The consumer price index is expected to rise by an average 2.72 per cent year-on-year.
The Statistics Department will be releasing the data today.
HSBC Bank said base year effects, arising from the 10-11 per cent hike in subsidised fuel prices in September, will likely keep the reading on October CPI at 2.6 per cent, which will still place it within Bank Negara Malaysia's comfort range.
Excluding food and fuel prices, core inflation is also set to remain stable at 1.3 per cent year-on-year.Irvin Seah of DBS Bank said the recent spike in inflation is largely policy-driven.
The government cut both RON 95 petrol and diesel subsidies by RM0.20 per litre. This raised the pump prices for RON95 petrol to RM2.10/litre and diesel to RM2/litre, up from RM1.90 and RM1.80, respectively.
"While that will save about RM3.3 billion per year for the government, the inflationary effect has been manifested in the headline inflation number."
Seah said the days of strong growth and low inflation are coming to an end.
He said there is also little justification for Bank Negara to start tightening monetary policy as the growth momentum is already slowing on easing domestic demand, while the inflationary impact of policy changes will be transient.(Business Times)
Asian stocks rose in September,
with the benchmark index heading for its biggest gain in three
years, as the Federal Reserve unexpectedly maintained stimulus
and data signaled China’s economy is strengthening.
Tencent Holdings Ltd., Asia’s biggest Internet company,
gained 11 percent in Hong Kong this month to touch a record
high. Tokyo Electron Ltd. surged 31 percent after Applied
Materials Inc. announced a plan to take over the Tokyo-based
company. Acom Co. soared 49 percent, spurring the consumer
lender to the biggest gain on the Asian equities index, after a
report Japan’s non-bank loans to individuals are picking up.
Profits at China’s industrial companies rose 24 percent in
August, data yesterday showed. A preliminary HSBC Holdings Plc
and Markit Economics’ purchasing managers index for China
released on Sept. 23 rose to 51.2, a six-month high.
Regional Benchmarks
Japan’s Topix index gained 10 percent in September, rising for the first month in five, as Tokyo won a bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games. The measure fell 0.1 percent this week.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index (AS51) gained 3.4 percent this month and climbed 0.6 percent since Sept 20. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index advanced 5.3 percent in September.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 6.8 percent this month and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.9 percent. Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 6 percent.(Bloomberg)
Japan’s industrial production rose
less than economists forecast, suggesting that a recovery in the
nation’s manufacturing sector is lagging a weakening yen.
Output rose 2.5 percent from November, when it declined 1.4
percent, the Trade Ministry said in Tokyo today. The median
estimate of 25 economists was for a 4.1 percent gain. Production
fell 7.8 percent from the previous year.
The yen has weakened more than 12 percent against the
dollar in the past three months, the most among 16 major
currencies tracked by Bloomberg. It was at 91.06 per dollar as
of 8:52 a.m. in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) has gained
more than 16 percent since the beginning of December.
Japan’s three largest automakers -- Toyota Motor Corp. (7203),
Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. -- all reported falling
domestic production in December from the previous month.
Manufacturing in China, Japan’s biggest export market, is
expanding at the fastest rate in two years, bolstering prospects
that economic growth there will accelerate for a second straight
quarter.
Weaker Yen
A weaker yen makes products relatively cheaper in export markets and boosts overseas earnings for Japanese companies such as Toyota and Canon Inc. (7751) when repatriated.Twelve analysts covering Toyota, Japan’s biggest car manufacturer, have raised their earnings estimates for the next fiscal year.
The nation’s gross domestic product shrank at an annualized 3.5 percent pace in the third quarter of last year, the second straight contraction and meeting the textbook definition of a recession.
(Bloomberg)