Myanmar's president pledges peaceful power shift to Suu Kyi's NLD

In this file photograph taken on Mar 20, 2015, Myanmar President Thein Sein attends a press conference at Mandalay international airport. 

PHOTO: AFP

NOV 12, 201511:22 AM

[YANGON] Myanmar's president has joined the army chief in congratulating Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition after it swept national elections, and promised a smooth transition of power.

The country has been dominated by the military for half a century through direct junta rule and, since 2011, a quasi-civilian government run by its allies.

But Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) is on the verge of tipping the balance of power after capturing more than 85 per cent of seats declared so far from Sunday's election - a huge stride in its long democracy struggle.

In a statement on Facebook on Wednesday, President Thein Sein, whose government has steered recent reforms, said "we would like to congratulate" Suu Kyi for "winning the people's approval." "As the government, we will respect and obey the election results and transfer power peacefully."

The NLD has swept up 256 seats, just over 70 short of an outright majority. But it was almost certain to smash through that marker, with more official results due to be released on Thursday.

Ms Suu Kyi on Wednesday called for national reconciliation talks with the powerful army chief Min Aung Hlaing and Thein Sein, stressing the need for a peaceful transition.

Both men agreed to discussions after the Union Election Commission announces the full results, with the army chief also taking to Facebook to congratulate Ms Suu Kyi on "winning a majority."

Lower house speaker Shwe Mann, a former general once tipped as a possible compromise candidate for the presidency, also accepted the invitation to talk.

Their comments may go some way to allaying the fears of many NLD supporters who remain deeply suspicious of the army and its political allies, after past crackdowns on democracy movements that have left hundreds dead and thousands jailed .

Ms Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 election by a landslide only for the army to ignore the result and tighten its grip on power.

Her path to power is blocked by an army-scripted 2008 constitution that bars anyone with foreign children - or husband - from the presidency.

Her sons are British as was her late husband - who died in Britain while she was under house arrest in Myanmar.

The army is also gifted 25 per cent of parliamentary seats uncontested, as well as control of Myanmar's security apparatus - meaning it will retain immense power despite the huge support for the NLD.

AFP

    
 

Zeti says ringgit significantly undervalued amid growth

The Malaysian ringgit remains "significantly undervalued" and risks to economic expansion are unlikely to materialize with exports still strong, central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said. 

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

NOV 12, 201510:48 AM

[DUBAI] The Malaysian ringgit remains "significantly undervalued" and risks to economic expansion are unlikely to materialize with exports still strong, central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said.

The ringgit doesn't reflect fundamentals with the nation's current account in surplus, unemployment at about 3 per cent and inflation within Malaysia's long-term average, Ms Zeti said in an interview in Kuwait City on Wednesday.

The currency may recover when the US Federal Reserve normalises interest rates and as "domestic issues" in Malaysia are resolved, she said.

Malaysian policy makers have been struggling to boost confidence in its economy and finances since oil prices started to fall last year and as allegations of financial irregularities at a state investment company hurt sentiment. 

While the ringgit recovered alongside emerging market currencies in October, it's still down about 20 per cent this year, the worst performer in the Asia Pacific region.

"Our export growth remains fairly strong, it has not moderated to the extent that we expected," Ms Zeti said. Malaysian exports and industrial production beat economists' estimates in September.

On expectations of a Fed rate increase, "investors have already anticipated this and have already priced it in, so we have already seen, we believe, most of the outflows," she said.

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Global funds have pulled RM17.4 billion (S$5.65 billion) from Malaysian equities and RM16.2 billion from debt in 2015. Still, sentiment may be changing with MIDF Amanah Investment Bank saying foreign funds were net buyers of Malaysian stocks for four of the last five weeks, while central bank data showed global investors raised holdings of Malaysian debt for a second month in October.

"We believe investors, after they reassess their investment portfolios, will still gravitate toward growth areas and we are one of those growth areas," Ms Zeti said.

"When all this is resolved, we believe that the currency will reflect the fundamentals," she said, citing rate differentials with the US and the perception Malaysia is primarily an oil producer - even as 80 per cent of its economy is manufacturing- and services- based - among factors that are affecting the ringgit.

The central bank left rates unchanged for an eighth meeting this month, even as Malaysia's biggest trading partners of China and Singapore both eased monetary policy in recent weeks. 

While Ms Zeti said officials have priced in the slowdown in China, Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed said last week easing growth in the North Asian nation and the impact on orders for Malaysian goods means the government won't be able to meet its trade targets this year.

Gross domestic product probably increased 4.7 per cent last quarter from a year earlier after expanding 4.9 per cent in the three months through June, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists before data due Friday. At that rate, it would be the slowest in more than two years.

BLOOMBERG

    
 

Oil prices tank after US inventories report

Oil prices tanked on Wednesday after a private report showed an unexpectedly big jump in US stockpiles, adding to concerns about the persistent global oversupply. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

NOV 12, 20156:44 AM

[NEW YORK] Oil prices tanked on Wednesday after a private report showed an unexpectedly big jump in US stockpiles, adding to concerns about the persistent global oversupply.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in December tumbled US$1.28 to US$42.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest WTI price since late August.

Brent North Sea crude for December, the global benchmark for oil, finished at US$45.81 a barrel in London, down US$1.63 from Tuesday's settlement.

