Ford sold 602,627 vehicles in China in 2020, up 6% year-on-year 

BEIJING – Ford Motor Co said on Wednesday it sold 602,627 vehicles in China last year, up 6% from 2019, its first annual growth in the world’s biggest car market since 2017.

 

After a peak of 1.08 million vehicles in 2016, Ford’s sales began faltering in late 2017. In the past three months, Ford sold 190,916 vehicles, up 30% from the same period last year.

 

In China, Ford makes cars through Jiangling Motors Corp Ltd (JMC), in which it has a stake, and a joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co Ltd.

 

Full coverage: REUTERS 

 

 

BOJ will mull cutting this year’s growth forecast: Nikkei 

TOKYO – The Bank of Japan will consider cutting its economic forecast for the current fiscal year ending in March as consumption takes a hit from state of emergency measures against the coronavirus, the Nikkei reported on Wednesday.

 

The central bank, however, may revise up its growth forecast for the following year in its quarterly review of its projections due out next week, the paper said.

 

In its current projections released in October, the BOJ expects the economy to expand 3.6% next fiscal year following this year’s estimated 5.5% contraction.

 

While the state of emergency will hurt spending, the BOJ expects robust exports and a boost to growth from the government’s stimulus package to ease some of the pain in the year beginning in April, sources familiar with its thinking told Reuters.

 

Full coverage: REUTERS 

 

 

WORLDWIDE : FINANCE / MARKETS 

 

Asian stocks rise, oil churns higher on recovery bets 

TOKYO/NEW YORK – Asian stocks rose on Wednesday, tracking modest Wall Street gains, as expectations that a vaccine will eventually win the battle against the coronavirus fuelled recovery hopes, while tight supply expectations pushed oil prices to a one-year high.

 

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.45%. Chinese shares rose 0.34% while South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.04%.

 

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.49%, but Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 bucked the regional trend and fell 0.12%.

 

U.S. stock futures edged up by 0.15%.

 

Treasuries extended their rally in Asian trading, which pulled benchmark 10-year yields further away from the highest in almost a year and caused the yield curve to flatten slightly.

 

Investors were betting that the incoming Biden administration would ramp up U.S. distribution of coronavirus vaccines, which would allow large parts of the U.S. economy to reopen, said Peter Essele, head of portfolio management at Commonwealth Financial Network in Boston.

 

“The amount of pent-up demand is slowly being unwound and over the next year it is probably going to result in one the strongest growth in 20 years and markets are pricing that in,” Essele said.

 

Full coverage: REUTERS 

 

 

Oil prices extend gains after U.S. inventory drop 

TOKYO – Oil prices rose on Wednesday, with U.S. crude gaining for a seventh day, after an industry report showed a further drop in inventories and investors shrugged off worsening developments in the pandemic.

 

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 40 cents, or 0.8%, at $53.61 a barrel by 0128 GMT after gaining nearly 2% on Tuesday. Brent crude was up 47 cents, or 0.8%, at $57.05, having risen 1.7% in the previous session.

 

Both benchmarks are trading at the highest since February, before the coronavirus outbreak in China began spreading across the world and billions of people went into lockdowns to prevent a pandemic that is now in a deadlier second wave.

 

Prices are shrugging off the latest developments in Europe and the United States where death tolls and new infections keep rising, with the focus on rollouts of vaccines, however patchy, but risks to the market remain.

 

“U.S. shale producers’ response to the rally in oil represents the most significant near-term supply risk for oil,” said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi.

 

Falling inventories and rising oil prices are likely to tempt U.S. drillers back into the fray, especially as Saudi Arabia and other major producers cut their output, effectively ceding market share to American producers.

 

Full coverage: REUTERS 

 

 

Dollar rally runs out of puff as yields ease 

SINGAPORE – The dollar nursed losses on Wednesday as a retreat in U.S. yields sapped momentum from its recent rebound and investors cautiously resumed bets that it can resume sliding.

 

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell nearly 7 basis points from a 10-month high hit on Tuesday and the turnaround snuffed out a three-day streak for the dollar. [US/]

 

Against the euro, it posted its sharpest daily fall in more than a month and it dropped more than 1% against the pound, which was also boosted by the Bank of England governor talking down the prospect of negative rates.

 

The Australian and New Zealand dollars rose from one-week lows, lifting the Aussie above 77 cents again to sit at $0.7680 and the kiwi over 72 cents to trade at $0.7226. [AUD/]

 

The dollar fell through 104 Japanese yen to trade at 103.63 yen on Wednesday and the Chinese yuan also held gains to begin the day at a one-week high in offshore trade.

 

The moves press the dollar back toward multi-year lows, although it clung above those levels in Asia as the bounce this week has tempered some traders’ confidence in the consensus view that U.S. trade and budget deficits will drive it lower.

 

Full coverage: REUTERS