Oct 14




The trade deficit the U.S. has widened more than expected in August due to a surge in imports coupled with weaker exports, according to figures released Thursday by the Commerce Department.

The trade balance posted a deficit of 46.35 billion dollars, while the market was expecting a "hole" of 44 billion.

In July, the deficit had amounted to 42.58 billion (42.78 billion in the first estimate).

Exports grew only 0.2% to 153.87 billion dollars, while imports jumped 2.1% to 200.22 billion dollars, after falling 2.1% in July.

Oct 13




Standard Chartered on Wednesday launched a capital increase to raise £ 3.3 billion (3.8 billion euros) to strengthen its finances in view of the new Basel rules III and for capacity to seize opportunities growth.

The British bank, which is very active in Asia, has also reported record revenues and profits in the third quarter and first nine months of the year.In the third quarter, net banking income grew faster than in the first half and trading volumes are also almost returned to their pre-crisis level.

StanChart said it will increase its capital "to continue to seize opportunities across Asia, Africa and the Middle East," adding that the new capital rules could restrict the growth of its assets in the absence capital increase.

Anxious to avoid another global credit crisis, regulators agreed last month to require banks to increase the amount of their capital good.

In the process, Deutsche Bank has kicked off a series of increases in capital raising earlier this month 10.2 billion euros.

SUBSTANTIAL DISCOUNT

StanChart followed suit, offering to shareholders to buy one new share for every eight shares held at a price of 1,280 pence, representing a discount of 33% result from its closing price on the London Stock Exchange.

The bank, which is based in London but which generates three quarters of its profit in Asia, has reported a tier-one "core" of 9% as of June 30, which is significantly higher than the 7 0% which will now be required.

StanChart plans to increase this ratio to around 11% after the capital increase but the new provisions of Basel III will require it to apply a higher risk weighting for assets, which should lower the ratio of a percentage point, said the bank.

The new rules adopted as part of the agreement "Basel III" have tightened the definition of core tier one ratio to the share capital and retained earnings constitute the bulk of the equity of banks.Consequently, the ratios of core Tier many banks are likely to be substantially lower than they are today.

"The Basel rules will be more difficult for some Western banks and they want to get ahead in raising funds before some European banks do not do it," said Daniel Tabbush, an analyst at CLSA.

"It is possible that the Basel rules further penalize banks like Standard Chartered and HSBC in Asia because they are more cross-border," he adds.

ACTION BACK IN HONG KONG AND LONDON

StanChart said the Singapore sovereign fund Temasek, its largest shareholder with a stake of 18% would support the operation.

The bank has been particularly active in Asia, where she participated in the assembly of large loans for Bharti Airtel, Vedanta Resources and BHP Billiton, according to Reuters Basis Point.

In August it announced a record profit of 3.12 billion dollars (2.2 billion euros) for the first half and bad debts have been halved.

At 8:10 GMT, StanChart action listed in Hong Kong, which had been suspended pending the announcement of the capital increase, lost 1.3% to 227.00 Hong Kong dollars.

At the London Stock Exchange, the title StanChart retreated 2.86% to 1,854 pence.Tuesday, she had gained 2.1% on rumors of interest from U.S. bank JPMorgan.

For the analyst Daniel Tabbush, the capital increase could also be intended to convey the message that the bank is not for sale.

Oct 11




Investors should continue to sell the U.S. dollar to look for more attractive returns in emerging markets, in the absence of agreement between leaders of major powers this weekend to try to ease tensions related to changes in currency .

Markets remain on the lookout for a new operation in Japan, which sold the yen in mid-September for the first time in six years to stem the appreciation of its currency.

The prospect of a further easing of U.S. monetary policy, already highly accommodative, brought down the dollar to its lowest level in eight and a half months, diverting capital to emerging markets more lucrative.

In an attempt to curb this movement, reflected by the continued appreciation of their currencies, many emerging countries like Brazil, have adopted measures that maintain the fear of a "war of currencies".

Talks were held this weekend in Washington, where there was a general meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), yielded only a loose agreement of closer monitoring of economic policies.And no concrete steps have been taken.

For analysts, the Fed now has free rein to decide next month for new measures to relax its policy by injecting additional funds into the economy, which would amplify the decline in the dollar .

"Overall, despite the occasional reference to the strong dollar policy, which seems increasingly anachronistic, there is little to suggest that the dollar could do anything but fall," says Steven Englander director of currency strategy at Citigroup.

For technical strategists, the euro will probably remain above $ 1.35 in the medium term, especially because the European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to begin raising rates before the Fed.

Speculation about the YEN STILL RISKY

Meanwhile, the contention between great powers on the file exchange is clear: Brazil doubled last week the taxation of foreign capital invested in the bond market, South Korea has warned that it intended to regulate certain financial transactions and India has hinted it might intervene in currency markets.

