Readwrotes Blog

The Associated Press , Hong Kong | Fri, 02/26/2010 2:15 PM | Business Asian stock markets climbed Friday as more evidence Japan's economy was turning around added to optimism about the region's economic prospects. The move higher bucked selling in the U.S. and Europe overnight. The euro, meanwhile, regained some ground after concerns over Greece's mounting debt crisis pulled the currency lower the day before. Oil prices headed toward $79 a barrel. Japan's economy, the world's second biggest, showed more signs of recovery. Factory output, a key measure economic health, rose a better-than-expected 2.5 percent in January from the previous month, the government said. Shoppers were also in a better mood last month, sending retail sales surging nearly 3 percent, the most in about 2 1/2 years. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 stock average rose 24.07 points, or 0.2 percent, to 10,126.03 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 259.89, or 1.2 p...

By Michael Bowman Washington 13 August 2009 Shoppers move through the check-out line after a shopping trip to Wal-Mart in Tallahassee, Florida, 11 Aug. 2009 One day after the U.S. central bank signaled a possible end to America's longest recession since World War II, new data suggest continued weakness in several economic sectors. Less than 24 hours after the Federal Reserve proclaimed the recession to be easing, the United States has been hit with a quadruple batch of somber economic news, with retail sales down, business inventories cut, jobless claims up and home foreclosures hitting a new record high. Instead of the modest gain economists had been expecting, U.S. retail sales dipped .1 percent in July. Lakshman Achuthan of the New York-based Economic Cycle Research Institute says even a slight drop in sales has consequences. "You are talking about an [American] economy that is almost $14 trillion...

By Mil Arcega Washington 24 July 2009 The benchmark Dow Jones industrial average of the top US companies broke the 9,000 point mark Thursday on strong earnings reports and an improving housing picture. Wall Street extended its recent gains Thursday after a new housing report showed sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose at an annual pace of 3.6 percent in June. It was the third straight month of rising home sales. "The markets are reacting to the news today in the context of other things they've been seeing and reading in recent weeks, and that's that the economy does appear to have hit a bottom," said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities. Investors reacted positively to earnings reports from Ford, Ebay, AT&T and higher sales of Apple's new iPhone. Resler says the positive earnings give a much needed confidence boost for the struggling U.S. economy. "I think...

By Katie Hamann Jakarta 22 July 2009 Indonesian business leaders remain upbeat about the country's economy despite the recent suicide bomb attacks at two luxury hotels in the capital Jakarta. Business analysts say investor confidence in the country remains high. Tourist operators are also optimistic, saying cancellations have been limited. The chairman of Indonesia's Chamber of Commerce, M.S. Hidayat, says while the Indonesia stock market and the rupiah fell moderately the day of the bombings, they have since recovered. Hidayat describes the economic damage from last Friday's bombs as "minor turbulence." Security guards man a gate outside the bombed Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, 22 Jul 2009 Two suicide bombers killed seven people and injured more than 50 at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels. Both are Western-owned chains popular with foreign travelers and Indonesian b...

Aditya Suharmoko , The Jakarta Post , JAKARTA | Sat, 07/18/2009 11:08 AM | Headlines The rupiah and Indonesian stocks and bonds proved to be resilient to negative sentiments caused by the almost simultaneous blasts at the Kuningan business district in South Jakarta on Friday. Data complied by Bloomberg shows the currency slid as much as 1 percent before trading 0.4 percent lower at 10,163 as of 4:37 p.m. The local currency reached 10,075 against the greenback Thursday, its strongest level since June 15. The Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) composite index of shares slumped as much as 2.7 percent at early trading before recouping the bulk of its slide. Economic ministers and the central bank made a quick response to minimize the impacts of the bomb blasts hurting the economy. The officials expect the negative sentiment to last for a couple days only. Bank Indonesia deputy governor Hartadi A. Sarwono said the central bank supported the rupia...

By Jeff Seldin Washington 21 July 2009 Ben Bernanke delivers a report on the country's economic and financial health before the House Financial Services Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, 21 Jul 2009 The chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the nation's central bank, says there are signs that the world's largest economy is starting to stabilize. But he warns that the success of an economic recovery still depends on government action. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says aggressive actions taken by the United States and many other nations "may well have averted the collapse of the global financial system." But he also says it is too early for the U.S. to change course. "Despite these positive signs, the rate of job loss remains high and the unemployment rate has continued its steep rise," said Bernanke. "Job insecurity, together with declines in home values an...

