Forex / Asia news

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - Goldman Sachs forecast that China's gross national product (GDP) will grow 12 pct in the third quarter, powered by a 20 pct increase in industrial production and over 30 pct rise in fixed asset investment.The forecast was based on recent M3 money supply trends, it said...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - The Ministry of Commerce said Switzerland has granted China market-economy status and also agreed to evaluate the feasibility of setting up a Sino-Swiss free trade area.The agreement was reached between Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and the Swiss economy minister, Doris Leuthard, during their talks in Beijing yesterday, it said...

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japanese government bond prices closed lower Monday following the release of stronger-than-expected May machinery orders data, as well as the slide in US bond prices last Friday.According to government data released early Monday, Japan's core private-sector machinery orders surged a seasonally-adjusted 5...

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japan's economy watchers' index, which measures the perception of workers with jobs sensitive to economic trends, dropped in June, posting its third consecutive monthly decline, the Cabinet Office said Monday.The index for current conditions fell to 46...

SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) - The US dollar was higher against the yen and euro in Asia midafternoon, with carry trades supporting the greenback on reduced chances the US economy will suffer a hard landing following the release on Friday of strong June non-farm payrolls report...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China's central bank is finding less room to mop up liquidity in the banking system through the issue of sterilization papers and should look to using other policy tools, a senior researcher at a government think tank said.Xia Bin, director of the finance department at the Development Research Center, a think tank under the State Council (cabinet), said that the increasing cost of paper is reducing the bank's ability to maneuver as it tries to offset the effects of a rising trade surplus and growing foreign investment...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - Consumer confidence in China improved in the second quarter of this year from the previous three months, with the index rising 1.0 point to 96.8 points, the National Bureau of Statistics said.The bureau did not provide monthly figures in the data released on its website...

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) - The industrial production index (IPI) for May rose 3.1 percent on a year-on-year basis, boosted by positive growth in the mining and electricity sectors, the department of statistics said.In May, the mining index recorded growth of 13...

SINGAPORE (Thomson Financial) - Oil prices were lower in Singapore trade Monday on profit-taking, but US gasoline (petrol) supply concerns were expected to limit the downside, dealers said.Worries over heightened civil unrest in Nigeria, Africa's largest producer, should also lend support to prices, they said...

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japanese government bond prices finished the morning session Monday lower after the much stronger-than-expected core private-sector machinery orders for May strengthened market expectations for a rate hike in August.According to government data released before the stock market opened, Japan's core private-sector machinery orders surged a seasonally-adjusted 5...

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japan's core private-sector machinery orders surged a seasonally-adjusted 5.9 percent in May from April to 1.072 trillion yen, growing at a much faster pace than the markets had expected, the government said Monday.In view of the increase, the government has upgraded its assessment of the trend of core private-sector machinery orders for the first time in nearly a year...

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) - The Malaysian government's investment arm, Khazanah Nasional, is offering a cash option to owners of land interested in jointly developing their plots in the Iskandar Development Region (IDR), a special economic zone in southern Malaysia, The Edge Weekly reported Monday, citing sources...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China's consumer price index is expected to rise by 3 pct in the first half, the official People's Daily reported, citing an unidentified price department official at lead state planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)...

SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) - The US dollar was higher against the yen and steady against the euro early in Asian trading hours Monday, following the announcement Friday of stronger-than-expected US payrolls figures for June.US non-farm payrolls rose by 132,000 jobs, slightly more than the market's consensus forecast of an increase of 125,000...

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Outstanding loans by Japanese banks rose 0.7 percent in June from a year earlier to 385.45 trillionyen, the Bank of Japan said on Monday.The growth was smaller than the 0.9 pct increase in May and was much slower than the 2...

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japan's most widely-watched measure of money supply, M2 plus certificates of deposit (CDs), rose 1.8 percent year-on-year in June, ahead of market forecasts and the previous month's 1.5 percent increase, the Bank of Japan said Monday...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China's excess liquidity situation cannot be resolved with exchange rate adjustments alone, and a combination of policies needs to be employed to address the issue, Yi Gang, assistant governor of the People's Bank of China (PBoC), said at a conference over the weekend...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China is preparing to raise the barrier to some forms of investment by foreign private equity funds, the Economic Observer reported.The newspaper, citing a newly drafted circular by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), said that the administration wants to tighten restrictions on the use of special purpose vehicles for mergers and acquisitions...

NEW YORK (AP) - The Canadian dollar climbed to a 30-year high against the U.S. currency Friday, bolstered by higher oil prices, a strong economy and a looming interest rate hike.Canada's currency advanced as high as 95.53 U.S. cents Friday, pushing past the 95 U...

HOUSTON (AP) - Though the U.S. is still the world's leading oil consumer, its might in the global petroleum business is dwindling.Developing countries are locking up a bigger share of the world's oil and gas resources to profit from high prices and fuel industrial growth...