Archive for August, 2011

The euro slumped today, ending its two-day rally against the dollar, on the speculation that the European Central Bank will stop to increase interest rates as economic outlook became uncertain.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said yesterday during the Hearing at the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament:

Incoming information since our last regular hearing in June continue to point towards ongoing growth in the euro area, although – as expected – at a slower pace. After a strong increase of 0.8% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2011, partly due to special factors, real GDP growth decelerated to 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter.

He also said:

Risks to the medium-term outlook for price developments are under study in the context of the ECB staff projections that will be released early September

Market analysts compared this statement to Trichet’s previous statement that the inflation outlook is “on the upside” and made a conclusion that the ECB may halt increases of borrowing costs.

EUR/USD sank from 1.4510 to 1.4417 and EUR/JPY fell from 111.49 to 110.64 as of 12:18 GMT today.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Euro,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Earlier News About the Euro:

• Euro Falls for Second Day vs. Dollar (2011-08-25)
• Euro Drops as Europe’s Economic Growth Slows (2011-08-16)
• Euro Weakens as Investors Shun European Bonds (2011-08-02)
• Euro Slids for Second Day on Debt Crisis Concern (2011-07-28)
• Euro Posts Weekly Gain After Two Weeks of Losses (2011-07-23)

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Aug 31 (Reuters) – U.S. authorities are investigating whether business software maker Oracle Corp’s deals in Africa violated federal anti-bribery laws, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Agents in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Washington field office and fraud prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division are handling a criminal investigation, which has been underway for at least a year, the Journal reported.

Attorneys at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are also investigating for possible civil violations, sources told the newspaper.

The authorities are investigating the Redwood Shores, California-based company’s software sales in Western and Central African countries, the report said.

The agencies are also examining whether Oracle employees or agents acting on the company’s behalf made improper payments in Africa to secure sales of database and applications software, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which was passed in 1977, prohibits U.S. companies and their employees from offering or paying bribes to foreign government officials or employees of state-owned companies.

A spokeswoman for Oracle declined to comment to the Journal.

FBI’s Washington field office, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, the SEC and Oracle were not immediately available for comment to Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Soham Chatterjee in Bangalore; Editing by Erica Billingham) Keywords: ORACLE/

(soham.chatterjee@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800; Reuters Messaging: soham.chatterjee.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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MANILA, Aug 31 (Reuters) – The Philippine economy’s slower-than-expected growth in the second quarter could lead to softer inflationary pressures, the central bank governor said on Wednesday.

‘We will assess the emerging economic growth path, and determine how this would feed into our inflation forecast runs during our next meeting to see if there would be any need to make adjustments to our monetary policy stance,’ Amando Tetangco said in a text message to reporters.

Tetangco said liquidity in the financial system was sufficient, but there is a need to mobilise the liquidity to fund projects with greater multiplier effect to support economic growth.

(Reporting by Erik dela Cruz; Editing by Rosemarie Francisco) Keywords: PHILIPPINES ECONOMY/POLICY

(enrico.delacruz@thomsonreuters.com)(+632 841-8934)(Reuters Messaging: enrico.delacruz.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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Aug 31 (Reuters) – The Federal Statistics Office

reported the following economic indicator:

The figures are calculated according to International Labour

Organisation methodology.

PAN-GERMAN NUMBERS IN WORK JULY 11 JUNE 11 JULY 10

Number in work (seas adj, mln) 41.096 41.063 40.535

Change vs pvs month +33,000 +48,000 +21,000

Number in work (unadj, mln) 41.024 41.025 40.463

(Berlin Newsroom; Tel: +49 30 2888 5142; Email: berlin.econ@news.reuters.com)

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The Australian and New Zealand currencies rose today, before declining later, after the reports showed that number of building permits in these countries increased in July.

New Zealand building consents rose 6.3 percent in July, following a fall of 4.3 percent in June. Australian building consents increased 1.0 percent in July on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis after falling 3.6 percent in June. Currently, the kiwi tends to decline, while the Aussie lost all its gains.

NZD/USD rose from 0.8459 to 0.8486 as of 12:57 GMT today and earlier it touched the intraday high of 0.8535 — the highest level since August 4. AUD/USD traded at 1.0644 today, while earlier it climbed from 1.0656 to 1.0684.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the New Zealand Dollar,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Earlier News About the New Zealand Dollar:

• German Business Climate Makes NZ Dollar Less Attractive (2011-08-24)
• NZ Dollar Climbs on Expectations of QE3 in US (2011-08-22)
• NZ Dollar Heads for Second Weekly Drop (2011-08-12)
• Risk Rally Pushes NZD to Records vs. Dollar (2011-08-01)
• New Zealand Economy Expands, NZD/USD Jumps to Record (2011-07-14)

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The US dollar managed to gain against the euro and the Swiss franc today, but fell against the Japanese yen as mixed fundamentals left traders unsure about prospects for the US currency.

The Standard Poor’s Case-Shiller House Price Index fell 4.5 percent in June on year-over-year basis. That’s better result than the predicted 4.7 percent decline and the drop by 4.6 percent in May. On the other hand, Conference Board consumer sentiment was much worse than forecasts, falling from 59.2 in July to 44.5 in August, while analysts hope that the index will retreat just to 52.1.

