Japan's top banks with big profits in Q2

Japan's top three banks have booked big net profit gains in the April to June quarter as stock market rises helped boost their bottom line while the trio ramp up overseas expansion.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the country's biggest lender, said Wednesday that its net profit surged 39.6 percent from a year earlier to 255.3 billion yen ($2.6 billion) in the quarter.Mitsubishi's results, mirrored by smaller rivals Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, come as their stock trading businesses benefited from a surge in the Japanese stock market.
Tokyo's bid to kickstart Japan's lumbering economy with big government spending and massive monetary easing pushed down the yen, helping the country's hard-hit exporters.
That, in turn, saw investors pile into Japan's equity markets, pushing the Nikkei 225 stock index to a five-year high in May although it has slipped from its perch since then.

NewOnJapan

Precious Metals

Gold Price     3 months Futures   US$ 1,319.04

Silver Price   3 months Futures    US$      19.63

China's PMI 50.3 survey done by the National Bureau of Statistics

   The PMI survey released by the National Bureau of Statistics earlier on Thursday showed the index rising to 50.3 in July from 50.1 in June.

Investors trying to gauge what is happening in the world's second-largest economy also look at surveys on China's fledgling services sector, which has been holding up relatively well compared to the manufacturing sector.

China's official PMI suggest services are growing faster than manufacturing. The services measure has hovered between 53.9 and 56.7 in the past 12 months, while manufacturing has fluctuated between 49.2 and 50.9.

The official services PMI for July will be released on August 3, followed by the HSBC services PMI on August 5.

Source:  Reuters

HSBC PMI fell 47.7% in July MoM

The HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by Markit Economics Research, fell to 47.7 in July from June's 48.2. It was the weakest reading since August 2012, and matched a preliminary figure published last week.
While keeping the door shut for big stimulus, the government has unveiled a series of polices to boost spending in social housing, urban infrastructure, high-speed rail and energy-saving industries, while offering tax breaks for small firms.

Source;  Reuters

China's top economic planner confident in a GDP growth rate of 7.5 %

China's top economic planner expressed confidence in achieving the 7.5 percent gross domestic product growth target this year through hard work after the government decided to adopt further measures to stabilize market expectations and release enterprises' vitality.
National Development and Reform Commission Minister Xu Shaosh stressed the need to maintain "moderately abundant" monetary liquidity and efficiently make use of credit and fiscal capital to support the industrial economy.

"Policy fine-tuning will be likely at the right time," he said.

"Diversified adjustments that take into consideration the different situations of regions, industries and enterprises will be taken in the second half" to strengthen enterprises' confidence by maintaining growth within a reasonable range and preventing risks, Xu said.

For the next step of reform, the minister also pledged the nation would launch demonstration projects for private funds to invest in infrastructure construction and public services, as well as eliminate unreasonable fees in banking services.

Source  Xinhua

U.S. Bank's Present Weakness their investments in long-term bonds and treasuries

The Wall Street Journal published an article today "about the new weakness in the balance sheets of

large banks : they hold so many bonds that they can't avoid trouble when interest rates rise"

When Fed Chairman announced that they would begin to taper their bond buys  long term

rates jumped by a full percentage point in May and June,and bank investments in mortgage-backed securities and Treasuries plummeted. Morgan Chase,Bank of America,Citgroup and Wells Fargo saw the holding of these assets fall by more than US$ 13 billion in Q2.

"Banks in recent years invested in bonds in search of returns as a way of making up for weak loan demand and billions in annual income lost to a slew of new U.S. regulations. But now the size of these portfolios is exposing banks to vulnerabilities even though their holdings are largely considered safe". "Bond instruments now comprise nearly 99% of the $1.159 trillion investment portfolios held by the top four banks", according to Charlottesville, Va., data provider SNL Financial.

  Q2  losses didn't affect banks' earnings because of  accounting rules that allows institutions to keep any paper losses on long-term bonds out of the profit-and-loss statement. As a result, the four biggest banks were able to churn out more than $20 billion in net income during the quarter, a 33% increase YoY.

But analysts said "the unrealized accounting losses, which result from a quarterly evaluation by the banks of how much the securities are worth, could hurt banks in the long run. They can reduce the banks' reported book value, or net worth, and have the potential to eat away at the capital they hold to protect against future losses". 

