Americas markets wrap: Chinese iron ore imports lift Brazilian miners
Latin American stocks followed global markets higher on Monday as traders breathed a sigh of relief over the situation in Egypt and commodity prices surged on the drop in China’s trade surplus.
In Brazil, the Bovespa added 1.2 per cent as iron ore miners rallied on soaring Chinese imports, with MMX gaining 2 per cent and Vale putting on 1.9 per cent. ALL, the railway operator, surged 5.9 per cent, the most since January 2010. Continue reading »
Bahrain: ‘day of rage’ simmers
By Robin Wigglesworth and Simeon Kerr
Jasmine may be the scent sweeping across parts of the Arab world, but tear gas was the smell that permeated parts of Bahrain today.
A “day of rage” planned by Bahraini youths has resulted in clashes between demonstrators and security forces. As the day went on, the confrontations grew increasingly frequent and violent, with groups of as many as hundreds seen challenging lines of riot police. Despite a government promise to allow peaceful protests, riot police have used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up demonstrators. Continue reading »
Indian inflation: mixed signals
India’s latest inflation numbers weren’t quite the palliative its pressurised central bankers were hoping for. While headline inflation eased modestly to 8.23 per cent in January, food inflation – the component causing the most pain for India’s poor – accelerated to 15.7 per cent.
But policymakers can draw some comfort from the market’s positive reaction to the data: equities recorded their biggest gains in nine months in Mumbai, while yields on Indian government bonds dropped sharply. Continue reading »
CEE markets wrap: equities slip
Central and eastern European stocks slipped on Monday, defying gains elsewhere in the emerging world in response to Hosni Mubarak’s resignation as Egypt’s president and strong trade data from China.
CEE currencies were mostly down against the dollar, with the Turkish lira and the Polish zloty falling sharply. Continue reading »
You bet: when will China top the US?
To the numerous ways investors can get exposure to China’s supercharged growth, add another: betting when it’ll elbow the US aside to become the world’s largest economy.
That’s the offer that Ladbrokes rolled out on Monday, the day that economic data from Japan confirmed China had overtaken its east Asian neighbour to become the world’s second largest economy in dollar terms in 2010. Continue reading »
Chart of the week: fighting inflation
By Valentina Romei and Jonathan Wheatley
With the FAO food price index at its highest level ever and prices of many commodities reaching new records, rising inflation has become a key concern around the world. The problem is especially pernicious in emerging markets, where food consumption accounts for a larger share of families’ expenditures and where a surge of capital inflows has added to inflationary pressures.
This week’s beyondbrics chart (after the break) shows the inflation trend for India, Brazil, Indonesia and China since the start of last year together with their policy interest rates (in circles) at the start of 2010 and today. All four countries have tightened monetary policy in response to rising prices but the way they have reacted shows the differences in their priorities and their willingness to act. Continue reading »
Chile’s Saieh goes shopping
Chile’s economic strength and robust domestic demand makes it a fine time for retailers to go shopping themselves.
While some, like giant Cencosud, have been looking abroad, the business, real estate and financial holding Saieh has focused closer to home. Continue reading »
India: a bad smell around parliament
India’s budget session of parliament begins next week. Or not.
The last (winter) session was abandoned amid opposition protests over allegations that $39bn had been lost from the national exchequer in a telecoms scandal.
The outcry has not died down. The world’s largest democracy may again find itself paralysed in the face of demands for a joint parliamentary investigation into irregularities in the telecoms ministry. Continue reading »
Walmart closer to African foothold
Shares in Massmart, the South African retailer, climbed on Monday after the competition commission recommended that its $2.4bn takeover by Walmart be approved without conditions. The decision brings the giant US retailer a big step closer to securing a 51 per cent stake that would give it a foothold on the high-growth African continent.
The deal now needs final approval from South Africa’s competition tribunal, but with that looking like a formality Massmart’s shares were trading up 1.2 per cent in the early afternoon on Monday, bettering a 0.3 per cent rise in the main Johannesburg index. Continue reading »
Russia’s rich have China to thank
Russia’s billionaires are bouncing back – but they have China’s remarkable economic expansion to thank, rather more than the modest recovery at home.
The upper echelons of the richest 500 Russians list published today by Moscow-based Finans magazine are still packed with metals, materials and oil magnates. The resurgence in their wealth owes much to rebounding prices of materials – driven above all by Chinese demand. Continue reading »
Asia markets wrap: equities soar on Mubarak departure
Shanghai and Mumbai led sharp gains for Asian stocks on Monday following Hosni Mubarak’s resignation and strong trade data from China.
“Risk appetite has improved after Mubarak’s resignation,” Timothy Ash, head of emerging markets research at the Royal Bank of Scotland, told beyondbrics. “Improving consumer confidence in the US and China’s encouraging trade numbers for January are increasing confidence in the global recovery.”
UAE: boom in marriage investigations
The “summer singletons” phenomenon is well-known in the United Arab Emirates, where the wives and girlfriends of expatriate executives often flee the country for much of the sweltering summer, leaving their spouses to their own devices for several months.
Although the sunny weather, anodyne glass towers and Stepford Wives-style villa developments may not lend themselves to Chandleresque prose, the resulting philandering has proven a rich seam of business for private snoops that operate in the Arab world’s commercial centre. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* Rising China bests a shrinking Japan
* India’s inflation eases to 8.2 percent in January
* Egypt military oppose ElBaradei
* Ambani heats up India telecoms row
* Clashes in Bahrain before planned protest rally Continue reading »
Vietnam considers cost of electricity
With nationwide power cuts set to begin on Tuesday, the Vietnamese government is considering a record increase in the price of electricity.
The government has kept domestic electricity prices low in order to ensure that the rural masses can benefit from the country’s rapid development. But by subsidising power, the state power monopoly has little money to invest in maintaining the national grid and adding new capacity.
China trade: now for the bad news
China’s latest trade data may offer some comfort to policymakers in Beijing, Washington, and beyond. Imports are soaring and the trade surplus is down, again. Demand for Chinese goods in emerging markets looks particularly strong, suggesting robust regional growth.
But drill down into the numbers and there are also some reasons for concern both within China and elsewhere. Continue reading »
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