Currencies dip in Asia on export fall worries
Asian currencies weakened, paced by Indonesias rupiah and the Philippine peso, on speculation investors will sell emerging-market assets as US growth slows. A report on Thursday on Philadelphia manufacturing provided further evidence a two-year cycle of interest-rate increases is cooling the US economy.
Asian exports may suffer on a decline in consumer demand in the US, one of the regions biggest overseas markets.
The rupiah posted the worst week in a month, while the peso snapped a three-week rally.
A lot of money has gone into Asian and Latin American markets and now people may be unwinding their holdings, pushing down the currencies, said Nizam Idris, a currency strategist at UBS AG in Singapore. Investors are more averse to risk following yesterdays poor US numbers.
More : gulf-times.com
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STOCKS NEWS ASIA-Markets knocked by U.S. worries
Asian stock markets fell on Thursday with exporters such as Canon Inc. (7751.T: Quote, Profile, Research) hit by renewed inflation worries in the United States, Asias biggest export market.
Data showing U.S. labour costs had risen more robustly this year than first thought reignited concerns that the Federal Reserve may have to resume raising interest rates again to fight inflation.
At 0020 GMT, Tokyos Nikkei average < .N225> had fallen 1.19 percent to near one-week lows as top casual wear chain Fast Retailing (9983.T: Quote, Profile, Research) slid 1.55 percent, Advantest Corp. (6857.T: Quote,
Asia to replace US as worlds growth driver
Asia is forecast to replace the United States as the key driver of global growth within five years, a published report said on Tuesday.
In five years time, domestic demand growth from Asia will outstrip that of the US, said DBS Bank economist David Carbon in the latest Quarterly Outlook.
The US will no longer be the biggest driver, he said. That role will fall to Asia. Indeed, it already has to a far greater extent than most realize.
The baton is passing and it will soon be complete, he predicted.
Asia already
Asia stocks to focus on oil, Fed meeting
Lower oil prices may help underpin Asian stock markets this week as worries about inflation ease, but further direction is expected to come from the outcome of the Federal Reserves policy-setting meeting.
The U.S. central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday following recent evidence of slower U.S. growth, while investors will be on the look-out for clues to future rate moves.
Still, worries about slower global growth mean any market gains may be limited, some analysts say.
More : za.today.reuters.com
Indian shares fall on weak Asia
Indian shares fell more than 1 percent in early Friday deals on weak Asian markets, as investors digested a three-day rally and refrained from taking long positions ahead of the weekend.
At 11:09 a.m. the 30-issue benchmark BSE index was 0.88 percent lower at 11,867.95 points, having traded in a 130-point band. It had rallied 3.6 percent, or 422 points, in the past three days.
Sentiment was lacklustre in the broader market, with 644 stocks gaining compared with 1,415 that lost ground. Total volume stood at 57.9 million shares.
More : in.today.reuters.com
Won Declines on Resistance MARKET ROUNDUP: CURRENCIES BUSINESS ASIA By Bloomberg
The South Korean won declined Thursday, ending two days of gains, on speculation that the central bank would allow it to weaken in order to keep exports competitive as the yen trades near a two- month low.
A cheaper yen against the won reduces the cost of Japanese goods sold abroad, to the detriment of Korean manufacturers, who compete for buyers of electronics and automobiles. Traders raised bets that the Bank of Korea would sell its currency after Vice Finance Minister Chin Dong Soo said Wednesday that the government would
