GLOBAL NEWS-
Indonesia's central bank will keep interest rates on hold, as the Federal Reserve's caution over further rate hikes has spurred some hopes Jakarta's next move can be a cut. Bank Indonesia (BI) keeping its 7-day reverse repurchase rate at 6.00 percent, where it has been since November.
BI was among the most aggressive central banks in Asia last year, hiking rates six times by a total of 175 basis points (bps) to defend the then-falling rupiah.The rupiah was under pressure for much of 2018 due to capital outflows stemming from the Fed's rate increases, the U.S.-China trade war and Indonesia's large current account deficit.But this year, after the Fed changed its tone, the rupiah has become one of the biggest gainers in emerging Asia.
A new round of talks between the United States and China to resolve their trade war will take place in Washington on Tuesday, with follow-up sessions at a higher level later in the week.The talks follow a round of negotiations that ended in Beijing last week without a deal but which officials said had generated progress on contentious issues between the world's two largest economies.
The talks are aimed at "achieving needed structural changes in China that affect trade between the United States and China. The two sides will also discuss China's pledge to purchase a substantial amount of goods and services from the United States," the White House said in a statement.
The dollar received a mild lift versus the yen on Tuesday after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank will mull further policy easing if efforts to achieve its price goal come under threat.
China's decision to cut company taxes and fees is an important part of fiscal policy and is a hard-hitting measure needed to cope with pressure on the economy, state media reported Vice Premier Han Zheng as saying.He made the comments on Tuesday during a visit to the State Administration of Taxation, the official People's Daily newspaper reported.
Officials have pledged more aggressive reductions in 2019, after cutting about 1.3 trillion yuan ($192.82 billion) in taxes and fees last year.Chinese authorities plan to set a lower economic growth target of 6 to 6.5 percent in 2019, sources have told Reuters, as weakening domestic demand and a damaging trade war with the United States drag on business activity and consumer confidence.China's economy grew by 6.6. percent in 2018, the slowest annual pace since 1990.
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Tuesday the central bank was ready to ramp up stimulus if sharp yen rises hurt the economy and derail the path towards achieving its 2 percent inflation target.But he said the BOJ would carefully weigh the benefits and costs of any further policy easing, suggesting that the hurdle for topping up stimulus would be high given how financial institutions' profits have been hurt by years of near-zero interest rates.
"Currency moves could have an impact on the economy and prices, so it's crucial we take into account these factors when guiding monetary policy," Kuroda told parliament."If (currency moves) are having an impact on the economy and prices, and if we consider it necessary to achieve our price target, we'll consider easing policy," he said.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said it would inject 12,500 crore into the system through purchase of government securities on Thursday to increase liquidity.The purchase will be made through open market operations (OMOs).\"Based on an assessment of prevailing liquidity conditions and also of the durable liquidity needs going forward, the RBI has decided to conduct purchase of...government securities under OMOs for an aggregate amount of ?125 billion on February 21, 2019," the RBI said in a release.The eligible participants should submit their offers in electronic format on the RBI core banking solution (E-Kuber) system on February 21.
S-Oil Corp, South Korea’s third-biggest refiner, said on Tuesday that it has signed a contract to sell a total of 2.61 trillion won ($2.32 billion) worth of refined oil products to Saudi Aramco’s trading arm.S-Oil, whose top shareholder is Saudi Aramco, said in a regulatory filing that it will supply up to 17 million barrels of diesel, up to 13 million barrels of naphtha and up to 12 million barrels of jet fuel to Aramco Trading Singapore under the contract, valid between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2019.
Asian shares hovered near four-month highs on Tuesday, supported by hopes that Sino-U.S. trade talks were making progress and expectations of policy stimulus from central banks.Investor confidence was bolstered by mild gains in European stocks as U.S. markets were shut on Monday for a public holiday.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was a shade firmer, while Japan’s Nikkei was almost flat.Chinese shares were little changed, too, with the blue-chip index up 0.1 percent after surging in the previous session.
Gold prices hovered near 10-month highs on Tuesday as optimism around U.S.-China trade discussions dimmed the dollar’s appeal, while palladium struck a record high on supply concerns.Spot gold slipped 0.2 percent to $1,323.81 per ounce. The metal had touched $1,327.64 an ounce in the previous session, its highest since April 25.U.S. gold futures rose 0.4 percent to $1,326.8 an ounce.A new round of talks between Beijing and the United States to resolve their trade spat will take place in Washington later in the day, with follow-up sessions at a higher level in the course of the week.
prices eased away from 2019 highs on Tuesday on caution that economic growth may dent fuel demand this year, although supply cuts led by producer cartel OPEC still meant markets were relatively tight.
International Brent crude oil futures were at $66.08 per barrel at 0220 GMT, down 42 cents, or 0.6 percent from their last close, but still not far off the 2019 high of $66.83 a barrel hit in the previous session.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $55.71 per barrel. While that was up 12 cents from their last settlement, it was below the $56.33 2019 high from the previous day.