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South Korea Inflation Eases More Than Forecast





South Korea's consumer price inflation eased more-than-expected in September, figures from Statistics Korea showed Thursday.


The consumer price index climbed 2.1 percent year-over-year in September, slower than August's 2.6 percent rise. Economists had expected the inflation to ease to 2.2 percent.


Excluding food and energy, core inflation remained stable at 1.4 percent in September.


Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages grew 3.3 percent annually in September and transport costs went up by 2.7 percent.


On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.1 percent from August, when it increased by 0.6 percent. The expected rate of increase was 0.2 percent.


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South Korea Has $6.06 Billion Current Account Surplus In August





South Korea saw a current account surplus of $6.06 billion in August, the Bank of Korea said on Friday - down from $7.26 billion in July.


The goods account surplus widened to $9.31 billion, compared to $6.94 billion in August of last year.


The services account saw a deficit of $2.33 billion, higher than the $1.50 billion figure in August 2016 due to deteriorations in the transport and the travel accounts, the bank said.


The primary income account reversed from its $0.53 billion surplus in August of last year to a deficit of $0.08 billion this year, in line with an increase in the payments on equity account.


The secondary income account showed a $0.84 billion deficit.


In the financial account there was an overall $9.13 billion increase in net assets in August.


Direct investment assets grew by $2.99 billion, and direct investment liabilities by $1.41 billion.


There was a $5.13 billion expansion in portfolio investment assets during the month, and a $6.33 billion decline in portfolio investment liabilities.


Financial derivatives posted a net contraction of $0.70 billion.


In terms of other investment, there was a decrease of $1.65 billion in assets and an increase of $2.54 billion in liabilities.


Reserve assets grew by $0.35 billion.


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Philippines Manufacturing PMI Climbs To 50.8 In September - Nikkei





The manufacturing sector in the Philippines continued to expand in September, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.8.


That's up from 50.6 in August, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.


Individually, orders remained modest, while output expansion slowed further.


Cost pressures intensified.


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Gold Prices Tumble to Lowest in Almost 7 Weeks amid Firm Dollar





Gold prices fell to its weakest in almost seven weeks early on Monday, as the U.S. dollar climbed while equities advanced, amid rising expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates in December.


Spot gold fell 0.2 percent at $1,276.47 per ounce, after previously hitting its lowest since mid-August at $1,273.90. The precious metal marked its largest monthly drop so far this year in September.


U.S. gold futures for December delivery declined 0.5 percent to $1,278.90 an ounce.


Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said that he still has "pencilled in" an interest rate hike by the end of the year, and three more rate hikes in 2018, in line with most of his colleagues at the central bank.


The dollar was up 0.1 percent versus a basket of major currencies and rose 0.2 percent against the Japanese yen.


U.S. President Donald Trump recently brushed off the prospect of talks with North Korea as a waste of time, a day after his own secretary of state said the United States was maintaining open lines of communication with Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong Un.


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COLOMBIA: Colcap Closes Steady Despite Oil Fall





Colcap, the main index of the Colombian Stock Exchange, closed Monday's session stable, amid a low trading volume, in a day in which oil fell by more than 2%.


Camilo Silva, an analyst at Valora Inversiones, said that the Colcap recorded a mixed behavior among its constituents, while crude prices abroad fell because of the skepticism among market players that the United States could reduce its oil production.


Regarding local companies, the state-owned Colombian oil company Ecopetrol reported that it was included in the technical recovery group of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which includes world powers in the application of this technology of oil production.


Meanwhile, the Colombian government affirmed on Monday that if the Avianca's pilots do not appoint an arbitrator to its litigation against the air company, it will be selected by lottery.


The shares of Cemex (+1.91%), Preferencial Bancolombia (+0.59%), Cemargos (+0.34%), and ?xito (+0.13%) rose, while Grupo Aval (-0.75%), Davivienda (-0.66%), Banco de Bogot? (-0.64%), and Conconcreto (-0.49%) fell.


The locally traded U.S. dollar closed the day at 2,950.00 Colombian pesos, marking a 0.37% rise, as the euro weakened and oil fell abroad. Ramses Pestanapalmett, an analyst at Ultraserfinco, said that the euro is falling against its peers due to the political tensions in Catalonia, where people voted for separating the region from Spain.


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U.S. Yields Slightly Advance after Strong Manufacturing Data





U.S. Treasury rose as investors weighed in a strong reading by a U.S. manufacturing activity gauge and geopolitical issues, such as the Catalonian independence vote and the most violent shooting in recent U.S. history.


Treasury yields slightly fell from their intraday peaks hit after a survey of Japanese firms showed optimism among the country's top manufacturers was at a record-high, indicating global growth continued to gather momentum from Japan. Historically, the nation has had difficulty curing deflation and rebooting its stagnant economy.


