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| BOJ semi-annual report drew dissent from board members: Kuroda Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:43 AM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Three Bank of Japan board members dissented against the central bank's latest semi-annual report on the economy, objecting to the bank's time frame for achieving its 2 percent inflation goal or citing stronger downside risks to the economy, BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Thursday. Among the board's nine members, Takahide Kiuchi and Takehiro Sato disapproved of the report's forecast that Japan will see 2 percent inflation around the end of fiscal year 2014 through fiscal 2015. Another board member, Sayuri Shirai, proposed emphasising more downside risks to the economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sharp swings to first quarterly profit in two years, helped by weak yen Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:33 AM PDT  Japan's Sharp Corp reported its first quarterly net profit in two years, beating estimates, as the weaker yen and revived demand for solar cells and display panels boosted the consumer electronics maker's turnaround drive. Sharp, a supplier of panels for Apple Inc's iPhone, said on Thursday it made a net profit of 13.6 billion yen ($139 million) in its fiscal second quarter, its first since the three months ended September 2011. That easily beat an expected net loss of 9 billion yen, according to Thomson Reuters' Starmine SmartEstimate, the average of the most accurate analysts' estimates. A year earlier, in the trough of a depression brought on by strong competition from foreign rivals and pressure on its overseas revenues from a strong yen, Sharp made a net loss of 249.2 billion yen. Full Story | Top |
| China state media calls for strong action after Tiananmen attack Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:31 AM PDT  By Michael Martina TURPAN, China (Reuters) - Chinese state media demanded severe punishment on Thursday for those behind what China has said is a holy war aimed at Beijing, which it has blamed on Islamist militants from the restive Xinjiang region. The exiled leader of Xinjiang's Muslim Uighur minority called for an independent probe into a crash on Monday when an SUV burst into flames after being driven into a crowd in Tiananmen Square, one of China's most closely guarded areas. U.S.-based Rebiya Kadeer said she did not believe any kind of organized extremist Islamic movement was operating in Xinjiang, a view shared by rights groups and some experts. Full Story | Top |
| BOJ raises GDP forecast, holds line on inflation Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:26 AM PDT  The central bank did revise up its economic growth forecast for the 2014 fiscal year beginning next April to 1.5 percent, judging the world's third-largest economy could keep growing above its potential despite a sales tax increase next year. As widely expected, the BOJ had earlier kept intact its intense monetary stimulus launched in April, under which it aims to double base money via asset purchases to meet its target of lifting inflation to 2 percent in roughly two years. In its semi-annual outlook report, the BOJ kept its forecasts for core consumer inflation in fiscal 2014 and 2015 at 1.3 percent and 1.9 percent respectively, excluding the increase in the sales tax, a sign it is on track to meet its goal. Even though it did not formally forecast inflation reaching 2 percent, economists worry the BOJ is expecting too much from government stimulus designed to offset the impact of the rise in the 5 percent sales tax rate to 8 percent next April. Full Story | Top |
| Total profit falls as European refining hurts Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:25 AM PDT  reported a 19 percent drop in third-quarter adjusted net profits to 2.7 billion euros ($3.72 billion) on Thursday, hit by low refining margins in Europe and higher exploration costs. "Refining margins are extremely weak, we still have this endemic problem," Chief Financial Officer Patrick de La Chevardiere told reporters on a conference call. Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's rand, bonds weaker after Fed statement Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:15 AM PDT  South Africa's rand was weaker on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy statement, which maintained its economic stimulus measures but suggested it may taper sooner than previously expected. The Fed on Wednesday announced plans to continue its $85 billion per month bond-buying programme. Full Story | Top |
| UK house prices rise at fastest pace in three years in October - Nationwide Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:05 AM PDT  British house prices rose at their fastest annual pace in more than three years this month, helped by government schemes to boost lending and a brighter economic outlook, data from mortgage lender Nationwide showed on Thursday. Earlier this week Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said higher house prices were one of the main factors driving Britain's economic recovery, and played down concerns that the rapid increase risked turning into a bubble. Nationwide said house prices in October were 5.8 percent higher than a year earlier, compared to a 5.0 percent rise the month before. At the start of October, Britain's government expanded its Help to Buy scheme to make it easier for home-buyers to get a mortgage for more than 80 percent of the value of a property. Full Story | Top |
