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.