Thread: Forex News from InstaForex

Fxwirepro: Usd/thb Hits Fresh 5-Week Low at 34.27 Mark, Bias Remains Bearish






USD/THB is currently trading around 34.28 marks.


It made intraday high at 34.34 and low at 34.27 marks.


Intraday bias remains bearish till the time pair holds key resistance at 34.48 marks.


On the top side, key resistances are seen at 34.48, 34.55, 34.67, 34.74, 34.82, 34.97, 35.11, 35.20, 35.32, 35.42, 35.62, 35.74, 35.84, 35.93, 36.01, 36.08 and 36.39 marks respectively.


Alternatively, a daily close below 34.34 will drag the parity down towards key supports around 34.14 and 34.02 marks respectively. Important to note here that 20D, 30D and 55D EMA heads down and confirms the bearish trend in a daily chart.


Yesterday BOT released interest rate decision.


Thailand’s Central Bank kept policy rate unchanged at 1.50 pct (poll 1.50 pct). We prefer to take short position in USD/THB around 34.30, stop loss at 34.48 and target of 34.02.


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Japan Producer Prices Rise 0.7% In April





Producer prices in Japan were up 0.7 percent on year in April, the Bank of Japan said on Friday.


That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.9 percent, and was down from 0.8 percent in March.


On a monthly basis, producer prices dipped 0.2 percent after jumping 0.6 percent in the previous month.


Prices for advertising, insurance and engineering all were down, while prices were up for communications and leasing.


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Gold Prices End Lower as Dollar Stabilizes





Gold Prices eased as the dollar pulled away from lows and steadied, while world stock markets reached fresh highs, reversing some gains from the prior session when U.S. Federal Reserve meeting minutes indicated it is more cautious on pulling the trigger on another rate hike.


Spot gold ended ended down 0.2 percent at $1, 255.91 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures ended up 0.3 percent at $1, 256 .50.


Economists anticipate the gold's resilience to fluctuate in the following weeks, citing hints in the Fed minutes that further monetary policy tightening is on the table as early as June.


Minutes of the May policy meeting showed policymakers generally agreed that they should postpone raising rates until it is sure that a recent U.S. economic slump is only transitory. Despite the cautious tone, majority of the rate-setting committee said a hike is coming soon.


Federal fund futures indicated traders are pricing in an 83 percent odds of a quarter percentage point rate hike during the Fed's june meeting.


Bets for U.S. interest rates to increase next month and possibly rise once more in the year have helped kept gold prices under $1,300.


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Fitch: Interest Rate Risk Main Threat for Japanese Life Insurers





Interest rate risk is likely to remain the primary threat for Japanese traditional life insurers, as a majority of the country's life insurers will be unable to lengthen asset duration due to persistently low bond yields, says Fitch Ratings in a new report.


Fitch expects that Japan's life insurers will aim to secure a buffer against the interest rate risk by continuing to strengthen their capitalisation through retained earnings and accumulated reserves.


The agency also expects Japan's life insurers to maintain sufficient capital adequacy for their credit ratings, partly backed by their continuous issuance of hybrid debt; which is used to make large overseas acquisitions to take advantage of the extremely low global bond yields and investor appetite for yield.


The agency saw an improvement in the economic solvency ratios of insurers that disclosed the ratio for the financial year ending March 2017 (FYE17), helped by a steeper yield curve compared with the previous financial year. Consolidated profits of Japanese life insurance groups are also likely to remain strong, boosted by solid earnings growth from international insurance following some acquisitions of US-based life insurers.


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Lenovo Turns to Pricier Models to Stop Bleeding in its Smartphone Business





Chinese multinational technology firm Lenovo Group Ltd is currently relying on a push upmarket to stop the losses incurred in its smartphone business following its acquisition of Motorola three years ago.


The company announced that it will reorganize its China business which is aimed at sharpening the PC brand's consumer focus amid the effort to strengthen its mobile branding and also shift the focus to more expensive models under the Moto brand.


The group's smartphone concerns began after it acquired Motorola Mobility from Google for $2.9 billion back in 2014 but have since then struggled to integrate the assets. Although the company returned to profit in the year to March, the group's phone problems worsened as marketing expenses for new products and key components costs increased.


In its home base of China, Lenovo's shipments have domestically dropped 80 percent year-on-year or 55 percent quarter-on-quarter during the first three months of 2017, according to Canalys data.


However, shipments in Brazil climbed 56 percent in the first quarter of this year according to Lenovo, exceeding India as its largest market, where volumes rose 34 percent.


Chairman Yang Yuanqing said Lenovo is poised to reach its goal of turning around the mobile business by the second half of the fiscal year starting in April. He added that the company will also have three more telecom partners in the U.S. in 2017 as its performance in Western Europe continues to improve.


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Announcement: Moody's: New Zealand's 2017 Budget Highlights Fiscal Flexibility and Shock Absorption Capacity





Moody's Investors Service says that New Zealand's (Aaa stable) budget for the fiscal year ending June 2018 (2017 budget) demonstrates very strong public finances, underpinned by ongoing fiscal discipline and robust economic growth prospects, providing the government with significant fiscal flexibility to buffer potential shocks.


