1. curren (4 x 8)
1. curren (4 x 8)
Most Asian currencies down late on Monday
A Bank of Japan survey showing a sharp deterioration in business sentiment was the catalyst for a mild sell off in most Asian currencies Monday, with the closure of some markets and the approach of a key meeting of U.S. Federal Reserve policy makers limiting activity.
The Thai baht, Singapore dollar, Philippine peso and Indonesian rupiah were all lower in late Asian trade, while financial markets in South Korea, Taiwan and China were closed for national holidays.
The session began with a batch of bad news from the BOJ, which reported that the main diffusion index in its latest tankan survey of business sentiment registered a minus 33 reading for large manufacturers, compared with minus 16 three months ago.
It was the biggest drop over three months since March 1998, when the region was in financial crisis and Japan was verging on a meltdown of its banking system. Also, some 25 percent of surveyed companies sent in their responses before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., the BOJ said. That probably suggests the latest tankan didn't fully reflect the sort of negative fallout from the attacks that recently prompted the International Monetary Fund to slash its forecast for world economic growth this year to 2.6 percent.
2. Rate (2 x 21)
Asia to follow Fed, some doubt the point
Asia set to follow Fed, but some doubt the point
Most Asian central banks are ready to take interest rates to the chopping block assuming the Federal Reserve delivers a widely expected easing in U.S. policy when it meets on Tuesday.
But analysts say it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" choice for many since those that cut will not see much difference in their sputtering economies given stubbornly laggard domestic demand. And those that don't may undermine market confidence.
"Policy measures probably have not helped much in the last year or so given the nature of the global economic downturn," said Andrew Fung, Head of Treasury at Rabobank in Singapore.
"The problem is if they don't ease, they send the wrong signal to the market ... If there is anything to be gained from easing, it would show that the central banks at least recognise that economies are weak," he argued.
3. Tankan (1 x 30)
'Business confidence falls'
Business confidence falls in Bank of Japan's Tankan survey
Japan's central bank said Monday its latest Tankan survey showed business confidence to September fell for the third consecutive quarter, with the large manufacturers' index plunging to minus 33 from minus 16.
In the September survey, the index of large non-manufacturers' confidence skidded to minus 17 from minus 13 in April-June, the Bank of Japan said.
Figures for the past three months offer the first indication of business sentiment in Japan since the deadly terrorist attacks in the United States, with a portion of the data collected after Sept.11.
The Nikkei-225 average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped on the news, taken as confirmation that confidence in Japan Inc. was deteriorating fast, dealers said.
The headline index fell 1.5 percent in the first 18 minutes to trade at 9,624.40 points at 9:18 am (0018 GMT or 7.18 a.m. Jakarta time).
4. Osama (2 x 20)
U.S. to widen financial assault on Bin Laden
U.S. set to widen financial assault on Bin Laden: NYT
Widening the financial assault on Osama bin Laden, administration officials are preparing to freeze the assets of about two dozen more charities and other organizations that are suspected of providing money and support to his terrorist operations, government officials said yesterday, The New York Times reported in its Monday editions.
Officials tracking bin Laden's Al Qaeda network say they have found a sophisticated financial infrastructure that stretches from the United Arab Emirates to Europe to Indonesia, and uses mechanisms as varied as charitable organizations, manufacturing companies and credit card fraud to raise money and move it around the globe.
The Times said a new list of suspected organizations, under review by a group of officials led by Treasury Department representatives, includes charities in Saudi Arabia and Chicago, an Arab bank and at least three 'hawalas,' the informal money- lending networks common in the Arab world. The list is expected to be announced within two weeks.
5. G3 (1 x 50)
Japanese firm starts world's first 3G phone service
Japanese firm starts world's first 3G cell phone service
The world's first superfast cell phone service started Monday in Tokyo from top Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo, although without its biggest promised attractions - the relay of video clips and music downloads.
Even in gadget-crazy Japan, boasting some of the most advanced cell phones in the world, things were a bit anticlimactic for the start of so-called 3G, or third generation, that relays information 40 times the speed of current cell phones and includes a videophone.
"It's a new technology so I wanted to try it out," said Tatsuya Shiratori, 26, among the handful of people who showed up at a Tokyo DoCoMo outlet to buy a 70,000 yen (US$585) phone.
But analysts say DoCoMo intends a slow start for 3G and will have no problem meeting its target to sell 150,000 handsets by March.