Weekly FX Focus by UOB Economic Treasury Research
Lacklustre price action was seen across broader financial markets, with the greenback seen trading slightly higher against the major currencies. Following an uneventful week of trading, this week will be especially significant as far as market direction is concerned. With the end of summer fast approaching we expect price volatility could pick up substantially. Of...
Market Commentary by UOB Economic-Treasury Research
South Korea: BoK Paused For The Second Straight Month The BoK surprised market by pausing for the second straight month in September as it kept its benchmark Base Rate at 2.25 per cent Thursday morning. The pauses suggest a hesitant BoK after the initial 25 basis points (bps) move in July as uncertainties continue to...
Monthly Outlook by Rabobank International
US: Double Dip Data Distortions While the outlook for the US economy has clearly worsened in recent months, an unfortunate confluence of circumstances has added to the fear of a double dip. Three temporary factors made the recovery look stronger around the turn-of-the-year (4Q2009/1Q2010), but are now fuelling double dip fears, as they show up...
Market Commentary by UOB Economic Treasury Research
Examining the Risks of Intervention in the Japanese Yen Will the Japanese authorities intervene? With the strength in the Japanese currency now weighing on its exports, newswires will be kept busy for now with market participants anticipating of an intervention by the BoJ (Bank of Japan), which acts on behest of the Ministry of Finance...
Weekly Commentary
by UOB Economic-Treasury Research Fed: In Wait and See Mode Cautiously optimistic reaction to GDP and Bernanke. Friday’s US 2Q GDP report and Bernanke’s keynote address at the annual Fed symposium in Jackson Hole was highly- anticipated. The DJIA rose 164.84 points (1.65 per cent), to 10, 150.65, following the better- than-expected revised 2Q GDP...
Majority Still Prefer Printed Annual Reports: Biz Daily Survey
By Jared Heng Between now and 2020, the amount of digital information created and replicated in the world will grow to a staggering 35 trillion gigabytes as all major forms of media shift from analogue to digital, according to International Data Corpora- tion (IDC). The amount of digital information created and replicated in a year,...
Weekly Market Outlook
by UOB Economic-Treasury Research USD/Asians came off on Friday following the rise in the preceding sessions. This was helped by some bargain- hunting in the stock markets with the Asian stock indexes mostly higher on Friday. In the Southeast Asian markets, Indonesian rupiah recovered back below Rp9,000/USD resist- ance to end at Rp8,970/USD. Indonesian senior...
Market Commentary
by UOB Economic-Treasury Research South Korea: BoK Paused Interest Rate Hike The BoK maintained its benchmark Base Rate at 2.25 per cent Thursday, pausing after one 25 bps hike in July. While the policy decision was in line with consensus expectation, we did not see the need to pause with the strong economic recovery and...
Global, Asian Markets by UOB Economic-Treasury Research
US Mortgage Bankers Association data showed mortgage applications rose by 1.3 per cent in the week ending July 30, possibly due to lower interest rates that fuelled demand for home refinancing loans, providing a glimmer of positive news for the beleaguered housing market. The report stated that low rates buoyed demand for home refinanc- ing...
Commentary by Lynette Loo, Associate Director, Corporate Alliance Pte Ltd
Increasing Productivity by Simplifying Work Singapore’s Budget Statement 2010 mentions that “productivity is now a way of life across the yard….” Beyond that, improving productivity should also be a way of life in the office. Every task takes time to be completed and as such, the processes to which the task is subject could be...
Global Markets by UOB Economic-Treasury Research
The US ISM manufacturing index fell to 55.5 points, the major US equity indexes were notably higher on Monday, buoyed by better-than-expected US data as well as earn- ings from European banks. The US ISM manufacturing index fell to 55.5 points, from 56.2 in June. Expanding for the twelfth straight month, the reading beat market...
Weekly Market Commentary: 2 August 2010
Source: Asiasons WFG A series of better than expected results and strong perfor- mance in global markets powered the Singapore market to its fourth consecutive week of advances. The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 14.23 points or 0.48 per cent to close the week at 2,987.70. Average daily turnover improved to 1.47 billion shares...
