9 February 2012
Asia Closing Highlights
Connie Tse, Radhika Rao, Fiona Lim, Chester Liaw, Bernard Aw
(Note: Currency values as of 1010 GMT)
ASIA NEWS
- Hong Kong: HKMA announced some changes to existing restrictions surrounding the calculation of the liquidity ratio for the RMB banking business in Hong Kong.
- Singapore: Singapore will report detailed fourth quarter gross domestic product data before stock market trading hours on Feb 16, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said on Thursday.
- Singapore: The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) is reportedly in talks with International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's investment arm, to set up a US$1 billion infrastructure fund
- Malaysia: Dec export growth slowed to 6.1% y/y from 8% in Nov, largely in line with expectations (mkt: 6%), while imports picked pace to 10.4% y/y vs 8.4% in the previous month, which resulted in a narrower trade surplus at MYR 8.31bn (prev: MYR 9.49bn).
- Indonesia: BI has taken to surprising markets and they were back in the act on Thursday. The central bank trimmed the BI rate by 25bps to historic lows of 5.75% after delivering 75bps cuts in Q4 last year.
- Indonesia: Moody's said on late Thursday that it is worried about Indonesia's inflation after BI's surprise rate cut of 25bps.
- Thailand: Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's party submitted its plan to overhaul the constitution written after a 2006 coup that ousted her brother, an effort that has sparked political turmoil in the past
- Philippines: President Aquino said the govt seeks investors for infrastructure projects, adding that there are plans to expand the train systems in Manila.
- Philippines: BIR Dep Commissioner Henares said the tax agency is likely to meet the revenue target at PHP 1.066tn this year.
- Philippines: the country may import as little as 100k tonnes of rice in 2013, according to Agriculture Asst Secy Delima, as the farmers plan to plant crops earlier to avoid the storm-prone months of Sep and Oct, which could help to reduce damage to rice production.
- India: Trade Secretary Khullar cautioned on Thursday that FY12 current account to near 3.5% of GDP, widest in eight years, as the trade deficit is projected to swell to USD 160bn from earlier estimates of USD 150bn. The official also said January exports rose 10.1% y/y, imports up 20.3% and trade account clocked USD14.7bn shortfall.
G7 NEWS
- EU: Greek government source said Greece has 15 days to identify fiscal savings worth EUR300mln. - Reuters - EU: Spain Finance Minister Luis de Guindos says that he expects a worse contraction in Q1 2012 vs Q4 2011 but there are no plans for tax increases.
- Japan: Jan consumer confidence improve in January from the previous month. The survey sentiment index was at 40.0, up from 38.9 in Dec.
- UK: Dec Industrial Production 0.5% m/m (Prev: -0.5R 4CAST: 0.2 Mkt: 0.2)
- Australia: Banks that jump the gun and raise interest rates have been warned they could lose tens of thousands of customers. - Herald Sun
CURRENCIES
USD/Majors: The option level of 1.3300 was broken in early afternoon on Eastern European buying. The move was partially stops driven as well, but limited stops were triggered above 1.3300. More are sighted above the 100 day MA of 1.3330, but prices were safely below at last look. Traders preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of the ECB and BoE rate decisions. However, a light bid tone was seen in GBP with the major trading near the day's highs above 1.5850, on the back of a better than expected industrial production data.
JPY Crosses: EUR strength on hopes of swift Greek deal kept crosses/JPY buoyant in the second half of the session. USD/JPY found support above 77.15, briefly reaching 77.24 two-week highs while EUR/JPY was bid to two-month highs at 102.76, and pulled GBP/JPY towards 122.400. AUD/USD rebounded above 1.0800 as investors shrugged off firmer China CPI print, which helped lift AUD/JPY towards 83.60. Nikkei pared losses to close down 0.2%.
USD/Asians: Market sentiments remained cautious in late Asia ahead of the potential resolution of Greece's debt plan later. Asian equities were in varied hues, with KLCI leading the pack at 0.8%, followed by SENSEX at 0.7%. On the other end, PSEi took last spot, down 0.8%. Likewise, regional currencies showed a split performance. TWD was the best performer, up 0.3% vs the dollar followed by SGD at 0.1% while INR languished at the bottom at -0.3%, followed by MYR at -0.2%. Meanwhile, BI cut benchmark rate by 25bps to 5.75%, much to the surprise of the markets.
COMMODITIES
Oil prices advanced strongly on perceived progress in Greek negotiations. ICE Brent crude oil last traded at $117.90/bbl.
Gold prices gained on weaker dollar. Spot gold trading at $1734.15-$1734.95/oz at last indication.
NORTH ASIA
USD/CNY: Spot extended downmove to 6.2940 lows and stayed supported above the said level thereafter. 1Y NDF bounced off 6.2510, near five-year lows, towards 6.2600 in late Asia.
USD/KRW: Stayed offered below 1116 in post-lunch trade on sustained EUR bounce before closing at 1115.6, weighed also by Kospi 0.5% gains.
USD/HKD: Pair continued climb towards 7.7560 on corporate bids. Hang Seng flatlined.
USD/TWD: Intervention fears saw USD/TWD bounce off 29.410 day lows to close at 29.495, though upmoves were hindered by EUR bid tone.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
USD/SGD: Hovered at the lower end of the 1.2424-1.2488 intraday range on firm EUR tone.
USD/MYR: Sustained EUR strength drove USD/MYR to 2.9990 lows before regaining above key 3.00 on intervention fears, though upsides were checked by KLCI 0.8% gains.
USD/IDR: Price action was confined to 8960-8980 range after brief jump on BI's unexpected 25bps rate cut. JKSE closed down 0.2%.
USD/THB: Stuck within 30.72-30.77 on Thursday as SETi hovered flat.
USD/PHP: Short-covering bids lifted USD/PHP off more than five-month lows at 42.080 to close at 42.180, buoyed also by 0.8% PSEi losses.
USD/INR: Briefly touched 49.4250 day highs before pulling back towards 49.250 on EUR bounce. SENSEX gained 0.7% at last indication, reaching 17866.19, highest since Aug 2011.