"Bank of America's unrealized losses on its long-term bond holdings more than doubled to $7.71 billion in the second quarter from $3.48 billion in the first quarter. Income tied to the value of investment portfolios held by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. went down by slightly more than $3 billion apiece, while the value of Citigroup Inc.'s holdings decreased by $2.86 billion. In all cases the movements represented less than 2% of the value of the banks' total portfolios".

 At Bank of America, mortgage bonds issued by  Fannie Mae, Fredy Mac and

Ginnie Mae represent 84% of the bank's $241 billion securities portfolio.

China: Overcapacity in steel industry sends it to a loss

For the first half, the profits of members of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) hit 2.27 billion yuan, with an average profit margin of 0.13 percent, the lowest among all industries, said the CISA on Wednesday.

Steel prices have been dropping since February. At the end of June, the price of steel products fell 6.45 percent compared with the beginning of this year, and down 14.7 percent year on year, according to the CISA.

Oversupply in the steel sector will continue amid the country's economic slowdown, the CISA warned, as the country has been pushing forward economic reforms.

China's economic growth slowed to 7.5 percent in the second quarter from 7.7 percent in the first three months, as the government deliberately tamed the pace to avoid bubbles.

China's output of pig iron, crude steel and steel products still expanded to 357.54 million tonnes, 389.87 million tonnes and 516.96 million tonnes in the first half, up 5.7 percent, 7.4 percent and 10.2 percent year on year, respectively, according to the CISA.

Moreover, the amount of steel being stored by CISA member mills increased 225,000 tonnes, up 1.75 percent year on year, which further lifted the business cost, the CISA said.

During the January-June period, CISA members saw their sales revenues reach about 1.8 trillion yuan, up 0.94 percent year on year. But 35 out of 86 CISA members reported losses, the association added.

The MIIT confirmed that the ministry and the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, are currently working on a plan to eliminate outdated production capacity in the steel industry.

To ease overcapacity in affected industries, the MIIT on July 25 ordered some 1,400 companies in 19 sectors, including steel, to eliminate outdated production capacity by September and eliminate excess capacity by the end of the year.

Source: Xinhua 

China can break out of the middle-income trap

In his book, Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles, which has just been published in Chinese as well as in a paperback edition, Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging market equities at Morgan Stanley and leading economic commentator, makes the case that China alone among the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) will make it to the next stage.

He believes it will be able to move on from its 2012 per capita income level of $6,091, according to the World Bank, to around $20,000 within 15 years, providing a comfortably high income.

He makes the point, however, that it will be easier for China to move up the ladder if it sets its growth targets lower at a more sustainable 5 to 6 percent.

Chasing higher rates of growth through excessive investment in infrastructure, he argues, carries the risk of a bust that could see it behaving like a yo-yo in the middle-income trap like many other countries before it.

Source: ChinaDaily

Petronas delays to 2018 US$ billion petrochemicals complex

State oil firm Petronas will start up its $19 billion petrochemicals complex in Malaysia in 2018, the company said, signaling a further delay in the country’s largest-ever infrastructure project.
A source familiar with Petronas’ business strategy told Reuters the project had been complicated by a need to secure water supplies as well as cater for proposed international partners.
Petronas had already put back the project from late 2016 to early 2017 in June and revised the final investment decision  to the first quarter next year, citing state government problems in relocating villages and graves from the 2,000 hectare-site, five times the size of New York’s Central Park.
Petronas had already put back the project from late 2016 to early 2017 in June and revised the final investment decision  to the first quarter next year, citing state government problems in relocating villages and graves from the 2,000 hectare-site, five times the size of New York’s Central Park.
“As a result of the revised final investment decision date, the RAPID refinery is scheduled to be ready for start-up in Q4 2017 and the remaining plants within the complex is scheduled to be commissioned in 2018,” Petronas said in a statement.
This is at least six months later than market expectations after local media had cited Petronas CEO Shamsul Azhar Abbas in June as saying the start date for phase one of the RAPID project had been pushed back to early 2017.
Delays in the project — a cornerstone of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Economic Transformation Program aimed at doubling Malaysians’ incomes by 2020 — could slow an economy whose oil and gas sector makes up a fifth of GDP.
The complex is the largest single investment in Malaysia, and aims to grab a chunk of the $400 billion global market for speciality chemicals used in products from LCD televisions to diapers.
Its location at the southernmost tip of the peninsula, just 10 km from Singapore’s east coast, is part of a vision for a “Greater Singapore” energy trading hub that would rival competitors such as China.

