Daily Archives: February 11, 2011

Americas market wrap: Equities rise sharply on Egypt news

February 11, 2011 8:09 pm by Anora Mahmudova
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Latin American equities rose sharply and currencies firmed on Friday after news that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak had stepped down.  Oil prices remained elevated, above $100 a barrel, while the price of the precious metal safe-haven, gold, fell as markets attempted to suss out the implications of Mr Mubarak’s departure. Continue reading »

Posted in Global, LatAm |

CEE markets wrap: Moscow leads gains

February 11, 2011 6:06 pm by Ranjit Lall
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Russia led gains for central and eastern European stocks on Friday, as increasing consumer confidence in the US and higher commodity prices lifted investors. Relief over the resignation of Egypt’s president Hosni Mubarak also boosted sentiment late in the day.

“We saw sharp falls earlier in the week in the CEE region, and this is to some extent a natural correction,” says Stefan Maxian, head of CEE research at Raiffeisen Centrobank in Austria. “In Russia the gains are commodity-related, elsewhere they reflect increased confidence in the strength of the global recovery.” Continue reading »

Posted in Global |

[snap] Mubarak steps down

February 11, 2011 4:10 pm by beyondbrics
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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down and the vice president has named a military council to run the country’s affairs, state television said on Friday after 18 days of mass protests against his rule, according to Reuters.

A ruling party official said earlier that Mubarak and his family had left Cairo for the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where there is a presidential residence. He added that this proved Mubarak had handed powers to deputy Omar Suleiman.

Posted in Egypt |

Bangalore air show: Look, don’t touch

February 11, 2011 3:50 pm by James Lamont
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The Bangalore air show has quickly become one of the premier events of its kind in Asia. Aviation experts say it has climbed to the status of Singapore, and could rise further to become the regional equivalent of Farnborough in the UK and Paris.

The reasons are clear. India’s skies are now serious business. Continue reading »

Tags: , , , Posted in India |

Egypt: US stocks slip on turmoil

February 11, 2011 3:22 pm by Stefan Wagstyl
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Egyptian anti-government protestorsEgypt fever touched Wall Street on Friday, with US stocks falling in early trading amid intense uncertainty over the Cairo protests, the future of president Hosni Mubarak and the risks of spreading unrest in the Middle East.

Protesters outside the Cairo presidential palace and other public buildings insisted Mubarak step down raising fears of violence. Egyptian state TV said an important, urgent statement from the presidency was imminent, and agencies reported Mubarak and his family had left Cairo. Continue reading »

Tags: , Posted in Egypt |
From money supply February 11, 2011

Some small- and medium- sized deposit-taking banks will need to keep more funds with the central bank following a lending binge at the start of the year, according to reports in the official China Securities Journal.

Without citing sources or giving details, the newspaper said the People’s Bank of China had tailor-made reserve ratios for various city commercial banks, reports Reuters. Bloomberg points out that it is unclear whether the ratio has risen or fallen. Given the general move to combat inflation in China, an overall tightening is likely, however. Continue reading »

Tags: , , , Posted in China |

Turkey: where’s the beef?

February 11, 2011 2:39 pm by Delphine Strauss
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Turkey may be the land of kebabs – but for most of its citizens, red meat is rapidly becoming a luxury. Endemic problems in the livestock industry have driven prices so high that, despite a recent consumer boom, per capita consumption is little more than a third of the international average.

On Friday, the government announced a new attempt to address the problem: 100 state-run stores, to be opened in cities across the country by the Meat and Fish Authority, offering cheap red meat to lower-income customers. Continue reading »

Tags: , , Posted in Turkey |

Vietnam’s dong: what next?

February 11, 2011 1:07 pm by Ben Bland
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Vietnam’s central bankers have often been criticised for failing to send consistent signals about monetary policy. But when a senior government official vowed in November that Vietnam’s currency, the dong, would not be devalued before Tet, the lunar new year holiday, everybody knew what was coming.