China, it has reiterated in recent days it intended to take his movement rate of appreciation of its currency, the yuan.

For Alan Ruskin, head of G10 foreign exchange strategy at Deutsche Bank, the current exchange rate is the logical consequence of divergent economic developments.

"This goes far beyond the mere fact that the Fed prepares to launch new quantitative easing", he said.

"We are faced with interest rates low for some time in most developed economies, with strong growth and the need to toughen policies elsewhere.This implies that flows to the emerging world will continue. "

Specifically on the yen, some investors may test the resolution of the Bank of Japan in pushing the dollar to a new record low, but speculate on the Japanese currency remains risky, analysts say.

Some note that the silence of the United States this weekend on the issue could be a tacit green light to further intervention by Tokyo.The dollar was changing Friday under the threshold at which the Japanese authorities intervened in the market on September 15.

"Geithner was flexible enough for the Japanese so there are probably people who are afraid to see the BOJ intervene again," said Marc Chandler, strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, in reference to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Alan Ruskin, Japan visibly free hand for now as it attempts to slow the yen's rapid appreciation, rather than targeting a specific level, as some emerging countries.

"I think that the United States seeks to prevent Japan diverts attention from efforts to achieve greater flexibility of the Chinese Foreign Exchange," he says.

Oct 9




Greater international coordination of monetary policy is necessary to avoid volatility in exchange rates and achieve balanced economic growth, said Friday the EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs.

Such coordination could take place within the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the G20, which groups the richest countries and emerging powers, Olli Rehn said in an interview with Reuters.

"I see a need for enhanced international coordination of monetary policy," he said in Washington, which runs the General Assembly of the World Bank and IMF.

"We are discussing with our partners possible ways to move towards such coordination in the G20 and IMF," he added.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the G7 group of the seven richest countries of the world, should raise this issue at a dinner Friday night before the deal probably still at a forthcoming ministerial meeting of the G20 end of the month in South Korea.

"I expect the G7 and the G20 to discuss opportunities to strengthen international coordination of monetary policy, for which the G20 and the IMF could play a greater role," said Rehn.

CHINA HAS NO INTEREST IN A TOO STRONG EURO

Asked whether the IMF should be involved to coordinate policies, the EU Commissioner said: "From my point of view, the IMF is a natural choice to facilitate better coordination in monetary policy."

While China resists calls to U.S. and EU for a revaluation of the yuan, the U.S. Federal Reserve may soon relax its monetary policy, contributing to the falling dollar and the appreciation other currencies.

Several countries have taken initiatives to try to stem the rise of their currencies, suggesting a phase of competitive devaluations that members of the G7 and G20 wish to avoid.

"We have not seen a war of currencies but we've certainly seen some negative developments in terms of non-competitive or assessments of competitive devaluations," observed Olli Rehn.

"In order to achieve a rebalancing of global growth, which is the main theme of the annual meeting of the IMF, we must also address the issue of currency; exchange rates should reflect economic fundamentals," he said.

Olli Rehn said that China itself had an interest in a stronger yuan.

"If we are not moving towards a rebalancing of global growth, the recovery of the European economy, for example, will be weaker," he said."Europe is the main export market for China and it is not in the interest of China to weaken the market by placing a disproportionate burden on the shoulders of the Europeans."

Asked whether the euro, which is trading at about $ 1.40 was too high, Olli Rehn said: "Like many other currencies have recently been placed on the path of depreciation, the euro gained in value. This is not good for the European economy or the global economy than the euro area has a disproportionate burden in terms of volatility of exchange rates. "

Oct 7




Alcoa's largest aluminum producer in the United States, on Thursday posted lower earnings in the third quarter, but he noted an improvement in global markets, making its action forward more than 3.0% after fence.

Its net income totaled $ 61 million (43.8 million), against $ 77 million, or 8 cents per share, during the same period last year, said the group based in Pittsburgh, citing declining of aluminum prices and the decline of the dollar.

Earnings from continuing activities amounted to 6 cents per share, Alcoa said that given the traditionally kicks off the quarterly earnings period in the United States.

Its turnover rose 15% to $ 5.3 billion thanks to higher volumes in the aerospace and increased market share in the construction industry.

The weakness of the greenback against the Australian dollar and the Brazilian real has weighed on the results of the producer because it has led to increased costs of materials.

After closing the New York Stock Exchange, the share of Alcoa gained 3.4% at 12.62 dollars.

Oct 6




Food store chain J Sainsbury reported Wednesday in quarterly sales at the top of market expectations, which was not enough to satisfy him.

The action, which has outperformed the Stoxx Europe 600 distribution of 11% since the beginning of the year, yielded 1.08% in late morning at 385.4 pence, while the sector index was practically stable (-0.03%).

The bank RBS analyst Justin Scarborough said that the good news about the British group are essentially already in the stock market.