Source:  Arab News

Precious Metals Prices

Gold Price   3months Futures      US$  1,310.38

Silver Price 3months Futures      US$       19.51

Government Bonds Quotes

Government Bonds Quotes

                                                                                         Price           Yield
                                                                                       Change            %

U.S. 2 Year			-1/32	0.340
U.S. 5 Year			-11/32	1.466
U.S. 10 Year			-18/32	2.684
U.S. 30 Year			-19/32	3.722
Germany 2 Year			0/32	0.163
Germany 10 Year			-1/32	1.676
Italy 2 Year			0/32	2.022
Italy 10 Year			-1/32	4.415
Japan 2 Year			0/32	0.121
Japan 10 Year			0/32	0.797
Spain 2 Year			0/32	1.920
Spain 10 Year			1/32	4.656
U.K. 2 Year			0/32	0.318
U.K. 10 Year			-11/32	2.359

  Source  WSJ

Japan's industrial production drops -3.3% in June MoM

"Japan's industrial production dropped a seasonally adjusted 3.3 percent in June from the previous month in the first decline in five months, due mainly to weaker output of automobiles and electronic parts, government data showed Tuesday.

It was the sharpest fall since March 2011, when it plunged 16.5 percent in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami disaster, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.But the ministry maintained its basic assessment in the preliminary report, saying production has shown "signs of picking up at a moderate pace," given that output grew on a quarterly basis in the April-June period, and it will likely mark a sharp rise in July, a ministry official said".

NewsOnJapan

BOJ Governor QE is creating favorable changes in the Economy

The Bank of Japan's accommodative monetary policy introduced in April has been right on track, creating favorable changes in the economy, BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Monday.
It has been three months since the introduction of QE , and there have been favorable developments spreading to financial markets and the real economy, and the public's expectations for economic activity and prices are improving"he said.
 "Inflationary expectations are rising, thanks to the aggressive easing'', the BOJ governor said. "He then offered the view that the nation's core consumer price index, excluding fresh food prices, is highly likely to show year-on-year rises of about 2 percent toward the latter half of the BOJ's projection period through fiscal 2015".

Source; NewsOnJapan

Xi Jinping. An advocate to build China into a Maritime Power

President Xi Jinping an advocate to build China into a maritime power. The country will pursue "converging interests" with other countries in oceanic development.

China will safeguard its maritime rights and interests, and make overall plans and take all factors into consideration, he said.

Xi said China will adhere to the path of peaceful development, but "in no way will the country abandon its legitimate rights and interests, nor will it give up its core national interests."

The president said China will "use peaceful means and negotiations to settle disputes and strive to safeguard peace and stability."

"In the 21st century, oceans and seas have an increasingly important role to play in a country's economic development and opening up to the outside world'', he said.

'"Their status has become more prominent in regards to safeguarding state sovereignty, national security and development interests, as well as the advancement of a country's ecological civilization.

The oceans and seas have an increasingly important strategic status concerning global competition in the spheres of politics, economic development, military, and scientific and technology'', he said.

Source Xinhua

U.K. Barclays bank to increase capital by nearly US$20 billion

 According to an article published yesterday in the Wall Street Journal,'''British bank Barclays PLC unveiled plans Tuesday to increase its capital levels by nearly $20 billion"'. 

"Even as Barclays addressed one of regulators' main concerns about the bank.
A British regulatory agency is planning an enforcement action against the bank over a 2008 fundraising deal with Qatari investors, people familiar with the probe said.
Barclays's capital-raising exercise was larger than investors expected. It followed intense pressure from British regulators, who are demanding that U.K. banks have enough capital to avoid taxpayer bailouts if they encounter financial problems.

Barclays said it will fill a £12.8 billion ($19.64 billion) capital hole identified by regulators by selling £5.8 billion of new shares and £2 billion of convertible bonds as well as by shrinking its balance sheet.

The move by Barclays is the latest in a sudden of efforts by European lenders to convince regulators and investors that they have fortified themselves against future crises. Deutsche Bank AG, for example, said Tuesday that it plans to get rid of about €250 billion ($331.58 billion) of assets, or 16% of its total, to improve its capital ratios".

