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Japan Nukaga: To Keep Watching Oil Price, Global Econ Moves

Fri, Jan 18 2008, 05:20 GMT
http://www.djnewswires.com/eu

Japan Nukaga: To Keep Watching Oil Price, Global Econ Moves

TOKYO -(Dow Jones)- Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said Friday that the nation's economy remains solid, though the government needs to keep an eye on crude oil price and global economic moves.

"The Japanese economy continues recovering despite some weakness," Nukaga said in a speech before the Lower House at the opening of its ordinary session. But "on the other hand, it's necessary to pay attention to higher crude oil prices and overseas economic moves," which could stand in the way of growth in companies at home, he added.

"The government will keep making every effort to maintain economic growth led by the private sector through price stability in concert with the Bank of Japan," Nukaga said.

Economy Minister Hiroko Ota also said in her address to Parliament that she will watch the impact of a possible U.S. economic downswing and rising oil prices, as well as recent sluggishness in domestic housing construction.

As for crude oil, she said the government should steadily implement aid policy set in December, in which it will spend around Y215 billion this fiscal year and next.

Both ministers, as Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda did earlier in the day, also promised to achieve the government's goal of a primary budget surplus in the fiscal year starting April 2011 by cutting expenditures and make recent economic expansion sustainable.

Still, the goal appears difficult for them to accomplish.

An estimate released recently by the Cabinet Office said that Japan could fail to meet its goal of balancing the primary budget in three years without tax hikes because government revenue may not grow fast enough as the economy is slowing down.

Even if Tokyo slashes expenditures by Y14.3 trillion in the five years through the fiscal year - a policy target set in 2006 - revenue shortfalls could swell, tipping the primary budget to deficit of Y700 billion, the office said Thursday.

The Cabinet Office already downgraded its nominal economic growth forecast for fiscal 2011 to 3.3% from last year's estimate of 3.9%.

-By Tomoyuki Tachikawa, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-5255-2929; [email protected]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 18, 2008 00:20 ET (05:20 GMT)


Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

 

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Japanese consumer confidence slips to lowest in over four years in December

Fri, Jan 18 2008, 05:33 GMT
http://www.afxnews.com

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japanese consumer confidence sank to its lowest level in more than four years in December as consumers fretted about deteriorating economic conditions, the labor market and inflation, government data released Friday show.

The consumer confidence index fell to 38.0 in December, its lowest level since June 2003, from 39.8 in November, according to the Cabinet Office data.

The index hit the boom-or-bust line of 50 in April 2006, its highest level since June 1990, but has since been below that mark.

The consumer confidence index is based on replies to questions on four aspects of consumer sentiment: perception of general economic well-being, income growth, employment conditions and willingness to purchase durable goods.

Respondents were asked if there was improvement in these areas over the preceding three months. A reading above 50 means respondents reporting an improvement outnumbered those seeing a deterioration, while a reading below 50 means the majority of respondents believed conditions had worsened.

The sub-index for general economic well-being dropped to 34.9 from 37.0 and the income growth sub-index fell to 39.6 from 40.7.

The employment conditions sub-index slipped to 40.6 from 43.1 and the sub-index for willingness to buy durable goods fell to 37.0 from 38.4.

The data also show that 84.2 percent of those surveyed expected prices to rise over the subsequent 12 months, the highest percentage ever. In November the figure was 82.2 percent.

(1 US dollar = 107.09 yen)

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yas/jm

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The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.

 

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Remittances Into Vietnam +21.7% To Record $5.6 Billion-Report

Fri, Jan 18 2008, 05:39 GMT
http://www.djnewswires.com/eu

Remittances Into Vietnam +21.7% To Record $5.6 Billion-Report

HANOI -(Dow Jones)- Vietnamese living and working overseas repatriated a record $5.6 billion in remittances last year, up 21.7%, state media said Friday, citing a government official.

"Total remittances were up by more than $1 billion from 2006," the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted Nguyen Thanh Son, director of Vietnam's State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, as saying.

Son said overseas Vietnamese, known as Vietkieus, have invested about $2 billion in 3,000 projects in the country.

He expects about 500,000 Vietkieus to return to attend the Lunar New Year festival that falls next month.

There are more than 2.7 million Vietkieus, including 350,000 in Russia and the former East European communist countries, according to state media. Other countries that have a large number of Vietkieus include the U.S., France, Canada and Australia.

-By Nguyen Pham Muoi, Dow Jones Newswires; 844-8250732; [email protected]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 18, 2008 00:39 ET (05:39 GMT)


Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

 

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Forex - Dollar strengthens against yen on short-covering, US economic package

Fri, Jan 18 2008, 05:39 GMT
http://www.afxnews.com

HONG KONG (Thomson Financial) - The US dollar strengthened against the yen in Asian afternoon trade on Friday as some investors took profit in the Japanese currency and others bought the greenback to cover their short positions.

