Board

The leading economic index in South Korea was up 0.2 percent in August, the Conference Board said on Wednesday, following the 0.3 percent decline in July. The positive contributor was the yield of government public bonds. Negative contributors included the value of machinery orders, stock prices, private construction orders, the index of inventories to shipments and real exports FOB. The coincident index was up 0.2 percent, down from 0.4 percent in the previous month. The positive contributors were total employment, the wholesale and retail sales component, monthly cash earnings and industrial production.

News are provided by InstaForex

China Inflation Slows; PPI On The Decline For 43 Months

China's inflation eased in September, reflecting a slowdown in food inflation, and producer prices extended its downward trend, adding to fears of deflationary pressure amid moderation in economic growth. Consumer price inflation slowed to 1.6 percent in September from a 12-month high of 2 percent seen in August. It was forecast to fall to 1.8 percent. Food inflation eased notably to 2.7 percent from 3.7 percent, while non-food inflation slowed only marginally to 1 percent from 1.1 percent. Month-on-month, consumer prices gained 0.1 percent, slower than the 0.5 percent increase seen in August. Another report from NBS showed that producer prices fell at the weakest rate since late 2009, posting the 43rd consecutive month of decline. Producer prices dropped 5.9 percent annually in September, the same rate of decline as seen in August and matched expectations. On a monthly basis, prices fell 0.4 percent. Julian Evans-Pritchard at Capital Economics expects the fall in consumer price inflation to be temporary. As the sharp falls in the price of oil and other commodities late last year begin to drop out of the base for comparison over the coming months, both consumer and producer prices are likely to pick up markedly, easing concerns over deflation, the economist said. The People's Bank of China cut its interest rates five times since last November and reduced reserve ratio to support lending. Inflation has remained between 0.8 percent and 2 percent this year. The government aims to achieve around 3 percent inflation this year.

News are provided by InstaForex

Yen Falls Against Majors

The Japanese yen weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday. The yen fell to a 1-1/2-month low of 125.49 against the Swiss franc, a 3-day low of 136.73 against the euro and a 2-day low of 184.35 against the pound, from yesterday's closing quotes of 125.04, 136.33 and 183.85, respectively. Against the U.S. dollar, the yen edged down to 119.16 from yesterday's closing value of 118.82. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 129.00 against the franc, 138.00 against the euro, 188.00 against the pound and 121.00 against the greenback

News are provided by InstaForex

Yen Falls Against Majors

The Japanese yen weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday. The yen fell to a 1-1/2-month low of 125.49 against the Swiss franc, a 3-day low of 136.73 against the euro and a 2-day low of 184.35 against the pound, from yesterday's closing quotes of 125.04, 136.33 and 183.85, respectively. Against the U.S. dollar, the yen edged down to 119.16 from yesterday's closing value of 118.82. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 129.00 against the franc, 138.00 against the euro, 188.00 against the pound and 121.00 against the greenback

News are provided by InstaForex

US stocks rebound on earnings report

US shares rallied following it recorded two days of losses Thursday, bolstered by the third quarter earnings report of the financial sector. The S&P's financial sector ended up 2.3% for its best trading day in over a month. Citigroup rose 4.4% following it surpassed projections. A Reuters data showed 67% of the companies that reported earnings so far have outmatched analyst estimates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average settled at 17,141.75, up 1.28%, the Nasdaq Composite ended at 4,870.10, up 1.82%, and the S&P 500 closed at 2,023.86, up 1.49%. The surge of stocks was merely a bounce back, as none of the fundamentals have become “decisive enough to take you away from the technical battle that's going on,” said Jim Paulsen, Chief Investment Officer at Wells Capital Management.

News are provided by InstaForex

Malaysian Ringgit Slides To 2-day Low Against U.S. Dollar


The Malaysian ringgit weakened against the U.S. dollar in the Asian session on Friday. Against the greenback, the ringgit fell to a 2-day low of 4.1888. At yesterday's close, the ringgit was trading at 4.1100 against the greenback. If the ringgit extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around the 4.35 area.

News are provided by InstaForex

Ease Of Doing Business: India Amends Transfer Pricing Rules

As part of efforts to improve its ranking on 'Ease of Doing Business' and in line with the promise made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech, the Indian government on Tuesday notified amendments to the transfer pricing rules to incorporate a "range concept" and use of multi-year data in line with the international best practices. The amended regime will be applicable for computation of arms. The amended rules would provide clarity in determination of price in transfer pricing cases and reduce disputes on transfer pricing (TP) issues. The use of multiple-year data would average out any variations in a particular year and add value to the transfer pricing analysis. The range concept will be applicable in certain cases for determining the price and will begin with the 35th percentile and end with the 65th percentile of the comparable prices. Transaction price shown by the taxpayers falling within the range will be accepted and no adjustment will be made. The amended regime will be applicable for computation of Arm's Length Price (ALP) of international transactions and specified domestic transactions undertaken on or after 1/04/2014. The news rules are designed to provide stability in the direct tax regime. The notification is available on the website of the Department incometaxindia.gov.in.

News are provided by InstaForex