Source  WSJ

MBA Mortgage Applications

Composite Index - W/W Change	-1.2 %	-3.7 %
Purchase Index - W/W Change	-2.0 %	-3.0 %
Refinance Index - W/W Change	1.0 %	-4.0 %

A roughly 1 percentage point rise in mortgage rates the last three months, a rise that reflects expectations for Federal Reserve tapering of asset purchases, is a major factor holding down home sales right now, reflected in Monday's surprise decline in pending home sales. The first set of housing data to signal the rate effect way back in May was the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly mortgage application report where the purchase index is down another 3.0 percent in the July 26 week. The index is up only 5.0 percent year-on-year compared to a 15 percent year-on-year pace for existing home sales and a nearly 40 percent pace for new home sales. At least these were the year-on-year readings as of June with purchase application data pointing to a slowing ahead for these year-on-year sales rates.

Source Bloomberg

U.S. GDP Q2 Growth at 1.7%. Better than expected.

Gross domestic product grew at a 1.7 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday, stepping up from the first-quarter's downwardly revised 1.1 percent expansion pace.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the economy growing at a 1.0 percent pace after a previously reported 1.8 percent advance in the first three months of the year.

A rebound in business spending, export growth and a sharp moderation in the pace of decline in government outlays boosted economic growth in the April-June period, offsetting a slowdown in consumer spending and a steady rate of inventory accumulation.

The government has implemented some changes in how it calculates GDP. For example, research and development spending will now be treated as investment, and defined benefit pension plans will be measured on an accrual basis, rather than as cash.(Read Previous Post)

Other details of the report showed exports rebounded, showing the largest percentage gain since the third quarter of 2011, even as demand weakened in Europe and China. But the increase was not enough to offset a rise in imports, leaving a trade deficit that weighed on growth.

There was good news from the housing sector, with double-digit growth for spending on residential construction. Housing, which triggered the 2007-09 recession, is growing strongly, helping to keep the economic recovery anchored.

Source   Reuters

Once again. Blackstone Group LP and Deutsche Bank plan a Bond guaranteed by a flow of rentals

The Wall Street Journal published an article today about negotiations between Blackstone Group and
Deutsche bank "to create and sell the world's first bond backed by home-rental payments, people familiar with the matter say".
 The private-equity giant is among the firms that have spent billions buying homes out of foreclosure, an investment strategy that has helped to bolster demand and strengthen the U.S. housing market. 
"The creation of a new type of security shows that Wall Street's financial engineering, blamed for deepening the financial crisis, is becoming more active.

Some investors and analysts have said they are wary of a bond backed by rental payments, citing the dearth of long-term data on how often tenants living in previously foreclosed homes pay their rent on time.

Also, some investors and analysts have raised concerns about how quickly firms have purchased thousands of homes, and whether they have the management track record and expertise to oversee the maintenance of properties scattered across the country".

"Blackstone has emerged as the biggest investor in single-family rental homes, spending more than $5.5 billion since the beginning of last year to acquire about 32,000 homes.Other companies, such as American Homes 4 Rent, Colony Capital LLC and Waypoint Real Estate Group LLC also have been buying thousands of foreclosed homes, revamping them and renting them out".

"The investment strategy often is known as buy-to-rent,has been an institutional investment strategy that has helped to boost home prices in cities across the U.S". 

Precious Metals Prices

Gold Prices     3months Futures       US$  1,332.03

Silver Prices   3months Futures       US$      19.85

Larry Summers is skeptical of QE but see few side effects

According to an article published in the Wall Street Journal today "Lawrence Summers a leading
candidate to be next Fed Chairman, likely would not make a rapid ending of the bond buying
program,that Fed Chairman Bernanke introduced.
Mr Summers has been skeptical of the benefits of Quantative Easing,but also has said he sees few
side effects from this policy.
Both Mr Summers and Janet Yellen his apparent chief rival for the Fed nomination have said the government, in general,should do more to support the current weak economy.  
Mr. Summers has been an outspoken advocate of more federal spending now, particularly on infrastructure, to boost growth. His views on monetary policy are more nuanced "there is less efficacy from quantitative easing than is supposed," Mr Summers thoughts are that "if QE won't

have a large effect on demand, it will not have a large effect on inflation either. So this is not a compelling argument against QE." He believes that  "tax-and-spending stimulus would have more impact on the economy than monetary policy".

