January, 2020

• 1 January

  Taiwan dollar strengthens past 30 in 18 months

  

  Bloomberg The Taiwan dollar strengthened past 30 versus the greenback for the first time in 18 months. The currency rose as much as 0.6% to 29.965 per dollar on and closed at 30.106 in Taipei. The Taiwan dollar has climbed about 3.4% in the second half as the best performer among the world’s major currencies. Taiwan’s financial markets were expected ...

  Read More »
• 1 January

  Will keep monetary policy flexible: PBOC

  

  Bloomberg China’s central bank said it’ll keep monetary policy flexible and work to lower funding costs for businesses as the economy still faces strong headwinds. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will work to ensure the transmission of monetary policy and use market-focused reform mechanisms to lower the real interest rate for loans, according to a quarterly report. It will ...

  Read More »
• 1 January

  Year-end euro rally sees cross currency swaps hit record

  

  Bloomberg The battered euro is finishing the year strongly and setting up the case for better performance next year. The common currency rose to its strongest level versus the dollar since August and cross-currency basis swaps — a measure of demand for funding purposes — climbed to the highest on record, Bloomberg Generic Prices show. While both moves mirrored a ...

  Read More »
• 1 January

  China ramps up credit support to aid growth

  Bloomberg China’s central bank will increase the supply of cheap funding to banks by cutting the amount of cash they need to hold as reserves, a move aimed at putting a floor under economic growth in 2020. The required reserve ratio for commercial lenders will be lowered by 50 basis points from Jan. 6, unleashing about 800 billion yuan ($115 ...

  Read More »
• 1 January

  Japan to seek talks with Lebanon over fugitive Ghosn

  

  Bloomberg Japan is expected to speak with Lebanon through diplomatic channels about Carlos Ghosn fleeing Tokyo for the Middle East country, according to a senior Japanese government official. The comment on Wednesday would mark some of the earliest indications about how Tokyo plans to respond after the former head of Nissan Motor Co and Renault SA snuck out Japan where ...

  Read More »
• 1 January

  India plans to spend $1.5tn on infrastructure to spur growth

  

  Bloomberg India outlined the contours of a $1.5 trillion plan to build infrastructure over the next five years to shore up economic growth. The programme will include existing projects in the energy, road and railway sectors in the pipeline, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters. Private companies will account for 22%-25% of the investments, with the federal government and states ...

  Read More »
• 1 January

  Beijing is all set to approve GMO corn

  

  Bloomberg China is set to award safety certificates for genetically-modified corn, paving the way for domestic production as the world’s most-populous country turns to the controversial technology to boost food security. Two strains of GMO corn, one developed by Beijing Dabeinong Technology Group Co and another by Zhejiang University and a biological company in Hangzhou, are likely to be given ...

  Read More »
• 1 January

  South Korea exports post smallest decline since Apr

  Bloomberg South Korea’s exports posted the smallest decline since April, offering evidence that the worst may be over for the Asian bellwether of global trade. Exports in December fell 5.2% from a year earlier, data from customs office showed on Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected a 8.6% fall. Imports decreased 0.7%. The letup in exports slump adds to ...

  Read More »
• 1 January

  India stocks rise with 2020 recovery in sight

  

  Bloomberg Indian stocks rose on the expectation that a slowdown in economic expansion has bottomed out and growth will recover in 2020 on the back of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s planned $1.5 trillion infrastructure push. The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.1% to 41,306.6 at the 3:30 pm close in Mumbai. The NSE Nifty 50 Index also advanced by 0.1%. Stocks ...

  Read More »
• 1 January

  Chinese economy ends 2019 brighter as trade deal nears

  

  Bloomberg China’s manufacturing sector continued to expand output in December, adding to evidence that the world’s second-largest economy is stabilising as the signing of a phase one trade deal with the US nears. The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index remained at 50.2, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. The outlook for export-oriented firms brightened, with a sub-index ...

  Read More »