Yen Weakens as Oil, Copper Rebound on Growth; Asian Stocks Fall
Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The yen weakened while copper and oil rebounded from declines last week as signs Asia's recovery is gaining momentum prevailed over concern that Ireland will need a rescue. China led declines in Asian stocks.
The yen fell against 14 of its 16 major counterparts and retreated to 113.21 per euro as of 2 p.m. in Tokyo from 113.02 in New York. Oil climbed for the first time in three days and copper gained as much as 1.5 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.3 percent, with China's Shanghai Composite Index extending its biggest loss in more than a year on speculation the government will add to measures to curb inflation. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.2 percent.
Yen weakness and commodities' recovery from their largest slump in 18 months indicate demand for higher-yielding assets after reports showed New Zealand retail sales and Japanese economic growth topped economists' estimates. That's helping ease concern about the financial stability of Ireland, which is in talks with European officials about "market conditions" before a meeting of regional finance ministers tomorrow.
"Investors are weighing up their options in a rapidly changing global macro-economic environment," said Tim Schroeders, who helps manage about $1 billion at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne. "We may well be headed for another period of consolidation as investors move to lock-in gains against a backdrop of rising uncertainty in the near term."
The yen fell to 82.75 per dollar from 82.53. A Cabinet Office report today showed the economy grew an annualized 3.9 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with the median forecast for a 2.5 percent increase in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Euro
The euro was at $1.3680 from $1.3691 last week, when it touched $1.3574, the lowest since Sept. 30. The common currency last week staged its biggest loss since August after European finance ministers said a crisis plan they're discussing won't force current bondholders to share bailout costs.
Currencies elsewhere in Asia also weakened on speculation policy makers in the region will introduce measures to curb inflows of funds. Thailand's baht dropped to a two-week low, falling 0.7 percent to 29.99 per dollar. The Singapore dollar lost 0.4 percent to S$1.3030 while the Philippine peso weakened 0.4 percent to 43.950.
Group of 20 leaders meeting in Seoul agreed last week to allow emerging markets to adopt regulatory steps to cope with a surge of capital inflows, offering them cover to limit currency gains. The G-20 summit, which was followed by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, ended without leaders of the world's biggest economies taking decisive measures to address the global imbalances that have fueled asset bubbles.
'Divergent' Economies
"There's the recognition that there's a lot of divergent economic activity going on," Ajay Kapur, head of Asian equity strategy at Deutsche Bank AG, said in a Bloomberg Television in Hong Kong. "One thing that was also interesting was the recognition that some emerging-market countries have overvalued currencies and it's probably appropriate for them to put on some capital controls."
New Zealand's dollar fell 0.5 percent to 76.93 cents after Prime Minister John Key said it was overvalued against the U.S. dollar. The currency earlier strengthened after retail sales unexpectedly climbed in the third quarter, adding to signs the country's economic recovery is stabilizing.
Copper rose to as high as $3.9560 a pound in New York. The metal declined 3.3 percent on Nov. 12, helping to send the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials to its biggest loss since April 2009. Crude oil for December delivery added as much as 0.7 percent to $85.44 a barrel in New York, rebounding from a 3.3 percent slump on Nov. 15.
Chinese Banks
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. led a 0.9 percent drop on the Shanghai Composite after China Real Estate Business said the nation's largest lenders have stopped new loans to developers. The gauge plunged 5.2 percent on Nov. 12, the biggest loss since August 2009 amid speculation policy makers may raise interest rates within weeks after inflation accelerated to the fastest pace in 25 months in October.
BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, lost 0.5 percent after abandoning a $40 billion cash offer for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. and saying it will resume a share buyback. AMP Ltd. jumped 3 percent in Sydney after jointly bidding with France's Axa SA to buy Axa Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd. for at least A$13.3 billion ($13.1 billion). Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. slid 0.8 percent following a Mail on Sunday report that said Genzyme Corp. is holding talks in a bid to sell itself to the Japanese drugmaker for more than $18.5 billion.
U.S. stock index futures rose while Treasuries fell, pushing yields on benchmark 10-year securities higher by two basis points to 2.81 percent, the highest level in two months, before a report today that may show U.S. retail sales rose 0.7 percent in October, a fourth month of increases. The S&P 500 Index tumbled 1.2 percent on Nov. 12, rounding off its weekly biggest loss in three months.
To contact the reporters on this story: Shiyin Chen in Singapore at schen37@bloomber7g.net Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net .
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will McSheehy at wmcsheehy@bloomberg.net
Find out more about Bloomberg for iPhone: http://m.bloomberg.com/iphone/Víctor Lei
No comments:
Post a Comment