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/18/2009 4:15 PM | Jakarta Trade Minister Marie Elka Pangestu brushed off Saturday public fear that Friday's hotel bombings would impact trade. "There's no need to worry," she said during a visit to the Kramat Jati wholesale market in East Jakarta. "The state will guarantee the availability of basic commodities." After extending condolences to the families of victims of the bomb blasts, she encouraged traders not to let the terror attacks disrupt their business. "Trading must go on as usual," she said. (dis)

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 07/16/2009 12:44 PM | Business Exports of ceramics are expected to rise this year due to the continued strengthening of the rupiah against the US dollar, an association says. "Exports may increase this year due to the strengthening of the rupiah following the success of legislative and presidential elections," Achmad Widjaya, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Ceramics Industry (Asaki), said Wednesday in Jakarta. The local currency recently touched levels of around Rp 10,000 against the greenback, from a previous Rp 12,000 in April. Achmad said a stronger rupiah would lower production costs, because ceramic production used natural gas as fuel, which was paid for in dollars. With lower production costs, manufacturers can sell their products in overseas markets at a more competitive price, eventually boosting demand, he added. In 2008, the value of ceramic exports reached more than US$274 mil...

Aditya Suharmoko , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 07/14/2009 10:27 AM | Headlines The government plans to include an article excluding portfolio investment from its so-called negative list of investments (DNI) in a bid to provide certainties for investors entering the Indonesian market, a ministry official says. Under the revision of the 2007 presidential regulation on DNI, there is a proposal to differentiate investment done through portfolio schemes and direct ways - termed foreign direct investment (FDI), Edy Putra Irawadi, deputy to the coordinating minister for the economy, in charge of industry and trade, said Monday. It is aimed to reaffirm Law No. 25/2007 on investment, which states portfolio investment is not categorized as investment and represents transactions or holdings of securities such as shares, bonds, or other financial assets. "It *the implementation of DNI* hasn't been effective all these times. There is no certa...

Alfian , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 07/13/2009 11:26 AM | Headlines PT Multicapital, a subsidiary of mining giant PT Bumi Resources, has won a tender to finance the acquisition of 10 percent of shares in PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT). A consortium of three regional administrations in West Nusa Tenggara province announced Sunday that of all six contenders, Multicapital had "the highest score in all criteria". The consortium - comprising the provincial, Sumbawa regency and West Sumbawa regency administrations - will need US$391 million for the share acquisition, as previously agreed with NNT. "Multicapital will finance all the required costs," Heryadi Rahmat, head of provincial energy and mineral resources office, said Sunday. He added one of considerations in appointing Multicapital was because its parent company, Bumi, had a core business in mining. US mining giant Newmont Corp, NNT's main shareholder...

Nurkholisoh Ibnu Aman , Surabaya | Mon, 07/13/2009 9:42 AM | Opinion Banks in Indonesia are being heavily criticized for being too slow to respond to monetary policy and for showing inefficiency in intermediation roles. Despite the aggressive cuts of the Bank Indonesia (BI)-rate in the past five months, banks remain reluctant to adjust lending rates. In comparison to December 2008, the BI-rate has been lowered by 225 basis points (bps), while the deposit and lending rates of banks went down only by 135 bps and 20 bps respectively. As a result, the gap between the deposit rate and the lending rate is increasing. Banks are now actually collecting higher revenue from wider discrepancies. To explain the behavior of such banks, we need to understand the cost structure of loanable funds. The first component is what is usually termed as the “cost of fund”, i.e. the interest paid to deposit customers for third party funds placed in banks. The ...

The Jakarta Post | Mon, 07/13/2009 9:31 AM | Opinion Indonesia’s stocks jumped and the rupiah posted big gains after last Wednesday’s peaceful presidential elections initially gave incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and his running mate Boediono a landslide win against the two other contestants. The bullish sentiment reflects the great welcome by the market of a highly probable one-round election, instead of another run-off in September with all the risks of uncertainty during the remaining three months of the current SBY-Kalla administration. This also signals that the market and investors are quite comfortable with the SBY government and want it to continue governing the country for another five years until October 2014. The stronger seems to be the vote of confidence for SBY because the people rest assured that his vice president elect Boediono, a senior economist and former central bank chief with impeccable integrity, wi...

Aditya Suharmoko , The Jakarta Post , JAKARTA | Sat, 07/04/2009 10:22 AM | Headlines The central bank cut its benchmark interest rate Friday for the eighth straight month to 6.75 percent to accelerate bank lending, strengthening the already sound macroeconomic framework, and promoting a more robust real sector. The rate cut however leaves "limited" room for the central bank to cut its rate further ahead, Bank Indonesia (BI) said in a statement. BI has cut its rate by 275 basis points from 9.5 percent in November 2008 as inflation has slowed. "The cut is expected to facilitate the acceleration of lending," acting BI Governor Miranda S. Goeltom said in a press conference. "Latest data shows bank lending is quite high. It is expected banks can accelerate credit expansion." As of April, lending reached Rp 1,780.9 trillion, increasing from Rp 1,745.6 trillion in January, according to BI data. Judging by its ke...

