Depressed Yen
November 11, 2013
The yen at 99.20 is 1.0% weaker than the dollar, which otherwise shows dips of 0.2% against the Swiss franc and euro and 0.1% versus the kiwi. The dollar is up 0.2% relative to the Australian dollar and 0.1% vis-a-vis sterling but unchanged against the loonie and yuan.
Stocks overnight rose 1.4% in Hong Kong and 1.3% in Japan but fell by 1.4% in the typhoon-struck Philippines. Equities also dropped 0.9% in India, 0.8% in Indonesia, and 0.6% in Taiwan and New Zealand. France is closed for Armistice Day, and Canada and the United States will be observing Remembrance Day and Veterans Day. Equities have risen 0.4% in Great Britain, 0.4% in Italy, and 0.1% in Germany and Spain.
The 10-year British gilt yield is two basis points higher, but the German bund has dipped a basis point. The Japanese JGB is steady and below 0.60%.
After a drop of $24 on Friday, the price of gold remains steady at $1284.80 per ounce so far today. WTI crude oil rose by 0.2% to $94.74 per barrel.
Japan’s economy watchers index, a measure of consumer demand for basic services, fell a point to 51.8, its second lowest reading since February.
Japan’s seasonally adjusted current account swung to a deficit of JPY 125 billion in September from a JPY 352 billion surplus in August. The seasonally adjusted trade deficit widened 139% on month to JPY 1.349 trillion. The unadjusted JPY 587 billion current account surplus was bigger than the surplus of JPY 514 billion in September 2012, but the “Basic Balance” (current account plus long-term capital flows) showed a bigger deficit of JPY 5.25 trillion than a year earlier when the outflow amounted to JPY 3.92 trillion.
Japanese stock and bond transactions generated a JPY 494 billion net capital inflow in September.
Bankruptcies in Japan contracted 7.3% between October 2012 and October 2013, a smaller drop than seen in September.
Japanese bank lending continues to respond very slowly to quantitative monetary stimulus. Loans posted a 2.0% on-year rise in October, same as in the third quarter. Excluding trusts, the 12-month increase stayed at 2.3%.
Chinese bank lending of 506.1 billion yuan in October was down from a CNY 787 billion total in September and fell short of analyst expectations. M2 money grew 14.3% on year, a tenth percentage point more than in September but below August’s on-year advance of 14.7%. M1 and M0 advanced respectively by 8.9% and 8.0% from a year earlier.
Australian mortgage loans rebounded 4.4% in September from a 4.0% drop in August. The rebound exceeded forecasts.
Malaysian industrial production rose 2.2% in September but had dropped by 4.6% in August. Output was only 1.0% greater than a year earlier.
Italian industrial production edged up 0.2% in September, cutting its 12-month decline to 3.0% from 4.6% in the year to August.
Norwegian CPI inflation slowed to 2.4% last month from 2.8% in September. PPI inflation in Norway fell to 2.3% from 3.2%. Danish consumer prices climbed just 0.7% in the year to October. Romanian CPI inflation held steady at 1.9%, and Czech consumer prices were 0.9% lower than in October 2012.
Denmark’s current account widened 2% to DKK 14.2 billion in September. Romania’s trade deficit narrowed 36% on month to EUR 0.41 billion in September. The Cypriot trade shortfall of EUR 283 million in September was 5.6% wider than in August. Portugal’s September trade deficit of EUR 2.66 billion was 10.4% greater than the month before. India’s trade deficit of $10.56 billion showed a monthly increase from September’s $6.70 billion deficit, as imports soared almost 10%.
Trading should be quiet the rest of today as both the United States and Canada observe somber holidays. Japan and the euro area each release third-quarter GDP figures on Thursday.
Copyright 2013, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: Japanese current account, Yen