Forex News from InstaForex

**InstaForex Gertrude** · 03-03-14, 08:21

Indonesia's Manufacturing Sector Expands For Sixth Month

The Indonesian manufacturing sector expanded for the sixth successive month in February, but at a slightly weaker pace than in the beginning of the year, data published by Markit Economics and HSBC Bank revealed Monday.
The seasonally adjusted manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 50.5 in February. The index has now stayed above the no-change 50 mark, which separates growth from contraction, for the sixth month in a row. The February reading was, however, slightly lower than January's score of 51.
Production at Indonesian factories rebounded in February, following a contraction in January, but the rate of growth was fractional. The output recovery was driven by a further increase in new business, which has now recorded growth for the fifth month in a row.
Input costs faced by goods producers rose further in February amid food, metals, chemicals, plastics, paper and textiles prices. Subsequently, average output prices were raised further.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 04-03-14, 07:59

Australia Current Account Deficit A$10.1 Billion

Australia saw a seasonally adjusted current account deficit of A$10.139 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.
That missed forecasts for a shortfall of A$10.0 billion following the upwardly revised A$12.5 billion deficit in the third quarter (originally a deficit of A$12.7 billion).
The primary income deficit climbed A$536 million or 6 percent to A$9.898 billion.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 05-03-14, 10:14

Taiwan's Consumer Prices Drop Slightly In February

Taiwan's consumer prices decreased modestly in February from last year, data released by the National Statistics revealed Wednesday.
The consumer price index edged down 0.05 percent in February from the corresponding month of last year.
The decline mainly reflected a 2.07 percent fall in transportation and communication costs, and a 0.64 percent decrease in clothing expenses. These were partially offset by a 2.54 percent gain in food prices, and a 0.7 percent growth in housing costs.
Month-on-month, the consumer price index recorded a 0.4 percent decrease during February, the agency said.
Separately, the agency said Taiwan's wholesale prices decreased 0.48 percent year-on-year in February. Sequentially, wholesale prices rose by 0.4 percent.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 06-03-14, 08:34

Australia Retail Sales Jump 1.2% In January

Retail sales in Australia climbed a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent on month in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - worth A$22.924 billion.
That blew away forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent following the upwardly revised 0.7 percent gain in December (originally 0.5 percent).
Among the individual components, food retailing was up 0.8 percent, along with cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (1.4 percent), household goods retailing (0.4 percent), other retailing (0.4 percent), department stores (0.7 percent) and clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (0.3 percent).

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 07-03-14, 08:22

Malaysia January Exports Rise More Than Expected

Malaysia's merchandise exports increased at a faster-than-expected pace in January, latest data revealed Friday. Goods exports increased 12.2 percent on an annual basis to MYR63.97 billion in January, the Department of Statistics said. The growth rate was bigger than the 7.9 percent economists had forecast. Major export products in January were electrical and electronic products; refined petroleum products; liquefied natural gas; chemicals and chemical products; and palm oil. At the same time, imports grew 7.2 percent year-on-year to MYR57.62 billion. Economists were looking for a 2.6 percent decrease. The three main categories of imports by end use were intermediate goods, capital goods and consumption goods. January's overall foreign trade resulted in a surplus of MYR6.36 billion, which was notably lower than than the MYR9.05 billion surplus economists had forecast, data showed.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 10-03-14, 06:12

Japan January Current Account Deficit Y1,589.0 Billion

Japan saw a current account deficit of 1,589.0 billion yen in January, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday.
That missed forecasts for a shortfall of 1,411.8 billion yen following the 638.6 billion yen deficit in December.
The trade balance reflected a deficit of 2,345.4 billion yen - which actually beat expectations for 2,589.6 billion yen. That follows the upwardly revised deficit of 1,047.4 billion yen in December (originally 1,212.6 billion yen.
Exports climbed 16.7 percent on year, while imports surged an annual 30.3 percent.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 11-03-14, 08:22

Philippine Export Growth Eases For Second Month

Philippines merchandise exports logged strong growth in in January, but the rate of increase weakened for the second successive month and missed expectations, latest data revealed Tuesday.
Goods exports advanced 9.3 percent on an annual basis to $4.382 billion in January, after gaining 15.8 percent and 18.9 percent respectively in December and November, the National Statistics Office said. Economists had forecast a 10.6 percent growth for January.
Sales were led by a 22.1 percent rise in shipments of electronic products, which followed a 26.2 percent gain in December.
January exports were also influenced by improvement in sales of other manufactured products; metal components; articles of apparel and clothing accessories; machinery and transport equipment; and wood-crafts and furniture, data showed.
Month-on-month, overall exports decreased 4.7 percent in January, with dispatches of electronic products falling 6 percent.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 12-03-14, 08:00