Mortgages and Car Loan rates

 Mortgages and  Car Loan Rates
                                                                                                  Change in
                                                 Last       Wk       52 - week       PCT  Points
                                                              Ago       Hi       Low   52-wk   3-year

30-year mortgage, fixed	4.50	4.45	4.78	3.54	0.78	-0.16
15-year mortgage, fixed	3.61	3.60	3.84	2.80	0.50	-0.52
Jumbo mortgages, $417,000-plus	4.78	4.72	5.11	3.97	0.48	-0.84
Five-year adj mortgage (ARM)	3.68	3.73	4.06	2.80	0.57	-0.19
New-car loan, 48-month	2.63	2.64	3.72	2.42	-0.47	-3.61

  Source:  WSJ

Marc Faber Thoughts on Money Printing and its end.

Asked if money printing will end?

Yes, until the system breaks down. My view would be that there will be money printing, and the problem with money printing is always that you don’t control where it goes to. Ideally, it would go into higher incomes of the middle class and of the working class, but this hasn’t really happened. The real weight is for the typical household or the medium household, they are going down. What is going up is basically selected asset markets, like the real estate market has recovered. In some areas, we’ve hit new highs. The stock market has gone up. But as you know, only very few people own stocks in the United States, so it doesn’t impact the wealth of the majority of people.

U.S. Home prices rose 5.8% in June YoY,headwinds build

The Wall Street Journal has published today an article that shows " U.S. home prices have posted
an increase of  5.8% in June from one year ago, according to Zillow Inc., the real-estate website, the largest gain since 2006.But rising mortgage rates and the potential for more supply could eventually slow the run-up".
  "Gains have been fueled  by strong demand from foreigners, record-low mortgage rates, and a slowly improving economy that has released pent-up demand and strong appetites from investors converting homes into rentals".
A separate and widely watched index released Tuesday showed that home prices in 20 major U.S. cities rose by 12.2% in May from one year earlier. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index shows that home prices are now down from their 2006 peak by 24.4%, compared to a peak-to-trough decline of 35.1% in March 2012.

"For now, inventories remain extremely tight in a majority of the nation's major housing markets. The Wall Street Journal's survey of quarterly housing-market conditions in 28 metro areas found that Phoenix, Seattle, Denver, and Sacramento, Calif., had less than a 2.5-month supply of homes for sale at the current sales pace. Dallas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Washington, D.C., and Orlando, Fla., had less than three months of supply, according to data compiled by John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, Calif.

Typically, real-estate agents consider a balanced market to have a six-month supply. Nationally, the supply of existing homes for sale stood at five months at the end of June, according to the National Association Realtors".

One question now is whether recent price gains can be sustained amid mortgage rates that have jumped by a full percentage point since May. Rising mortgage rates are most likely to squeeze prices in more expensive housing markets across coastal California and in cities such as New York and Boston.

Rising home prices could also encourage more homeowners  to sell. 

There are signs inventory declines will ease as price gains increase. In Sacramento, Calif., the number of homes for sale in June stood 7.5% above the level of a year ago, while inventories in Atlanta rose 9.7%. Both cities have witnessed large declines in homes available for sale as investors have scooped up large numbers of cheap properties".

UEA leads MENA region in contracts awarded in oil and gas sector.

"According to Arab News: The UAE leads the Middle East &North Africa region in value of contracts awarded in the oil and gas sector, with Zakum Development Company  awarding a  $3.7 billion contract on the development of the offshore Upper Zakum field.
The contract is more than 50 percent of the total $ 6.7 billion worth of engineering, procurement and construction  deals awarded so far in the region in the second quarter of 2013. The ground-breaking Upper Zakum Field Development project has a total budget of around $15.6 billion.

These developments mark a critical stage in the UAE’s push to expand its offshore output to new fields. Equally important, however, is the country’s push to optimize oil production, sustainability and innovation through successful integration of new and expanding projects.

The UAE is likely to award two more major contracts in the second quarter — both on the Umm Al-Lulu offshore oilfield development — which combined are worth in excess of $2 billion.

The only other billion-dollar-plus contract in the MENA region so far in the second quarter was Qatar Petroleum  awarding a deal to Taiwan’s CTCI and Japan-based Chiyoda Corporation. This was for the $1.2 billion expansion of its Ras Laffan refinery".

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe double face

 "Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki is wrapping up a two-day visit to China on Tuesday, the latest move taken by Tokyo to mend its strained ties with Beijing.

The senior diplomat was believed to be working for a possible summit between Chinese and Japanese leaders, for which Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made repeated calls recently.

It seems that Japan, intends to repair its relations with China, which soured due to a heightened territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea and Tokyo's unapologetic attitude toward historical issues.

By playing the good guy, Japan is trying to gain international support and sympathy, but the good-will gesture is just one face of Abe.

