*Stocks were mixed in Asian trade. Shanghai added 0.8% and the Nikkei was up a fraction, while the Hang Seng lost a fraction and Australia fell a quarter percent. European indexes are generally lower on the session; the Footsie is off about one and a third percent, but the Dax is down just a third of a percent. US stock futures a lower by about a half percent.
*The September reading of Japan’s All Industry Activity Index was down 0.8% on a month on month basis, a couple tenths more of a decline than expected.
*The People’s Bank of China announced on its website earlier today that they will raise the reserve ratio requirement for the nation’s banks by 50 basis points, as of November 29. PBOC boss Zhou says China can take more steps if needed to counter hot money flows. This is the fifth time this year that China’s central bank has increased the reserve requirements of its banks.
*The October reading of Germany’s Producer Price Index is +0.4% on a month on month basis, one tenth more than forecast
*There are reports that an EU/IMF aid plan for Ireland is likely to be announced next week.
*Fed boss Bernanke defended the current Fed strategy saying that both high unemployment and further disinflation could “hinder the recovery”, at the ECB conference in Frankfurt earlier this morning. He also assailed currency devaluation by trade surplus countries while also noting that he is fully aware of the dollar’s international role and that strong US economic fundamentals will underpin the dollar’s value. Also at the conference ECB boss Trichet said he thinks Bernanke’s statements on the strong dollar are very important.
*The Fed is scheduled to sell Treasuries today that are due to mature between 8/15/28 and 11/15/40; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CST.
No comments:
Post a Comment