"Certainly, the group leader in the sector in terms of sales performance, but it appears fully discounted in the 20% premium over the stock market relative to the sector," said Simon Dunn, an analyst at Liberum.

Sainsbury's share is trading at 15.8 times expected earnings, against 13.3 times for Tesco and Wm Morrison, according to data from Reuters.

Sainsbury's sales at comparable stores increased 2.9% over the 16 weeks to October 2, but excluding petrol, VAT included. The group manages more than 525 supermarkets and 300 convenience stores.

The growth forecast of eight analysts polled by Reuters ranged from 1.5 to 3.0%, with a midpoint of 2.3%.First-quarter sales growth was 1.1%.

By comparison, Tesco on Tuesday reported a sales growth of 1.2% over a period of 26 weeks to 28 August.

DIFFICULT SITUATION

"Pretty impressive," said Nick Bub, an analyst at Arden Partners who think the earnings estimates for the group on the exercise will probably slightly raised.

Sainsbury's chief financial officer John Rogers believes that the consensus of analysts, which is just under 655 million pounds could be raised by five million.

Sainsbury, which has as nearest rivals Tesco, the leader, and Asda (a subsidiary of Wal-Mart), number two, believes that conditions remain difficult because of the austerity measures taken by the government.

"We tend to think that consumers have anticipated the bad news in his behavior," he told reporters the group managing director Justin King, referring to recent polls showing increased consumer pessimism.

Justin King does not anticipate a significant increase in food prices despite a statistic published Tuesday showed that food inflation posted its biggest rise since June 2009.

Overall, group sales rose 6.6% in the second quarter.Sainsbury said that sales growth of non-food is triple that of food that online purchases are growing over 25% and the performance of new stores exceeded expectations.

The group continues to study its possible entry into China, said its director general, but pointed out that one should not expect an announcement effective immediately.

Oct 4




U.S. stock markets ended down Monday as investors took their profits after the rise of September.

The Dow Jones ended down 0.72% or 78.41 points to 10,751.27 points while the Standard & Poor's 500 benchmark fund managers, gave up 0.8% or 9 21 points to 1137.03 points.

Oct 2




The industrial growth in the U.S. slowed last month and inflation has remained low in August, show the indicators released Friday, confirming that the Fed is free to relax its policy to support recovery.

Official statistics of the day also showed a larger increase than expected consumer spending as well as those of construction in August, but investment in private construction fell to its lowest level in more than 12 years.

Ultimately, these figures paint a picture of a still modest growth in economic activity in the third quarter, after that only 1.7% annualized rate recorded in the previous three months.

A year after emerging from the recession, the United States are still far from having returned to a sustained growth momentum and some analysts are increasingly impatient to see the Fed intervene.

"A quantitative easing increased in preparation. The Fed is expected that the tendency of growth is too low. And what is deflation, the situation may be too uncertain to reassure her.I do not know if it will act in November or December, "said John Canally, an economist at LPL Financial.

The president of the New York Fed's William Dudley ruled Friday "unacceptable" the high unemployment and low inflation, adding that further monetary policy action were virtually assured if the economic outlook does not improve.

Following its last meeting on September 21, the Fed stood ready to inject additional liquidity into the economy to promote growth and prevent a deflationary spiral.(See)

The central bank, whose interest rates are already near zero and has repurchased 1,700 billion dollars (1.235 billion euros) of government bonds and securitized mortgages in recent months, will meet again 2 and 3 November.

The risk of deflation NOT SPREAD

While manufacturing represents only a minority share of overall economic activity in the U.S., it has been at the forefront of the recovery since it shows 14 consecutive months of growth.

But it has slowed in recent months: In September, the index of industrial activity calculated by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) fell to 54.4 against 56.3 in August.And the new orders component fell, as did employment.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported a 0.4% rise in August consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of the U.S. economy, after an increase of similar magnitude in July.

But the barometer of inflation as monitored by the Fed, the PCE index of consumer prices excluding food and energy, rose only 0.1% for the fourth consecutive month.Over the 12 months through August, the index was up 1.4%.

The Fed warned that inflation was below the level it deems appropriate under its mandate, which must combine full employment and price stability.

For Carey Leahy, economist at Decision Economics, the ISM survey and other indicators "confirm the position of Dudley (…) that it is not necessary that the economic situation is deteriorating for the Fed to soften its policy" .

American consumption is hampered by the persistently high unemployment (it touched 9.6% of the population in August) and by the continued depreciation of their real estate.

In August it was however supported by an increase of 0.5% of revenues, the largest since December.

Adjusted for inflation, consumer spending rose by 0.2%, unchanged from July. The increase in August, the fourth row, fueling hope for continued support of consumer growth in the third quarter.

Consumer confidence has also improved slightly in September, the index Thomson Reuters-University of Michigan, reaching 68.2 by the final results of this survey, against 66.6 in the first estimate.

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