Across the board, U.S. government bond climbed by around a basis point. The 10-year Treasury yield advanced to 2.337 percent, while the two-year note yield advanced to 1.487 percent. Meanwhile, the 30-year bond yield rose up to 2.866 percent.


One of the factors moving the markets is a Las Vegas mass shooting on Sunday, which left a minimum death toll of 58 people and over 500 injured individuals. Another is a disputed referendum on independence held by a region of Spain, Catalonia. The vote resulted in violent incidents as Madrid attempted to bar the referendum from occurring.


However, earlier in the session, Treasuries had initially traded higher after the Bank of Japan's Tankan survey showed that sentiment among big manufacturers reached a decade-long high, up to 22. The surge in the reading is seen to give policymakers the confidence to continue loosening its monetary policy. But the data in focus was the ISM manufacturing index for September, which clocked in at 60.8 percent, its highest reading since 2004. The figures surpassed estimates.


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Singapore Private Sector Accelerates In September - Nikkei





The private sector in Singapore continued to expand in September, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed on Wednesday with a PMI score of 53.7.


That's up from 53.2 in August, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.


Individually, there were faster rises in both new orders and output, while export growth hit a record high.


Backlogs rose again despite additional staff numbers.


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Trump’s Tax Overhaul Plan Hit with New Criticism





President Donald Trump's plan to revamp the U.S. tax code came under fire once more on Tuesday from two renowned Wall Street figures, including Warren Buffet who raised the Republican push to reduce the U.S. corporate rate.


Buffett and BlackRock Inc. CEO Larry Fink both indicated in separate interviews that the corporate rate may not have to be reduced as deeply as proposed by the White House and top Republicans in Congress.


In an interview with CNBC, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said the corporate tax rate did not affect the competitiveness of U.S. businesses.


Meanwhile, Fink said a corporate rate as high as 27 percent could still give U.S. businesses' some breathing room, while preventing the widening in the federal budget deficit. During an interview on Bloomberg TV, Fink said that the current proposal will mean a big expansion of the country's deficits.


The Republican tax plan outlined last month calls for reducing the corporate income tax rate to 20 percent from the current level of 35 percent, which majority of multinational firms are avoiding by taking advantage of loopholes in the tax code.


Buffett added that the planned elimination of the estate tax under the Republican's plan is a 'terrible mistake'. Given that it only impacts a small percentage of Americans, scrapping the tax would not have widespread effects, he said.


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COLOMBIA: Colcap Falls 0.26% Amid Profit-taking And Oil Decrease Abroad





Colcap, the main index of the Colombian Stock Exchange, fell 0.26% Wednesday, closing at 1,484.12 points with the most of the shares in red.


Andr?s Fonseca, an analyst at Alianza Valores, said that the profit-taking on Bancolombia's shares moves ahead amid a continued selling trend after the FTSE index rebalance.


Meanwhile, the decline in oil prices pushed Ecopetrol shares down 0.36%.


Avianca dropped after the Colombian Association of Civil Aviators (Acdac) rejected a resolution issued by the Civil Aeronautics of Colombia to allow the air company to hire foreign pilots to cover the gap a strike by its pilots.


The shares of ?xito (+0,90%), Nutresa (+0.67%), Cemargos (+0,40%), Grupo Aval (+0.38%), and Cesia (+0.22%) rose, while Preferencial Bancolombia (-1.75%), Bancolombia (-1.10%), ETB (-0.97%), and Ecopetrol (-0.36%) fell.


The locally traded U.S. dollar closed the day at 2,935.30 Colombian pesos, marking a 0.67% fall, amid the uncertainty related to the shortlist released by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to nominate a replacement for the current U.S. Federal Reserve bank chairwoman Janet Yellen.


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Yellen Says Fed Working to Properly Adjust Bank Regulations





Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen expressed her support for ensuring that financial regulations are not excessively oppressive for banks.


Speaking at a conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Yellen said the Fed has been working hard to ensure that the U.S. central bank's regulation and supervision of banks are customized appropriately to the size, complexity, and roles varying institutions have in the financial system.


The Fed chief's comments were mostly in line with her prior remarks that the Fed is putting into consideration the option of easing some of the regulatory burden on lenders, particularly the smaller banks.


Yellen did not comment regarding her plans during the event. She did not also mention anything regarding the path of monetary policy or the economic outlook.


But she underlined the recent move by the Fed to reduce cut red tape by simplifying several regulatory requirements. She told the conference that the Fed have been focused on ensuring that the much-required improvements to regulation and supervision since the crisis are needed and not 'unduly burdensome' for community banks.


Yellen's remarks comes amid speculation in the market who will be her successor as the chair of the Fed when her term expires in early February.


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