South Korea Unemployment Rate Rises To Three-Year High

South Korea's unemployment rate grew sharply in February to the highest level in nearly three years, data published by Statistics Korea revealed Wednesday.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate advanced to 3.9 percent in February from 3.2 percent in January. In February 2013, the jobless rate was 3.4 percent. The February figure was the highest since March 2011. On an unadjusted basis, there were around 1.18 million jobless persons in the country at the end of February, which was higher by 19.1 percent than in the same month of last year.
Data showed that the number of employed persons increased 3.5 percent year-on-year to about 24.82 million during February. At the same time, the labor force participation rate advanced 1.8 percent annually to 61.4 percent.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 13-03-14, 08:27

Dollar Declines To 2-day Low Against Pound

The U.S. dollar edged down against the pound in Asian deals on Thursday.
The greenback slipped to a 2-day low of 1.6641 against the pound at 12:20 am ET from an early high of 1.6606. The next possible support for the greenback is seen around the 1.68 zone.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 14-03-14, 06:20

Yen Rises Against Majors

The Japanese yen gained against other major currencies in the Asian session on Friday. The yen ticked up to 116.04 against the franc, 140.79 against the euro, 168.81 against the pound and 101.60 against the greenback. The yen may face resistance around 115.00 against the franc, 139.00 against the euro, 167.00 against the pound and 101.00 against the greenback. The yen rose back to 91.64 against the aussie, while against the kiwi, the yen rebounded from an early low of 87.11 and gained to 86.70. The yen hit 91.58 against the loonie, highest level since March 4. If the yen extends gain, it may find resistance around 90.00 against the aussie, 86.00 against the kiwi and 90.00 against the loonie.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 17-03-14, 09:11

Vietnam Central Bank To Lower Key Rates

Vietnam's central bank will lower its key rates to help the government to meet its 5.8 percent growth target this year.
The State Bank of Vietnam will cut its refinancing rate to 6.5 percent from 7 percent, reports said Monday. Also, the interest-rate cap for dong deposits will be lowered to 6 percent from 7 percent, effective March 18.
The International Monetary Fund forecast only 5.4 percent growth for Vietnam this year, but slightly faster than the 5.3 percent rise estimated last year.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 18-03-14, 09:09

Philippine January Wholesale Price Inflation Weakens

Philippines' wholesale price inflation weakened in January after picking up in each of the preceding four months, data published by the National Statistics Office revealed Tuesday.
The wholesale price index advanced 4.8 percent on an annual basis in January, which was slower than the 5.3 percent gain recorded in December. In November, prices grew by 4.1 percent.
The movement of the index was influenced slower growth rates of 32.4 percent for crude materials, inedible except fuels; and 6.2 percent for chemicals including animal and vegetable oils and fats.
However, higher annual increments were observed in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, at 6.5 percent; manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials index, at 1.6 percent; and machinery and transport equipment, at 1.8 percent, data showed.
On a monthly basis, wholesale prices moved up 0.3 percent in the beginning of the year, after growing 1 percent in December, data showed.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 19-03-14, 08:19

Japan Has Y800.3 Billion Trade Deficit

Japan saw a merchandise trade deficit of 800.309 billion yen in February, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That missed forecasts for a shortfall of 600.9 billion yen following the downwardly revised deficit of 2,791.7 billion yen in January (originally 2,789.97 billion yen). Exports were up 9.8 percent on year - also shy of expectations for 12.5 percent following the 9.5 percent increase in the previous month. Imports added an annual 9.0 percent versus forecasts for 7.2 percent following the 25.1 percent spike a month earlier.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 20-03-14, 08:02

