MARKET UPDATE FOR ASEAN+3 16 April 2013, 17:00 local time SGT (UTC+8) MARKET DEVELOPMENTS •
Asian stocks fell, dragging the regional benchmark equities gauge lower for a second day. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0.5 percent to 136.40 as of 5:12 p.m. in Tokyo, paring an earlier loss of as much as 1 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.4 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.5 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6 percent and South Korea’s Kospi Index added 0.1 percent.
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Yen, dollar decline as investors seek yield on gold recovery. The yen and dollar weakened, paring their gains yesterday, as a recovery in gold and U.S. stock futures damped demand for the safest currencies. The yen dropped at least 0.9 percent against all 16 of its major counterparts. The yen declined 1.1 percent to 127.58 per euro and dropped 1.1 percent to 97.79 per dollar. The dollar fell 0.1 percent to $1.3050 per euro. Gold and oil were off lows in Asian trading after Monday's heavy losses. The yellow metal was up 1.0 percent at $1,365.60 an ounce, recovering from a 9.4 percent plunge overnight. Oil fell 1.4 percent to $87.45 a barrel, and although the price of copper picked up on Tuesday it was still smarting from a 3 percent overnight decline.
BREAKING NEWS GLOBAL NEWS •
Euro zone inflation continues to ease in March. Inflationary pressures eased further in March in the 17 countries using the euro, spurred by a continued downward trend in energy prices, data from the EU statistics agency showed. Annual euro zone inflation fell to 1.7 percent in March, Eurostat said, compared to the European Central Bank's target of close to but not above 2 percent. The figure was in line with the average expectations of 41 economists polled by Reuters, and confirmed Eurostat's flash inflation estimate made earlier this month. Easing inflation and the weak economy could provide added impetus for European central bankers to consider lowering rates when they meet on May 2, with some economists citing the bloc's rigid inflation target as hampering a return to economic expansion after three years of debt crisis.
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Workforce dropouts loom as Fed weighs tighter policy. The droves of Americans who have abandoned hope of finding a job should make the Federal Reserve hesitant to remove its support for the economy, according to a study that makes a bold argument for a sustained easy monetary policy. The findings of the study were the buzz of a highprofile conference at the Boston Federal Reserve Bank last week on how best to return employment to pre-recession levels. The share of working-age Americans who either have a job or are looking for work has fallen to its lowest in 34 years. For Fed