| Kenya inflation drops to 7.76 pct, curbs rate rise expectations Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:58 PM PDT  Kenya's year-on-year inflation rate fell to 7.76 percent in October, the government said on Thursday, tempering expectations of an interest rate rise next month. But Thursday's data "means there should be no rate hike until maybe in May 2014 when we expect negative base effects on inflation to kick in," said Alex Muiruri, a fixed-income trader at African Alliance Investment Bank. Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's Sibanye Gold says third-quarter output up 9 pct Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:56 PM PDT  South Africa's Sibanye Gold reported on Thursday a 9 percent rise in third-quarter production from the earlier quarter despite strikes at some operations, and raised its output forecast for the year. Sibanye said gold production for the quarter to end September reached 387,800 ounces from 356,900 ounces in the June quarter. Sibanye, like its peers, was last month hit by wage-related strikes called by the National Union of Mineworkers that halted production at its Beatrix and Kloof mines for at least three days. Full Story | Top |
| Ivory Coast Jan-September cotton exports up 16 pct Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:54 PM PDT  ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Cotton exports from Ivory Coast reached 302,975 tonnes by the end of September since the start of the year, up nearly 16 percent compared with the same period in 2012, provisional port data showed on Wednesday. Ivory Coast's annual cotton output was around 400,000 tonnes before a 2002-2003 civil war plunged the country into nearly a decade of political turmoil, halving cotton production. The crisis ended in a brief armed conflict in 2011 and attractive prices are now drawing farmers back to the sector. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fitch downgrades Tunisia due to delayed political transition Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:49 PM PDT  Fitch on Wednesday cut Tunisia's sovereign rating two notches and warned it could cut further on political uncertainty and its potential damaging economic effects. Tunisia saw the first of the Middle East revolts of 2011 when it overthrew long-time autocratic leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. The ratings agency cut Tunisia to BB-minus from BB-plus, with a negative outlook, meaning it could eventually cut the rating again. A suicide bomber blew himself up in the Tunisian tourist resort of Sousse on Wednesday, the first such assault in more than a decade in a country now battling Islamist militants. Full Story | Top |
| IMF expects faster growth in Mozambique next year Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:44 PM PDT  Mozambique's economic growth should speed up to 8.3 percent next year from 7 percent this year, led by accelerating business activity, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. Mozambique, one of Africa's fastest-growing economies but also one of its poorest, has attracted investors such as Brazil's Vale and London-listed Rio Tinto that are eager to develop some of the world's largest untapped coal and gas reserves. "Mozambique is likely to remain one of the most dynamic economies in sub-Saharan Africa, in part thanks to the expected natural resource boom," the IMF said in a statement after visiting the country. Full Story | Top |
| Angola expects 5 pct deficit in 2014 as it spends to develop non-oil sector Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:43 PM PDT Angola expects to post a budget deficit of nearly 5 percent next year as it spends to boost sectors outside its dominant oil industry and put two years of missed growth targets behind it, a budget bill showed on Wednesday. Angola, Africa's biggest oil producer after Nigeria, has posted rapid growth since the end of a long civil war in 2002. The bill delivered to the parliament speaker and seen by Reuters shows President Jose Eduardo dos Santos' government plans to raise public spending by 19 percent to 7.26 trillion kwanzas (around $75 billion) next year. Spending on infrastructure is set to take up almost half of Angola's funds for national development programmes. Full Story | Top |
| Asia markets take glancing hit from Fed, BOJ softens blow Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:37 PM PDT  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian markets suffered a glancing blow on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy outlook was deemed less dovish than some had wagered on, lifting both bond yields and the dollar. The damage was mostly superficial with MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan off just 0.6 percent. In Asia, sentiment was helped by the Bank of Japan's decision to stick with its massive stimulus program that has shown tentative signs of breaking the grip of deflation. There was also upbeat news from Australia where approvals to build new homes surged to their highest since early 2010, concrete evidence that record-low interest rates were working to support economic growth. Full Story | Top |
| Panasonic raises full-year operating profit forecast Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:17 PM PDT  Panasonic raised its full-year earnings forecast as expected, with strong sales of its automotive systems and eco-friendly technology powering its transformation into an industrial components supplier from a consumer electronics brand. Panasonic Corp increased its operating profit forecast for the year to March to 270 billion yen ($2.75 billion) from a previous forecast of 250 billion yen. That compares with expectations of 268.2 billion yen, the average of 19 analyst estimates according to Thomson Reuters Starmine. After a round of heavy restructuring that has seen Panasonic pull out of plasma TVs, smartphones and downsize its chipmaking segment, the Japanese company posted a net profit of 61.5 billion yen for the three months to September. Full Story | Top |
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