Andi Haswidi and Aditya Suharmoko , The Jakarta Post , Tokyo/Jakarta | Tue, 07/07/2009 10:16 AM | Headlines Japan and Indonesia signed a new currency swap agreement Monday on which the latter will have access to an additional 1.5 trillion yen (US$15.7 billion) of reserves as a precautionary measure in the event of a financial crisis. “This currency swap scheme will serve as our second line of defense,” said Finance Ministry’s head of fiscal policy agency, Anggito Abimanyu, in Tokyo, representing the Indonesian government. Anggito was speaking to reporters following a meeting with Naoyuki Shinohara, Japan’s vice finance minister for international affairs, earlier in the day. Anggito said although the yen was relatively lower than the US dollar in terms of value, the large currency reserve would help Indonesia with significant leverage in warding off currency speculators. In Jakarta, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati confirmed the agree...

Thomson Reuters 07.05.09, 11:27 PM EDT JAKARTA, July 6 (Reuters) - Indonesia's stock exchange (IDX) is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in order to raise funds for its expansion, the Jakarta Post reported on Monday, quoting the president director of the exchange. 'We hope the plan will unfold throughout the next three years of my tenure,' said Ito Warsito, newly appointed president of the exchange, the Post reported. IDX is currently owned by 119 securities houses, each with an equal voting right. Ito said the plan would take som...

AP – FILE - In this March 10, 2009 file photo, Bernard Madoff exits Manhattan federal court in New York. A … By TOM McELROY, Associated Press Writer Tom Mcelroy, Associated Press Writer – 42 mins ago NEW YORK – Bernard Madoff would be stripped of all his possessions under a $171 billion forfeiture order handed down only days before prosecutors seek to put the disgraced financier away in prison for the rest of his life. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin entered the preliminary order Friday, ruling that Madoff must give up his interests in all property, including real estate, investments, cars and boats. The forfeiture represents the total amount that could be connected to Madoff's fraud, not the amount stolen or lost, and the order made clear that nothing prevents other departments or entities from seeking to recover...

By AMIR EFRATI Ruth Madoff, the wife of one of the most reviled swindlers in history, has agreed to give up almost $80 million worth of assets, keeping just $2.5 million in cash in an agreement reached with federal prosecutors. The settlement with the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, which brought the criminal case against her husband, Bernard Madoff, was approved late Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin, who is scheduled to sentence Mr. Madoff on Monday. The settlement involving Mrs. Madoff was finalized alongside a court order of forfeiture against Mr. Madoff in the amount of $170 billion, which represents the amount of money that prosecutors say flowed into his investment firm. However, that massive amount is likely largely symbolic and simply an indication that prosecutors can tap any assets of Mr. Madoff's they can find. Much of that money went back out to investors in the form of withdrawals but also funded the Madoff family's lavish lif...

By Berni Moestafa and Widya Utami June 25 (Bloomberg) -- The Indonesia Stock Exchange aims to double the market’s value in three years by luring local units of companies such as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Newmont Mining Corp., the bourse’s newly elected president said. The exchange also will try to entice more state-run companies to list shares on the Jakarta exchange, said Ito Warsito, who will start a three-year term July 1, replacing Erry Firmansyah . “We are targeting the size of market capitalization to attract foreign investors so that the Indonesian bourse stays within their radar,” Warsito, 47, said yesterday in an interview in Jakarta. Indonesia, whose $433 billion economy is Southeast Asia’s bigges...

Thu Jun 25, 1:43 am ET SHANGHAI (AFP) – Chinese retail chain Suning Appliance Co said it planned to buy a stake in struggling Japanese consumer electronics retailer Laox for 800 million yen (8.4 million dollars). Suning will buy 66.7 million shares in Laox at 12 yen each, giving it a 27.36 percent stake that would make it Laox's largest shareholder, the Chinese firm said in a statement filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange . Suning said it has reached "basic consensus" with Laox on the purchase, but a formal agreement has yet to signed. Suning, China 's second-largest home appliance chain, said the deal was part of its long-term strategy and exposure to Japan's electronics retail market would help it be more ...

AFP/Getty Images – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke listens to opening statements during a House Oversight and Government … by Rob Lever Rob Lever – Thu Jun 25, 3:23 pm ET WASHINGTON (AFP) – Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke faced a grilling in Congress Wednesday over the rescue of investment giant Merrill Lynch but argued that the Fed acted "with the highest integrity" on the matter. Bernanke was summoned to a House of Represen...