During his visit to Singapore on Friday, Abe voiced his desire for an unconditional summit with the Chinese leader as soon as possible.

However, a hawkish Abe wasted no time in pledging coast guard patrol boats to the Philippines when he was in Manila one day later. Philippines has also a territorial dispute with China. 

This is in line with Abe's hardline position on the Diaoyu Islands. Despite the fact that the uninhabited islands are inherent part of China as proved by history, Abe has been flatly denying the existence of a dispute with China, effectively shutting the door for any candid talks.

What is more disturbing is the ongoing push by Abe to revise Japan's pacifist constitution to allow for full-fledged military buildup.

All these aggressive moves exposed the other face of Abe, which may lead to a dangerous path of confrontation and raises doubt about the sincerity of his good-will for a candid dialogue.                      

Without sincerity, the repeated calls for dialogue are nothing but empty talks".

Source: Xinhua

Chinese mainland's trade with Hong Kong 206.65 billion US dollars in H1

"The Chinese mainland's trade with Hong Kong totaled 206.65 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of the year, surging 40.2 percent year on year, the Ministry of Commerce revealed on Tuesday.

The figure accounted for 10.3 percent of the mainland's total foreign trade in the first half, according to statistics from the Department of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs under the ministry.

The mainland's exports to Hong Kong hit 198.75 billion U.S. dollars, a sharp year-on-year increase of 42.7 percent, while the mainland's imports from Hong Kong dropped by 2.3 percent to 7.9 billion U.S. dollars, the statistics showed.

In June, trade between the mainland and Hong Kong stood at 26.74 billion U.S. dollars, declining by 8.8 percent from May.

Hong Kong is the mainland's third-largest trade partner and one of its major export markets".

Source: Xinhua

China CPC: China´s economy will mantain steady growth in H2

´´China's economy will maintain steady growth in the second half of this year amid "extremely complicated domestic and international conditions," according to the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

The central authorities will continue to coordinate the tasks of stabilizing growth, restructuring the economy and promoting reforms, according to a statement released Tuesday after a meeting held by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

The meeting was presided over by General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping.

"Macro policy should be stable, micro policy should be flexible and social policy should support the bottom line. All of them should be coordinated," read the statement.

The direction, intensity and pace of the macro regulation should be managed well. The proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy will remain, it said. 

The IMF in its latest Country report of China reccommended fiscal strong support if the economy fell more than anticipated.

Source  Xinhua

Government Bonds quotes

Government Bonds

                                                                                          Price          Yield
                                                                                          Change        %

U.S. 2 Year			0/32	0.321
U.S. 5 Year			3/32	1.375
U.S. 10 Year			5/32	2.586
U.S. 30 Year			11/32	3.654
Germany 2 Year			0/32	0.167
Germany 10 Year			0/32	1.668
Italy 2 Year			1/32	2.023
Italy 10 Year			11/32	4.407
Japan 2 Year			1/32	0.122
Japan 10 Year			0/32	0.796
Spain 2 Year			0/32	1.916
Spain 10 Year			1/32	4.662
U.K. 2 Year			-1/32	0.314
U.K. 10 Year			2/32	2.313

Saudi Arabia: Dispute over future oil production.

In an article published today in the Wall Street Journal it says that"Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has warned that the kingdom's oil-dependent economy is increasingly vulnerable to rising U.S. energy production, breaking ranks with oil officials in Riyadh who have played down its impact.
 He warned that the boom in U.S. shale oil and gas will reduce demand for crude from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries".
 In contrast the Saudi oil Minister has  played down the significance of rising shale-oil production. "At an OPEC meeting in late May, he said it wasn't the first time OPEC has had to compete with a surge in output from countries outside the group"
 "In April, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador, said the kingdom needs to increase its crude production capacity to 15 million barrels a day by 2020 in order to meet rising domestic consumption and maintain its export capacity. Mr. Naimi has ruled out increasing Saudi Arabia's capacity until at least 2030 or 2040".

EU Indicators

German GfK Consumer Confidence Index rose to 7.0 for August-the highest since September 2007-from 6.8 in July, and compared to the 6.9 level that economists had expected.
  Spain reported a -0.1% quarter-over-quarter contraction in 2Q GDP, matching expectations, eurozone economic confidence improved in July, and German consumer prices index rose 1.8%. And German consumer
price index Harmonised rose 0.1% MoM in July market expected an increase of 0.3%

Source 4-Traders