Tomorrow’s reports don’t look good for the dollar either. The ADP Employment report is expected to show slower growth of employed Americans by 102,000, compared to the July growth by 114,000. Economists say that Chicago PMI will show a drop to 54.3 in August from 58.8 in July.

EUR/USD went down from 1.4510 to 1.4444 as of 21:05 GMT today, while intraday it touched the low of 1.4382. USD/JPY dropped from 76.84 to 76.73, while USD/CHF advanced from 0.8156 to 0.8201.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the US Dollar,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Earlier News About the US Dollar:

• Fundamentals are Bad for US Dollar, But Week Wasn’t Bad (2011-08-27)
• Dollar Drops After Bernanke Speech GDP Report (2011-08-26)
• Will Bernanke Announce QE3? Will Dollar Decline? (2011-08-25)
• Dollar Gains Before Bernanke Speech (2011-08-24)
• Dollar Falls on China’s Europe’s Manufacturing (2011-08-23)

This entry was posted on TopForexNews
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The Swedish krona today fell against all its most-traded peers as the government slashed its growth forecast for the nation’s economy, spurring speculation that the central bank won’t be able to increase lending rates.

Sweden cut its growth forecast for this year from 4.6 percent to 4.1 percent. The forecast for the next year was slashed from 3.8 percent to 1.3 percent. The Riksbank will announce its decision on interest rates after the meeting on September 7.

The OMX Stockholm 30 Index, the nation’s key stock index, dropped 0.4 percent. The index has declined 13 percent this month. Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief foreign-exchange analyst at Danske Bank A/S said that pension funds may sell the krona after the decline of stocks, making an ”excellent buying opportunity”.

USD/SEK climbed from 6.2926 to 6.3524 as of 21:57 GMT today. The currency pair reached the high of 6.3883 during the trading session.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Swedish Krona,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Earlier News About the Swedish Krona:

• Swedish Krona Surges to 2.5-Year Record on Higher Rates (2011-04-20)
• Swedish Krona Rises with Better Growth Outlook (2011-04-13)
• Swedish Krona Fell as Inflation Pressure Recedes (2011-04-12)
• Swedish Krona Gains as Economic Growth Exceeds Forecasts (2011-03-01)
• Swedish Krona Reaches 10-Year High vs. Euro (2011-02-08)

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Peter Bain has become one of the most renowned trading mentors within the trading industry. Peter has the distinct honor of being the internet's number 1 forex mentor and coach. It is known that Peter Bain is one of the few to first step into the trading arena when it first became deregulated and made available for public trading in 1997.

By Samia Nakhoul and Alexander Dziadosz

TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Libya’s interim leader gave forces loyal to deposed ruler Muammar Gaddafi a four-day deadline on Tuesday to surrender towns they still control or face a bloody end to a war that the new leadership said has so far killed 50,000 people.

As the hunt for Gaddafi himself goes on, Libyan officials accused Algeria of an act of aggression for giving refuge to his fleeing wife and three of his children, as well as, it turned out, to a new grand-daughter, born on Tuesday.

Algeria’s Foreign Ministry said Gaddafi’s wife Safia, and his sons Hannibal and Mohammed had entered Algeria on Monday morning, along with their children. His pregnant daughter Aisha was also among the party and she gave birth within a day to a girl, a source close to Algeria’s health ministry said.

The incident stirred a diplomatic row as Libya’s interim council works to consolidate its authority and capture places still loyal to Gaddafi, notably the coastal city of Sirte.

Anti-Gaddafi forces have converged on Sirte from east and west, but have stopped short of an all-out assault in hopes of arranging a negotiated surrender of Gaddafi’s birth-place.

‘By Saturday, if there are no peaceful indications for implementing this, we will decide this matter militarily. We do not wish to do so but we cannot wait longer,’ Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of Libya’s interim council, told a news conference.

In Benghazi, headquarters of the anti-Gaddafi National Transtional Council during the uprising, military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Bani said the negotiations over Sirte involved tribal elders, not Gaddafi loyalists themselves.

The loyalists were thwarting the desire of most civilians to join the liberated areas, he said.

‘Zero hour is quickly approaching,’ Bani said.

At forward positions of NTC forces, on the main coastal road some 100 km (60 miles) west of Sirte, a Reuters correspondent saw little sign of military action on Tuesday.

Six months of fighting has left some 50,000 dead, one anti-Gaddafi commander said, an estimate that was hard to verify and which, he said, included many people who had gone missing.

‘About 50,000 people were killed since the start of the uprising,’ Colonel Hisham Buhagiar, commander of the anti-Gaddafi troops who advanced on Tripoli out of the Western Mountains, known as Jebel Nafusa, told Reuters.

‘In Misrata and Zlitan between 15,000 and 17,000 were killed and Jebel Nafusa took a lot of casualties. We liberated about 28,000 prisoners. We presume that all those missing are dead,’ he said. ‘Then there was Ajdabiyah, Brega. Many people were killed there too.’