Ahead of the September election, Moody's expects the broad consensus on fiscal discipline, regardless of the party in power, will continue to deliver on the goals of maintaining budget surpluses and reducing debt in the coming years, a credit positive commitment.


Moody's conclusions are contained in its in-depth report "Government of New Zealand: 2017 Budget Highlights Fiscal Flexibility, Credit-Positive Commitment to Increasing Surpluses and Reducing Debt".


In its budget, the government maintains its commitment to increasing fiscal surpluses, which Moody's expects will help reduce gross government debt towards 28% of GDP by 2018, significantly lower than the median for Aaa-rated sovereigns.


The government's track record of fiscal prudence affords it significant fiscal policy flexibility, such that it can fund spending on new measures like the Family Incomes Package while maintaining fiscal surpluses.


Additionally, the government's commitment to resuming contributions to the Superannuation Fund in the fiscal year ending June 2021 (FY 2020-21) will help limit the future fiscal burden from an aging population and support public finances in the longer run.


Finally, the increase in the Earthquake Commission levy will help rebuild the depleted Natural Disaster Fund and boost the sovereign's ability to counter disaster-related shocks.


Moody's expects robust population growth, strong Asian demand for New Zealand dairy, tourism and education and solid investment spending to support real GDP growth of around 3.0% in 2017 and 2018, broadly consistent with the government's projections.


New Zealand will be among the fastest growing Aaa-rated economies in coming years, says Moody's. The government's robust fiscal position and prospects for it to strengthen provide ample room to pursue expansionary fiscal policy to buffer the economy against potential future shocks.


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Euro Weighed Down by Greece Bailout as Stocks Retreat





The euro slipped on Tuesday following a media report that revealed prospects of Greece relinquishing its next bailout payment if creditors fail to meet a debt relief deal. Asian stocks continue to trade in thin volume due to holidays in some regional markets, the United States and the U.K.


The common currency fell 0.2 percent to $1.1136 in its third session in a row of declines following a German press report which stated that Athens might forego its next bailout payment.


Eurozone finance ministers have yet to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund regarding Greek debt relief to release fresh loans to Athens however, it did come close enough to do both at their meeting next month.


"The bailout payments are necessary to meet existing debt repayments due in July, so if Greece were to forgo this bailout payment the probability of a default would spike, reopening the discussion around a Grexit from the Euro-zone," according to James Woods, global investment analyst at Rivkin in Sydney.


Other factors that added pressure on the euro were European Central Bank President Mario Draghi reiterating the need to extend stimulus as well as the possibility of an early elections in Italy.


European blue-chip stocks dropped 0.2 percent the previous day, as Italy's banking index tumbled 3.4 percent, its largest loss in almost four months, after two banks sought help to cover a capital deficit.


MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan was little changed early on Tuesday.


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Japan Industrial Output Rises 4.0% In April





Industrial output in Japan advanced 4.0 percent on month in April, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in Wednesday's preliminary reading.


That was shy of expectations for an increase of 4.2 percent following the 1.9 percent decline in March.


On a yearly basis, industrial production climbed 5.7 percent - again missing forecasts for a gain of 6.1 percent following the 3.5 percent increase in the previous month.


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Wall Street Retreats as S&P, Nasdaq Ends 7-Day Winning Streak





U.S. stocks finished lower on Tuesday, as tech's gains were not enough to keep the S&P and Nasdaq from breaking a seven-day winning streak. Investors priced in key economic data while weakness in the energy and financial sectors added pressure.


The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.24 percent to end at 21,029.47, with Goldman Sachs leading losses and Verizon was the best performer. The S&P 500 fell 0.12 percent to 2,412.91, as energy led seven sectors down while telecommunications was the largest gainer. The Nasdaq Composite shed 0.11 percent to finish at 6,203.19.


The energy sector's 1.31 percent decline made it the worst performer among the major S&P 500 sectors. Shares of Exxon fell 0.6 percent.


Financial stocks, which slipped 0.8 percent, also weighed on the S&P 500. JPMorgan dropped 1.7 percent while Bank of America fell 1.4 percent.


Telecoms rose 1.4 percent following an upgrade from MoffettNathanson to “neutral” from “underweight”, citing a lack of negative near-term catalysts.


The technology sector climbed 0.31 percent, lifted by advances in Apple and Microsoft, both rising 0.6 percent.


Amazon gained 0.1 percent at $996.70, after briefly hitting the $1,000 mark. Alphabet's Class A followed suit by touching a record of $997.62 before closing the session 0.3 percent higher at $996.17.


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Japan Capex Jumps 4.5% In Q1





Capital spending in Japan was up 4.5 percent on quarter in the first three months of 2017, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.


That beat forecasts for an increase of 4.0 percent following the 3.8 percent gain in the previous three months.


Excluding software, capex climbed 5.2 percent - again exceeding expectations for 4.1 percent and up from 3.3 percent in Q4.


Company profits surged 26.6 percent after jumping 16.9 percent three months earlier, while company sales climbed 5.6 percent - up from 2.0 percent in Q4.


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