Sure enough, with the festivities having officially wrapped up earlier this week, the State Bank of Vietnam, the central bank, today devalued the dong by nearly 10% against the dollar. Continue reading »

Posted in Uncategorized, Vietnam |

El-Erian: pricing in the unknown

February 11, 2011 12:39 pm by Jonathan Wheatley
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Anger is building on the streets of Cairo as uncertainty reigns. It’s the same mood in the markets. The cost of insuring against Egyptian default spiked on Friday while equities around the world reflected disappointment over Hosni Mubarak’s Thursday night speech. Investors are gripped by events. Beyondbrics has just spoken to Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of Pimco, about what’s happening. Continue reading »

Posted in Egypt |

Asia markets wrap: stocks fall on Egypt

February 11, 2011 12:32 pm by Ranjit Lall
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Asian stocks were mixed on Friday, with losses in advanced economies tempered by gains in large markets such as China and India, as Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak rejected calls for his resignation.

“There are a number of factors negatively affecting Asian markets today, and the Egypt situation is certainly one of the most important,” Timothy Ash, head of emerging markets research at the Royal Bank of Scotland. “Investors have been complacent for too long about it, and their assumption that the impact would be confined to North Africa is proving mistaken.” Continue reading »

Posted in Global |

[update] Egypt: army backs Mubarak pledges, markets volatile

February 11, 2011 10:38 am by Stefan Wagstyl
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The army has spoken but people aren’t necessarily any wiser. Egypt’s powerful military said on Friday it would lift emergency law “as soon as current circumstances end”, conceding a key demand to anti-government protesters but indicating it wanted them off the streets, Reuters reports.

The army said in “Communique No. 2″ that it “confirms the lifting of the [30-year-old] state of emergency as soon as the current circumstances end,” meeting a key protestors’ demand.

It also guaranteed a free and fair presidential election, but said nothing about the timing. The implication is that the planned date will not be brought forward from September, as the protestors want, and that president Hosni Mubarak will remain in office until then – as he said he would. No surprise that investor confidence is sinking. Continue reading »

Tags: Posted in Egypt |

Further reading: Egypt’s dismay

February 11, 2011 9:58 am by beyondbrics
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From the FT:

Something for the FT weekend:

  • Roula Khalaf on Iran’s nuclear programme
Posted in Global |

Fund flows: not so bad, after all

February 11, 2011 9:51 am by Stefan Wagstyl
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After US$7bn flowed out of emerging market funds in numbers reported last week, investors were on tenterhooks about this week’s figures, given that concerns about everything from inflation to Egypt have not eased one jot.

But EM bulls can breathe a sigh of relief. EPFR, the company that tracks fund flows, has reported that in the week ending February 9 investors have reclaimed only $3bn from EM equity and bond funds. A few weeks ago, this number would have looked bad. Now it looks wonderful. Continue reading »

Tags: , , , Posted in Global |

Peru: latest EM rate hike

February 11, 2011 9:05 am by Jonathan Wheatley
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Peru has become the latest emerging market to raise its policy interest rate, as central banks across the emerging world grapple with overheating economies and a wave of inflation led by rising commodity prices.

Peru on Wednesday raised its benchmark lending rate by a quarter point to 3.5 per cent – the second hike this year – after consumer price inflation rose to an annual rate of 2.17 per cent in January, the highest in 27 months. As in many other emerging markets, inflation has been led by food prices but is spreading outwards across a fast-growing economy. Continue reading »

Tags: , , Posted in Peru |

[snap] Nord Gold scraps IPO

February 11, 2011 8:36 am by Stefan Wagstyl
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Thank God it’s Friday, bankers working on Russia might say. Nord Gold has today joined the list of Russian IPOs that have hit the sands this week.

As ft.com reports, the company, Severstal’s gold mining arm, pulled its £441m London listing citing “current market conditions” and saying that the business, which Severstal hoped would be worth £2.5bn-£3.3bn, would have “been significantly undervalued”.

The decision in the same week after pipemaker Chelpipe cancelled its London IPO and pump maker HMS slashed its price. Last Friday, Koks pulled its offering. Continue reading »

Tags: , , Posted in Russia |
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