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NZ Dollar Falls Against Majors
The New Zealand dollar weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Monday. The NZ dollar fell to 0.6699 against the U.S. dollar and 82.57 against the yen, from Friday's closing quotes of 0.6743 and 83.01, respectively. Against the euro and the Australian dollar, the kiwi dropped to 1.6208 and 1.0939 from last week's closing quotes of 1.6101 and 1.0865, respectively. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.65 against the greenback, 80.00 against the yen, 1.66 against the euro and 1.11 against the aussie.
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Fitch: Japanese Life Insurers Seek Overseas Growth Opportunities
Japanese life insurers are likely to strengthen their insurance business outside Japan in 2016 while accumulating foreign bond holdings to improve their investment yield, Fitch Ratings says in a new report. The Rating Outlook for Japanese life insurers has been revised to Stable from Negative, to be consistent with the Outlook for the Japan sovereign (Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating at A). This reflects the insurers' high concentration of Japanese government bonds (JGBs) in their investment portfolios. The Sector Outlook remains Stable due to the overall improvement in earnings and sufficient capitalisation. Several Japanese major life insurers have started to acquire sizable life insurance companies (for around JPY1.4trn in total) in developed markets such as the United States and Australia, following the overseas expansion plans of The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited (Insurance Financial Strength (IFS) Rating A/Stable). Fitch believes this trend will continue, given the ageing and contracting population in Japan, and will monitor any integration and governance risks from international M&A. Japan's life insurers are likely to continue moderately accumulating foreign bonds to seek higher yield, if the very low bond yields in Japan (at around 1% for 20-year JGBs) persist. Fitch expects currency risks (especially versus US dollar) may increase further, if insurers raise unhedged portions. Although the increasing allocation to foreign bonds will provide broader diversification from the concentration on JGB, currency risks need to be managed effectively given the majority of the life insurance liabilities are still yen-denominated. Fitch expects the life insurers to maintain their strong earnings level and solid capital adequacy in 2016. The nine major traditional life insurers' core profit was JPY1,194bn in the first half of the financial year ending March 2016, up from JPY1,117bn a year earlier. The nine insurers' average statutory solvency margin ratio was 923.5% at end-September 2015, compared with 897.7% a year earlier. The view is supported by an improving investment spread owing to accumulated foreign bond investments and the moderately expanding profitable "third sector" (health) insurance product businesses. The report titled "2016 Outlook: Japanese Life Insurance" is available at https://www.mql5.com/go?link=http://www.fitchratings.com or by clicking on the link in this media release.
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Japan averts recession with revised Q3 GDP data
Japan avoided a technical recession in the third quarter with the initial estimate of a contraction revised to an annualized growth of 1.0% from a preliminary reading of 0.8%. The revision, larger than an average market forecast for a revision to a 0.1% gain, implied the Japanese economy was in better shape than initially predicted. Cabinet Office reported capital expenditure was the main factor to the upgrade, revised up to a 0.6% increase from an initial decline of 1.3%. Despite the evasion of inflation, policymakers will remain under pressure to beef up growth by injecting additional stimulus measures.
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Australia Home Loans Slide 0.5% On Month In October
The total number of owner-occupied home loans in Australia fell a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on month in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - coming in at 55,571. The headline figure beat forecasts for a decline of 1.0 percent following the 2.0 percent increase in September. The construction of new dwellings slipped 0.4 percent on month to 5,750, while the purchase of new dwellings lost 1.6 percent to 2,953 and the purchase of established dwellings slid 0.5 percent to 46,868. The value of owner-occupied home loans added 0.4 percent on month to A$21.153 billion following the 3.0 percent jump a month earlier. Investment lending skidded 6.1 percent on month to A$11.490 billion following the 8.2 percent contraction in the previous month. The overall value of all loans slipped 2.0 percent to A$32.643 billion. Also on Wednesday, the latest survey from Westpac Bank showed that consumer confidence in Australia slowed in December as its index slipped 0.8 percent. That brings the index score down to 100.8, although it still remains above the 100-point level where optimists outnumber pessimists. In November, the index had jumped 3.9 percent to a reading of 101.7.
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Germany warns to overturn eurozone bank deposit scheme
Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble warned he is prepared to bring the case to the court to overturn Brussels' plans for a eurozone deposit guarantee system. Schäuble also attacked the European Central Bank for promoting the scheme, saying it was not properly intermediating in a policy beyond its monetary remit. The minister specifically lashed out ECB Vice President Vitor Constâncio as the bank was running roughshod over rules mandating it to place a firewall between monetary policy decision making and bank supervision. The European Commission sought to guarantee Germany it is determined to contend with the remaining risks in the banking system and pool responsibility to backstop deposits as well. Deposits are insured up to €100,000 across the region.
