Global Indices & Markets News
- U.S. markets remained sluggish last week because of the overhang of the “fiscal cliff”. S&P500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 0.32 percent and 0.15 percent respectively. Hong Kong and China markets outperformed global equity markets as investors believed the China economy already passed the worst time. Hong Kong China Enterprises Index rose by 3.56 percent.
- U.S. Federal Reserves committed to monthly purchases of $45 billion in Treasuries on top of the $40 billion per month in mortgage-backed bonds it started buying in September. It also said it will keep its near-zero interest-rate program in place until the U.S. unemployment rate falls to 6.5 percent from its current 7.7 percent.
- The yen fell to its lowest level in over a year-and-a half against the U.S. dollar as part of a broad skid after Japan's conservative LDP party, pledged to hyper-easy monetary policy, won a landslide victory at an election. The dollar rose as far as 84.48 yen, reaching its highest since April 2011, from around 83.50 late in New York on Friday.
- The euro zone agreed to provide nearly 50 billion euros ($64 billion) in long-delayed aid to Athens last Thursday.
- Italy's cost of borrowing over three years fell to the lowest since late 2010 at an auction on Thursday, shielded from domestic political turmoil by the European Central Bank's pledge to aid vulnerable euro zone members.
- China will maintain steady economic policies in 2013, leaving room for manoeuvre in the face of global risks while deepening reforms to support long-term growth, the official Xinhua news agency said after an annual policy-setting conference on Sunday.
- The HSBC flash purchasing managers' index for December rose to 50.9, the highest level since October 2011 and the fifth straight monthly gain. A figure above 50 indicates that growth is accelerating, while one below 50 shows slowing growth.
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