2 hours ago
Singapore’s exports fell in September, marking the 12th consecutive decline
Singapore’s exports fell for the 12th straight month in September, Singapore government data showed.
Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports fell 13.2% last month after falling 22.5% in August, as both electronics and non-electronic exports fell.
The decline was mainly due to lower exports to Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia, but NODX to China, Hong Kong and the United States rose.
The Singapore dollar weakened slightly against the US dollar, falling 0.12% to $1.3687, while the Straits Times Index gained 0.19%.
—Shreyashi Sanyal
2 hours ago
Country Garden is nearing debt maturity as the risk of default looms
Country Garden’s entire offshore debt could fall into default if the Chinese real estate developer fails to make a $15 million coupon payment on Tuesday, when its 30-day payment period ends.
Country Garden, once China’s largest real estate developer, narrowly avoided default in early September after it managed to make $22.5 million in bond coupon payments. Its creditors voted to extend repayments on six onshore bonds by three years.
Country Garden shares rose 1.37% in the first hour of trading, tracking a 0.35% rise in the broader Hang Seng Index.
Read the whole story here.
—Shreyashi Sanyal
5 hours ago
New Zealand consumer inflation hits its lowest level in two years
New Zealand consumer inflation hit its lowest level in two years in the third quarter.
Consumer prices rose 5.6% year-on-year, slower than the 6% rise in the second quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand data released on Tuesday. The reading was still well above the central bank’s target range of 1% to 3% as prices for everything from food to real estate rose.
The Kiwi dollar weakened 0.44% to $0.5903 as data supported expectations that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand may not raise interest rates at its November meeting. Stock markets gained slightly, with the S&P/NZX 50 index rising 0.07%.
The country elected former businessman Christopher Luxon as its next prime minister over the weekend.
—Shreyashi Sanyal
6 hours ago
Nelson Peltz’s hedge fund Trian is building up stakes in Allstate
Nelson Peltz’s activist hedge fund Trian Fund Management has created a stake in insurance company Allstate, according to a report by Portal. Allstate has struggled with the impact of various natural disasters, most recently the Maui wildfire in Hawaii.
The move could increase pressure on CEO Tom Wilson. The company has posted losses for five quarters.
Allstate shares rose 3.8% in after-hours trading on Monday.
– Hakyung Kim
7 hours ago
Forget Monday. According to Strategas, gold has been impressive recently
Forget the 0.5% drop in gold prices on Monday.
“What is impressive is how well gold prices have held up in the face of rising interest rates and a bull market in the U.S. dollar,” Chris Verrone, head of technical analysis at Strategas Securities, wrote to clients early Monday.
Verrone wrote that gold posted its fourth-best weekly gain in 10 years last week, and that the precious metal has proven remarkably resilient given 10-year Treasury yields have risen 4.5 percentage points since mid-2020 and an inflation-adjusted yield of 3.75 has points, Fed Funds 5.5 points higher and the dollar climbs 20%. Meanwhile, gold has been flat since then. “All in all, it’s impressive,” Strategas said.
See grafic…
Gold futures in 2023.
—Scott Schnipper, Michael Bloom
7 hours ago
Stock futures open slightly higher on Monday
US stock futures opened in the green on Monday evening.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 35 points, or 0.1%. Futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 gained 0.1% and 0.06%, respectively.
– Hakyung Kim