GADDAFI ‘WENT TO SABHA’

Gaddafi’s whereabouts have been unknown since his foes seized his Tripoli compound on Aug. 23, ending his 42-year rule after a six-month revolt backed by NATO and some Arab states.

Britain’s Sky News, citing a young bodyguard of Gaddafi’s son Khamis, said the leader had stayed in Tripoli until Friday when he left for the southern desert town of Sabha.

It quoted the captured 17-year-old as saying Gaddafi met Khamis, a feared military commander, at around 1:30 p.m. on Friday in a Tripoli compound that was under heavy rebel fire. Gaddafi had arrived by car and was soon joined by Aisha.

After a short meeting, they boarded four-wheel drive vehicles and left, the bodyguard told a Sky reporter, adding that his officer had told him: ‘They’re going to Sabha.’

Along with Sirte, Sabha is one of the main remaining bastions of pro-Gaddafi forces.

A NATO spokesman said the alliance, which has kept up a five-month bombing campaign, was targeting the city’s approaches.

‘Our main area of attention is a corridor… (leading up) to the eastern edge of Sirte,’ Colonel Roland Lavoie said.

Some anti-Gaddafi officers have reported that Khamis Gaddafi and former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi were both killed in a clash on Saturday. This has not been confirmed and the NATO spokesman said he had no word on Khamis’s fate.

More NTC forces were heading for Bani Walid, a Gaddafi tribal stronghold 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Tripoli.

‘Three units were sent from Misrata toward Bani Walid this morning … Our fighters are now 30 km from Bani Walid,’ said Mohammed Jamal, a fighter at a checkpoint on the road to the town. ‘Hopefully Bani Walid will also be liberated soon. Right now there are still many Gaddafi supporters there.’

TENSE RELATIONS WITH ALGERIA

An NTC spokesman said it would seek to extradite Gaddafi’s relatives from Algeria, which is alone among Libya’s neighbours in not recognising the de facto government.

Nearly 60 countries have acknowledged the NTC as Libya’s legitimate authority. Russia, China, India, South Africa and Brazil are among those which have so far withheld recognition.

Algeria’s acceptance of Gaddafi’s wife and offspring angered Libyan leaders, who want the ousted autocrat and his entourage to face justice for years of repressive rule.

Abdel Jalil, the NTC chairman, who was previously Gaddafi’s justice minister, called on Algeria to hand over any of the former leader’s sons on its wanted list. He said he expected the fugitives to move on from Algeria before long.

Algeria, which previously opposed sanctions and a no-fly zone against Gaddafi, has an authoritarian government which is anxious about Arab revolts lapping near its borders.

‘I would argue the Algerian regime is making a major blunder, miscalculating monstrously,’ Fawaz Gerges, an analyst at the London School of Economics, told the BBC.

‘The Algerian regime itself is not immune from the revolutionary momentum taking place in the Arab world.’

ON THE BEACH

A visit to a Tripoli beach compound used by Gaddafi’s children and members of his elite revealed a life of opulence and privilege that many Libyans could barely dream of.

Saadi Gaddafi’s chalet was strewn with designer clothes, including some unworn suits, and about 100 pairs of shoes. Aisha’s house boasted 13 bedrooms and gold-plated cutlery.

Anti-Gaddafi fighters now sleep in the bedrooms of their former rulers, whose gated compound has tennis courts, football pitches and dining centres, along with magnificent sea views.

Many Libyans were overjoyed at the fall of Gaddafi, which followed that of longtime rulers in Egypt and Tunisia earlier this year, but have been chilled by evidence of mass killings in Tripoli as his forces fought losing battles with rebels.

A week after Gaddafi’s fall, Tripoli’s two million people remain without running water or electricity. Banks, pharmacies and many other shops are still closed. The stench of garbage and sewage still pervades the city, despite clean-up efforts.

A council spokesman said a pumping station for Tripoli’s water supply that lies in a pro-Gaddafi area had been damaged and could not be reached for repair.

However, a report by the European Union’s humanitarian office (ECHO), said pro-Gaddafi forces in Sirte had cut two-thirds of the water supply to Tripoli, most of which comes from the ‘Great Man-made River’, a huge project built under Gaddafi that pumps out water from

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NEW YORK, Aug 30 (Reuters) – ConocoPhillips has

begun the restart process on its 238,000 barrels-per-day

Linden, New Jersey, refinery on Tuesday, according to an

official at the New Jersey Department of Environmental

Protection.

The refinery was shut down on Saturday of last week in

anticipation of Hurricane Irene.

A ConocoPhillips spokesperson could not be reached

immediately for comment.

Sources familiar with refinery operations said on Monday

that the refinery was restarting.

With this refinery out of service over the weekend, and

other refinery reductions due to the hurricane, New York Harbor

gasoline differentials gained 4.00 cents per gallon Monday in a

wave of panic-buying.

That market strength has been sustained into Tuesday,

although few trades have been done thus far and the

differential for end-August F2 RBOB was pegged at either side

of 10.00 cents over the September RBOB futures contract on the

New York Mercantile Exchange.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Kerr; Editing by Andrea Evans)

Keywords: CONOCO/BAYWAY

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