Forex News (from InstaForex) - page 56

 

Taiwan's January Unemployment Rate Drops To 4.07%



Taiwan's unemployment rate eased for the second straight month in January, data published by the Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) revealed Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 4.07 percent in January from 4.14 percent in December.

In January 2013, the jobless rate was 4.2 percent. Economists were looking for a jobless rate of 4.1 percent for January.

There were about 462,000 unemployed persons in Taiwan at the end of January, down by 1.45 percent than at the end of 2013. Compared to January 2013, unemployment dropped by 2.7 percent.

DGBAS noted that the number of unemployed persons increased by around 7,000 month-on-month to around 11.04 million in January. Year-on-year, employment advanced by 101,000. The labor force participation rate dropped modestly by 0.03 percentage points sequentially to 58.52 percent.

On an unadjusted base, 4.02 percent of the labor force was without a job in January, which was lower than December's rate of 4.08 percent.

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Australia Private Capital Expenditure Falls 5.2% In Q4


Private capital expenditure in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to the previous three months, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - coming in at A$38.291 billion.

That was well shy of forecasts for a decline of 1.3 percent following the downwardly revised 2.6 percent contraction in the third quarter (originally 3.6 percent).

Capex for buildings and structures dropped 3.5 percent to A$26.098 billion, while capex for equipment, plants and machinery plunged 8.6 percent to A$12.192 billion.

On year, private capex dropped 5.7 percent as spending on buildings added 0.3 percent but spending on machinery plummeted 16.3 percent.

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NZ Dollar Strengthens As ANZ Business Confidence Improves In February



The New Zealand dollar edged higher against its major counterparts in early Asian trading on Friday after the release of a survey results showed that the business confidence in New Zealand improved well in the month of February.

Results of a survey conducted by the ANZ Bank New Zealand showed that its business confidence rose to 70.8 in February from 64.1 in the previous month. ANZ activity outlook improved to 58.5 in the month from 53.5 in January. Both readings touched their highest levels since 1994.

The New Zealand dollar edged sharply higher to 0.8396 against the US dollar, its strongest level since January 14. The NZ dollar also rose to 1.6327 against the euro from previous low of 1.6398. The kiwi climbed to 1.0680 against the NZ dollar and 85.68 against the yen from previous lows of 1.0719 and 85.36, respectively.

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Indonesia's Manufacturing Sector Expands For Sixth Month




The Indonesian manufacturing sector expanded for the sixth successive month in February, but at a slightly weaker pace than in the beginning of the year, data published by Markit Economics and HSBC Bank revealed Monday.

The seasonally adjusted manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 50.5 in February. The index has now stayed above the no-change 50 mark, which separates growth from contraction, for the sixth month in a row. The February reading was, however, slightly lower than January's score of 51.

Production at Indonesian factories rebounded in February, following a contraction in January, but the rate of growth was fractional. The output recovery was driven by a further increase in new business, which has now recorded growth for the fifth month in a row.

Input costs faced by goods producers rose further in February amid food, metals, chemicals, plastics, paper and textiles prices. Subsequently, average output prices were raised further.

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Australia Current Account Deficit A$10.1 Billion


Australia saw a seasonally adjusted current account deficit of A$10.139 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

That missed forecasts for a shortfall of A$10.0 billion following the upwardly revised A$12.5 billion deficit in the third quarter (originally a deficit of A$12.7 billion).

The primary income deficit climbed A$536 million or 6 percent to A$9.898 billion.

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Taiwan's Consumer Prices Drop Slightly In February


Taiwan's consumer prices decreased modestly in February from last year, data released by the National Statistics revealed Wednesday.

The consumer price index edged down 0.05 percent in February from the corresponding month of last year.

The decline mainly reflected a 2.07 percent fall in transportation and communication costs, and a 0.64 percent decrease in clothing expenses. These were partially offset by a 2.54 percent gain in food prices, and a 0.7 percent growth in housing costs.

Month-on-month, the consumer price index recorded a 0.4 percent decrease during February, the agency said.

Separately, the agency said Taiwan's wholesale prices decreased 0.48 percent year-on-year in February. Sequentially, wholesale prices rose by 0.4 percent.

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Australia Retail Sales Jump 1.2% In January



Retail sales in Australia climbed a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent on month in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - worth A$22.924 billion.

That blew away forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent following the upwardly revised 0.7 percent gain in December (originally 0.5 percent).

Among the individual components, food retailing was up 0.8 percent, along with cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (1.4 percent), household goods retailing (0.4 percent), other retailing (0.4 percent), department stores (0.7 percent) and clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (0.3 percent).

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Malaysia January Exports Rise More Than Expected



Malaysia's merchandise exports increased at a faster-than-expected pace in January, latest data revealed Friday. Goods exports increased 12.2 percent on an annual basis to MYR63.97 billion in January, the Department of Statistics said. The growth rate was bigger than the 7.9 percent economists had forecast. Major export products in January were electrical and electronic products; refined petroleum products; liquefied natural gas; chemicals and chemical products; and palm oil. At the same time, imports grew 7.2 percent year-on-year to MYR57.62 billion. Economists were looking for a 2.6 percent decrease. The three main categories of imports by end use were intermediate goods, capital goods and consumption goods. January's overall foreign trade resulted in a surplus of MYR6.36 billion, which was notably lower than than the MYR9.05 billion surplus economists had forecast, data showed.

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Japan January Current Account Deficit Y1,589.0 Billion


Japan saw a current account deficit of 1,589.0 billion yen in January, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday.

That missed forecasts for a shortfall of 1,411.8 billion yen following the 638.6 billion yen deficit in December.

The trade balance reflected a deficit of 2,345.4 billion yen - which actually beat expectations for 2,589.6 billion yen. That follows the upwardly revised deficit of 1,047.4 billion yen in December (originally 1,212.6 billion yen.

Exports climbed 16.7 percent on year, while imports surged an annual 30.3 percent.


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Philippine Export Growth Eases For Second Month


Philippines merchandise exports logged strong growth in in January, but the rate of increase weakened for the second successive month and missed expectations, latest data revealed Tuesday.

Goods exports advanced 9.3 percent on an annual basis to $4.382 billion in January, after gaining 15.8 percent and 18.9 percent respectively in December and November, the National Statistics Office said. Economists had forecast a 10.6 percent growth for January.

Sales were led by a 22.1 percent rise in shipments of electronic products, which followed a 26.2 percent gain in December.

January exports were also influenced by improvement in sales of other manufactured products; metal components; articles of apparel and clothing accessories; machinery and transport equipment; and wood-crafts and furniture, data showed.

Month-on-month, overall exports decreased 4.7 percent in January, with dispatches of electronic products falling 6 percent.

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