U.K. Household Finance Sentiment Drops Slightly From Record High: Markit

Confidence among British households regarding their personal finances eased modestly in March, but hovered near February's record high signaling that the squeeze on finances remained less marked than seen over the past five years, survey data published by Markit Economics revealed Thursday.
The seasonally adjusted household finance index, which measures the overall perception of financial well-being, dropped to 41.9 in March from 42.1 in February, which was the highest score in the history of the survey. Index readings below 50 suggest weakness in confidence.
Confidence was supported by a fourth consecutive growth in income from employment. Also, households' perception of the current inflation situation dropped during March to the lowest level since December 2009.
At the same time, spending increased for the first time so far this year, helped by stronger economic conditions as highlighted by a robust rise in workplace activity.
The outlook component of the survey, which measures financial well-being over the next 12 months, dropped to 49 in March from a survey-record high of 50.5 in February. However, the latest reading was the second-highest since the series began in February 2009.
"Overall, the survey suggests that the UK economy has remained on a solid recovery path during the first quarter of 2014,"Markit Economist Tim Moore said.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 24-03-14, 07:50

Euro Rises Further To 4-day High Against Franc

The euro continued its uptrend against the Swiss franc in Asia on Monday. The euro that closed Friday's deals at 1.2167 against the franc reached a 4-day high of 1.2189. On the upside, 1.225 is seen as the next upside target level for the euro.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 24-03-14, 10:34

Daily analysis of GBP/JPY for March 24, 2014

Overview
In the today's H4 chart, we can notice that the pair opened this week below the Resistance level of 169.20 that would give the pair a good opportunity to start its bearish move. Actually, as shown, the pair took a slightly downward move and currently is trading above the support level of 168.50 and below the resistance level of 169.20 directly. More bearish signals are still expected as long as the pair is trading below the resistance level, so we can consider our first target few pips above the support level of 167.75, then it is preferred to wait for breaking this support level and closing 4H below to continue the bearish move.
Resistance and support levels: R3 (170.50), R2 (169.75), R1 (169.20), S1 (168.50), S2 (167.75), S3 (167.00).

More analysis - at instaforex.com

**InstaForex Gertrude** · 25-03-14, 06:52

Philippine Imports Rise Fore Third Month

Philippines' merchandise imports increased for the third successive month in January, and at a significantly faster pace than in December, data published by the National Statistics Office showed Tuesday. The growth rate also far exceeded economists' expectations.
The value of imports climbed 21.8 percent on an annual basis to US$5.76 billion in January, which followed a 2.1 percent gain in December. Economists were looking for an 8.5 percent rise for January.
While nine of the top ten major commodities recorded growth during the month, the strong pick up was driven by an 11.1 percent rise in imports of electronic products. In December, the category had logged a 2.5 percent decline.
On a monthly basis, overall external purchases recorded a 6.4 percent growth in the beginning of the year, following December's 3.4 percent increase. Arrivals of electronics goods rose by 1.7 percent.
January's international trade resulted in a deficit of US$1.38 billion, which was notably higher than the US$716 million deficit recorded in the same month of last year. Expectations were for a lower shortfall of US$850 million.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 26-03-14, 08:27

Japan Corporate Service Prices Rise 0.7%

An index monitoring corporate service prices in Japan was up 0.7 percent on year in February, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday, standing at 96.5.
That was unchanged from the January reading following a downward revision from 0.8 percent.
On a monthly basis, corporate service prices were up 0.3 percent following the 0.6 percent contraction in the previous month.
Among the individual components of the survey, prices were higher for civil engineering and software development - while they were lower for transportation, leasing and rental.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 27-03-14, 06:56

NZ Dollar Climbs To Multi-month High Against Euro

The New Zealand dollar strengthened against the euro and the US dollar in the Asian session on Thursday.
The NZ dollar rose to a multi-month high of 1.5973 against the euro and an 8-day high of 0.8631 against the US dollar, compared to yesterday's closing quotes of 1.6042 and 0.8591, respectively.
If the kiwi continues its uptrend, it may find target levels around 1.5920 against the euro and 0.8640 against the greenback.

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**InstaForex Gertrude** · 28-03-14, 04:49

UK Consumer Confidence Index Rises To -5

An index measuring consumer confidence in the United Kingdom came in at -5 in March, the latest survey from GfK revealed on Friday.
That beat expectations for -6 and is up from -7 in February. It also marks the highest score since August 2007.
The index is also 22 points higher than it was a year earlier.
"People are now on balance more positive than negative about their own financial prospects over the next year," said Nick Moon, managing director for GfK's social research division. "It is unlikely that anything announced in the recent budget will reverse this."

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