This week, the dollar sank to 105.92 yen, the lowest level in nearly three years, on speculation that the Federal Reserve will cut its key rates by up to 75 basis points at the end of the month.

The dollar also gained on the Bush administration's plan to implement a 150-billion-dollar economic package including tax breaks and higher spending to stimulate the slowing economy. President Bush is scheduled to talk about the economic measures later in the day.

At 1.00 pm (0500 GMT), the dollar was trading at 107.07 yen, up from 106.61 in Sydney this morning.

The euro was buying 1.4644 dollars, little changed from 1.4643 this morning.

"There was quite a heavy selling of the dollar recently, so now we are seeing some position adjustments and profit-taking," said Thomas Lam, treasury economist at United Overseas Bank.

Some investors were also buying the dollar as a "precautionary positioning" because of the three-day weekend ahead. US financial markets will be closed on January 21 for the Martin Luther King holiday.

The dollar has been battered lately by a slew of economic data that raised more worries that the US economy is teetering on a recession including lower manufacturing output and retail sales, weak housing figures, rising jobless rate, and declining consumer confidence. Massive writedowns reported this week by Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch added to the gloomy outlook.

"This is not yet the start of the dollar's recovery," said Lam. "There are still some pressures on the dollar."

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 2.5 percent as bleak data on housing and manufacturing and a massive loss from Merrill Lynch fanned recession fears and prompted investors to run for cover.

"As investors become more unhinged, it is likely that we will see more unwinding of high-risk strategies and more unwinding of long currency positions by US and Japanese investors," said John Noonan, an analyst at Thomson IFR.

"The resulting repatriation flows should support the yen and the US dollar against currencies like the euro and Australian dollar."

Elsewhere, the Australian dollar was buying 87.65 US cents from 87.88.

Investors have pared down bets that Australia will raise interest rates because the looming slowdown in global economic output may weaken its currency.

Declining "rate hike expectations will trigger more weakness in the Australian dollar," said John Kyriakopoulos, head of currency strategy at NAB Capital.

Hong Kong 1pm (0500 GMT)

US dollar

107.07 yen

1.1036 sfr

Euro

1.4644 usd

156.80 yen

1.6162 sfr

0.74525 stg

Sterling

1.9685 usd

210.79 yen

2.1716 sfr

Australian dollar

0.8765 usd

0.4450 stg

93.88 yen

New Zealand dollar

0.7636 usd

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COPYRIGHT

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The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.

 

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Japan December Department Store Sales Down 2.3% On Year

Fri, Jan 18 2008, 05:45 GMT
http://www.djnewswires.com/eu

Japan December Department Store Sales Down 2.3% On Year

TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Japanese department store sales in December fell 2.3% on year to Y875.3 billion, adjusted for the change in the number of stores, the Japan Department Stores Association said Friday.

It was the first decline in two months following a 0.9% rise in November. Sales declined 1.4% in October and 2.5% in September.

Foodstuffs, which in December made up the highest proportion of department store sales, fell 1.1% to Y296.0 billion.

Sales of clothing, the next largest component, totaled Y265.1 billion, down 4.0% from a year earlier.

The association compiled its data based on a survey of 93 companies and 278 stores.

Meanwhile, department store sales in the Tokyo metropolitan area fell 1.6% on year in December to Y213.0 billion, for the first drop in three months.

Web site:

http://www.depart.or.jp

-By Takashi Mochizuki, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-5255-2935; [email protected]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 18, 2008 00:45 ET (05:45 GMT)


Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

 

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Dutch securitisation uncertain but RMBS issuers to drive 2008 volumes - Moody's

Fri, Jan 18 2008, 06:00 GMT
http://www.afxnews.com

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - Moody's Investors Service said current conditions pose some uncertainty for the Dutch securitisation market for 2008, but it still expects securitisation to remain one of the key funding and risk management tools for large Dutch banks, with repeat RMBS issuers driving issuance.

The ratings agency noted that the Dutch securitisation market withstood the widespread market turmoil to record continued strong growth in 2007 despite a relatively slow first half.

It said the Netherlands saw not only the number of securitisation transactions nearly double to 40 in 2007 from 24 in 2006, but the volume of rated funded risk transfers also rose sharply to around 110.6 bln eur from 39.9 bln eur.

Once again, it was RMBS issuance that drove overall market volumes, accounting for around 84 pct of total volume and for 32 of the 40 public issuances, Moody's said.

The performance of the collateral backing RMBS transactions remained strong throughout 2007 with low delinquencies and low losses, the ratings agency said.