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European Economics Preview: German Exports Data Due
Foreign trade from Germany is the major report due on Wednesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news. At 1.45 am ET, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs is slated to publish Swiss unemployment data for November. The jobless rate is seen unchanged at seasonally adjusted 3.4 percent. At 2.00 am ET, Destatis publishes Germany's foreign trade data. The trade surplus is expected to fall to EUR 21.7 billion in October from EUR 22.9 billion in September. Exports are forecast to fall 0.6 percent on a monthly basis in October. At 3.00 am ET, inflation figures are due from the Czech Republic. Inflation is forecast to double to 0.4 percent in November from 0.2 percent in October. In the meantime, foreign trade reports are due from Denmark and Slovakia. The Central Bank of Iceland is set to announce its interest rate decision at 3.55 am ET.
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Australia Unemployment Rate Falls To 5.8%
The jobless rate in Australia slipped to a seasonally adjusted 5.8 percent in November, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. That handily beat forecasts for 6.0 percent and was down from 5.9 percent in October. The Australian economy added 71,400 jobs in November to 11,900,600 - blowing away forecasts for a decline of 10,400 jobs following the downwardly revised increase of 58,300 (originally 58,600). Full-time employment increased 41,600 to 8,205,800 and part-time employment increased 29,700 to 3,694,800. The participation rate came in at 65.3 percent - also beating forecasts for 65.0 percent, which would have been unchanged. Unemployment decreased 2,800 to 739,100. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work decreased 9,400 to 517,400 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work increased 6,600 to 221,700. Monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased 12.7 million hours (0.8 percent) to 1,645.9 million hours. The labor force underutilization rate decreased 0.2 points to 14.3 percent, based on unrounded estimates. The male labor force underutilization rate fell 0.2 points to 12.3 percent. The female labor force underutilization rate decreased 0.2 points to 16.6 percent.
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Ford to allocate $4.5 billion in developing electric car
Ford Motor Co. announced a $4.5 billion investment aimed at creating more capable electric version of the Focus small car in 2016, the first of 13 new electric vehicles it pledged to develop in the next four years. The move came as carmakers, including General Motors Co., have committed to offering a wider array of long-range electric cars even as low gasoline prices decreases demand for more efficient automobiles. The upgraded Focus, which can travel 100 miles on a charge, will be produced late next year. It will also be equipped with new technology enabling drivers to charge the battery 80% in 30 minutes.
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U.S. Dollar Rises Against Majors
The U.S. dollar strengthened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Friday. The U.S. dollar rose to 1.3658 against the Canadian dollar for the first time since June 2004, from yesterday's closing value of 1.3624. The greenback advanced to a 2-day high of 122.15 against the yen, from yesterday's closing value of 121.53. Against the euro, the pound and the Swiss franc, the greenback edged up to 1.0927, 1.5135 and 0.9890 from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.0940, 1.5159 and 0.9873, respectively. The greenback edged up to 0.6735 against the NZ dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 0.6753. If the greenback extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.41 against the loonie, 124.00 against the yen, 1.07 against the euro, 1.49 against the pound, 1.02 against the franc and 0.66 against the kiwi.
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European Economics Preview: German Final Inflation Data Due
Final inflation data from Germany is due on Friday, headlining a light day for the European economic news. At 2.00 am ET, Destatis released Germany's final inflation figures for November. The statistical office is slated to confirm 0.4 percent annual inflation. In the meantime, Romania's consumer prices are due. Economists expect prices to decrease 1.2 percent annually in November following a 1.6 percent drop in October. At 2.45 am ET, the French current account figures are due for October. The current account surplus totaled EUR 0.5 billion in September. At 4.00 am ET, Italy's statistical office Istat is scheduled to release industrial output for October. Production is expected to rise 0.3 percent on a monthly basis in October after rising 0.2 percent in September. Half an hour later, U.K. construction output data for October is due. Output is seen rising 1 percent month-on-month, reversing a 0.2 percent drop in September. In the meantime, Bank of England/GfK Inflation Attitudes Survey results are due. At 5.30 am ET, Russia's central bank announces its interest rate decision. The bank is likely to keep its key rate unchanged at 11 percent. At 6.00 am ET, Portugal's consumer price figures are due. Inflation is seen unchanged at 0.6 percent in November.
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