WORLDWIDE : HEADLINES
Australian August retail sales fall 4%, Victoria hit hard
SYDNEY – Australian retail sales fell 4% in August from the month earlier, official data showed on Friday, with the virus-stricken state of Victoria bearing the brunt of the downturn.
The result follows gains of 3.2% and 2.7% in July and June respectively, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Victoria suffered a 12.6% drop as a strict lockdown saw many businesses shut their doors to customers. There were also declines in most other states.
Annual growth was still solid with sales up 7.1% compared to August 2019.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Japan’s jobs market worsens in August as coronavirus damage persists
TOKYO – Japan’s unemployment rate rose in August to its highest in over three years and job availability fell to a more than six-year low, government data showed on Friday, indicating damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic persisted through the month.
The figures come after new prime minister Yoshihide Suga pledged to protect jobs, keep companies in business and help the economy recover from the impact of measures taken to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
They also dull any optimism brought by recent data such as factory output and business sentiment which offered signs of economic recovery.
Japan’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate rose to 3.0% in August, the highest since May 2017, labour ministry data showed. The result met analysts’ median forecast of 3.0%.
The jobs-to-applicants ratio fell to 1.04, matching a level last seen in January 2014. It compared with 1.08 in July, and a median forecast of 1.05.
Worsening conditions in the jobs market is likely to add pressure to the government to offer further support for small and mid-sized firms to help prevent further job losses.
Full coverage: REUTERS
WORLDWIDE : FINANCE / MARKETS
Tokyo Stock Exchange resumes, market opens up after outage debacle
TOKYO – The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) resumed normal trading on Friday, with the main index starting slightly higher a day after the worst-ever outage brought the world’s third-largest equity market to a standstill.
The glitch was the result of hardware problem at the bourse’s “Arrowhead” trading system, and a subsequent failure to switch to a back-up, causing the first full-day suspension since the exchange moved to all-electronic trading in 1999.
Market participants expressed some relief that the problem was hardware-related rather than a cyber attack, but cautioned about a potential longer-term impact given the hit to the Tokyo market’s reputation.
“For now, there’s relief that trade was able to resume,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Oil drops for second day as worsening pandemic threatens demand drop
TOKYO – Oil prices fell nearly 1% on Friday, extending losses into a second day as rising production of crude comes amid a worsening COVID-19 pandemic which threatens to bring more restrictions on movement and consumption that will likely hit demand for fuel.
Brent crude was down 36 cents, or 0.9%, at $40.57 a barrel at 0055 GMT, after falling more than 3% on Thursday. U.S. oil was also 36 cents, or 0.9%, lower at $38.36, having fallen nearly 4% in the previous session.
U.S. oil is heading for a drop of nearly 5% this week, while Brent is on track to fall more than 3%, in a second consecutive week of decline for both contracts.
“The fundamentals of oil are not encouraging … as supply rises and demand prospects look bleak,” ANZ Research said in a client note.
Rising crude supplies from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is weighing on the market as September production rose by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) from a month earlier, a Reuters survey showed.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Dollar soft as traders expect stimulus and await U.S. jobs data
SINGAPORE – The dollar drifted toward posting its softest week in more than a month on Friday, as revived hopes for a new U.S. stimulus package to boost the world’s biggest economy had investors seeking out riskier currencies.
Against a basket of six majors, the dollar held near a one-month low in Asia and has slipped 0.9% this week, its largest weekly loss since late August.
The New Zealand dollar made a fresh one-week peak of $0.6659, while the euro and Aussie held just below week highs made overnight.
Moves in morning trade were small, however, with signs of an impasse on Capitol Hill and the risk of disappointment at U.S. jobs data due later in the day holding investors back.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin failed on Thursday to bridge what Pelosi described as differences over dollars and values.
Analysts view their talks as a last-gasp effort to secure relief ahead of the Nov. 3 election for tens of millions of Americans and business including U.S. airlines, which have begun furloughing over 32,000 workers.
Full coverage: REUTERS