The asset-backed securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities segments also recorded increases in volume during 2007.

For 2008, Moody's expects issued volumes for the Dutch securitisation market to be supported by well-established repeat RMBS issuers, with an increasingly wide variety in structures, size and collateral.

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The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.

 

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Japan's December department store sales down 2.3 percent

Fri, Jan 18 2008, 06:07 GMT
http://www.afxnews.com

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Sales at Japanese department stores fell 2.3 percent to 875.3 billion yen in December from a year earlier due to sluggish sales of winter clothing and year-end gift products like food, the Japan Department Stores Association said Friday.

The fall last month followed a 0.9 percent rise in November, a 1.4 percent drop in October, a 2.5 percent fall in September and a 1.4 percent rise in August.

The figure combines the sales of 93 companies running 278 department stores that were open at least a year before the survey was conducted. The data has been adjusted to facilitate comparisons on a same-store basis.

Including stores that were opened within the past year, sales fell 2.6 percent after rising by 0.7 percent in November.

Sales at 28 major department stores in Tokyo declined 1.6 percent to 213.0 billion yen.

In calendar 2007, nationwide department store sales fell 0.5 percent to 7.71 trillion yen from a year earlier. Sales in Tokyo rose 0.1 percent to 1.89 trillion yen for the first rise in six years.

December clothing sales, which accounted for 30.3 percent of the total revenue of department stores, were down 4.0 percent.

Sales of food, which accounted for 33.8 percent, eased 1.1 percent. Sales of other goods such as jewellery and cosmetics, which accounted for 13.9 percent, were down 2.1 percent.

(1 US dollar = 107.00 yen)

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The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.

 

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Pakistan's policies may not be enough to reach 2007-08 inflation target - IMF

Fri, Jan 18 2008, 06:25 GMT
http://www.afxnews.com

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - The International Monetary Fund said that though Pakistan's outlook for 2007-08 remains favourable, the authorities' policies may not be sufficient to achieve their inflation target and reduce the external current account deficit significantly.

The Pakistani authorities' economic program for 2007-08 envisages a reduction in the fiscal deficit to 4 pct of GDP from 4.3 pct in 2006-07. A recent tightening of monetary conditions is expected to lead to slower broad money growth, with average inflation targeted to decline to 6.5 pct, the IMF said.

Real GDP growth is projected at 6.57 pct in 2007-08. Capital inflows would more than cover the current account deficit, but there are risks that some inflows could be delayed. Against this background, the IMF recommended a stronger fiscal adjustment effort accompanied by a somewhat tighter monetary stance and greater exchange rate flexibility.

In a report following a mandated bilateral discussion with Pakistan, the IMF said economic developments in Pakistan in fiscal year 2006-07 were generally good

It added that Pakistan's real GDP growth increased to 7 pct in 2006-07, while the debt-to-GDP ratio continued to decline, and gross international reserves rose to 14.3 bln usd. Average inflation, however, remained relatively high at close to 8 pct.

Despite a significant fall in import growth, the current account deficit widened to 4.9 pct of GDP, mainly due to significantly slower export growth. However, the deficit was more than covered by record-high capital inflows, including foreign direct investment.

The IMF said political uncertainties continue in light of the government's recent declaration of a state of emergency and questions about the timing of parliamentary elections.

In the years ahead, Pakistan will continue to depend heavily on the availability of large capital inflows to finance its current account deficit and further strengthen its international reserves position, the IMF said.

Looking ahead, the key challenge is to maintain the high growth momentum of recent years while reducing the external current account deficit to a more sustainable level and further lowering inflation, it added.

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The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.

 

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PRNEWS NortNAmerican chip equipment book-to-bill ratio 0.89 - SEMI

Fri, Jan 18 2008, 06:40 GMT
http://www.afxnews.com

SAN JOSE, CA (Thomson Financial) - North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted 1.23 bln usd in orders in Dec 2007 on a three-month average basis and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.89, according to industry association SEMI

A book-to-bill of 0.89 means that 89 usd worth of orders were received for every 100 usd of product billed for the month.

The three-month average worldwide bookings figure is about 9 pct greater than the final Nov 2007 level of 1.13 bln usd and 18 pct less than the 1.50 bln in orders posted in Dec 2006.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in Dec 2007 was 1.38 bln usd and was flat compared with the final Nov 2007 level and about 7 pct less than the Dec 2006 billings level of 1.48 bln usd.

"In 2007, North American equipment makers experienced a modest two percent growth in their global billings," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "Most recent booking levels are 18 percent below one year ago, and reflect the general expectation that capital expenditures will be about 10 percent lower in 2008."

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