A weekly report by the American Petroleum Institute issued late Tuesday showed US commercial crude inventories jumped by more than six million barrels.

"We're awfully pummelled here today," said Matt Smith of ClipperData. "Last night's API report was a huge surprise, not just because it was a build but because it was such a large build in crude inventories."

Mr Smith noted that US oil inventories are less than eight million barrels below record heights set earlier this year.

Investors will focus Thursday's Department of Energy stockpiles report, delayed because of the Veterans Day holiday on Wednesday.

The report is expected to show that oil stockpiles rose by 1.3 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

High US production has added to the abundant global supplies that have pushed prices down more than half since mid-2014.

AFP

    
 

Australia jobs blow past forecasts, lengthen rate cut odds

People work in Sydney's central business district on October 15, 2015.

PHOTO: AFP

NOV 12, 20159:19 AM

[SYDNEY] Australian employment surged past all expectations in October while the jobless rate fell sharply to a five-month low, a rousing report that lengthened the odds on a cut in interest rates and sent the local dollar flying.

The Aussie jumped half a US cent after the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported 58,600 net new jobs were created in October, almost four times market forecasts.

The breakdown was also upbeat with 40,000 full-time positions while the jobless rate dropped unexpectedly to 5.9 per cent, from 6.2 per cent.

Analysts cautioned that the data were volatile and have had measurement problems in the past, but noted other indicators of labour demand had been improving for some months.

"It's across the board, unequivocally, a strong number,"said JPMorgan's chief economist, Stephen Walters. "Jobs are being lost in mining but we're getting other jobs in areas like retailing and transport and tourism.

"Near term, it kills off any chance of the RBA cutting interest rates, but you can't rule it out next year." The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cited the resilience of employment when it skipped a chance to ease this month, but even then it had expected the unemployment rate to remain at 6.0 per cent or just above for another whole year.

Investors reacted by sharply lengthening the odds on another cut in the 2 per cent cash rate, virtually pricing it out for December. The market probability of a move in February dropped to around 28 per cent, from 56 per cent before the data.

REUTERS

    
 

ECB sees no 'significant' impact of Fed rate hike on Europe

Any interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve next month would not have any significant direct impact on Europe, European Central Bank vice president Vitor Constancio said Wednesday. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

NOV 12, 20157:10 AM

[MADRID] Any interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve next month would not have any significant direct impact on Europe, European Central Bank vice president Vitor Constancio said Wednesday.

"We think there will not be any significant direct impact. Europe will be of course indirectly affected in economic terms, trade terms, by the possible effects on emerging markets," he said in Madrid following a meeting of eurozone and Latin American central bankers.

The Fed has hinted at a rate hike in December, the first in more than nine years, a move it has repeatedly put off as US and global economic growth has remained tepid, but which is now widely expected.

The prospect of the key federal funds rate being lifted from near zero, where it has sat since the end of 2008, has roiled markets as it would mean higher borrowing costs for many governments and businesses around the world.

Eurozone inflation was zero in October, and the ECB is under pressure to do more to stimulate growth, but Constancio said there was no decision on any steps to be taken at the bank's next monetary policy meeting in December.

AF
P

Apple mulling person-to-person payment service 

Apple is talking with US banks about the potential to create a service that would let people use iPhones for person-to-person payments, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

NOV 12, 20156:37 AM

[SAN FRANCISCO] Apple is talking with US banks about the potential to create a service that would let people use iPhones for person-to-person payments, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

An Apple mobile service that lets people send one another money would compete with offers from PayPal, Google, Facebook and startup Square.

The talks are ongoing and it was unclear whether deals had been inked with any banks, the WSJ reported, citing unidentified people said to be familiar with the matter.

The proposed service would let people use Apple mobile devices to quickly transfer money from bank checking accounts to intended recipients, according to the WSJ.

It would probably be tied to the Apple Pay digital wallet that lets people use iPhones to make credit or debit card purchases, the report indicated.

Apple did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

AFP

New Facebook app fires news to smartphones

Facebook on Wednesday released a Notify application designed to keep iPhone users up to speed on the latest news and entertainment happenings. 

PHOTO: AFP

NOV 12, 20156:56 AM

[SAN FRANCISCO] Facebook on Wednesday released a Notify application designed to keep iPhone users up to speed on the latest news and entertainment happenings.

Notify debuted with more than 70 "stations," most of them media outlets serving up magazine stories or breaking news.

The list of Notify launch partners included Wired, Vogue, Vice, Time, Getty Images, CNN, ABC, and Comedy Central.

"Whether you're into sports, celebrities, news, movies, music or shopping, Notify makes it easy to find notifications you're into," Facebook product manager Julian Gutman said in a blog post.

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People who download Notify are invited to select "stations" they want to get updates from.

Each selected source will have clearance to "push" notifications to iPhone lock screens, alerting people to posts or news, according to Gutman.

The Notify application was tailored for iPhones and available only in the United States, according to Facebook.

The release came just weeks after Facebook launched an Instant Articles feature on iPhones that speeds up the display of news stories shared by friends at the giant social network.

Launch partners for the feature included NBC News, The Atlantic, Slate, The New York Times, The Daily Mail, National Geographic, and the Washington Post.

A beta programme of Instant Articles geared for Android devices is open to the public, and is expected to be ready for broad release by the end of this year.

AFP