Black Friday store sales fell this year as Americans bought more online

• Christopher S. Rugaber, Associated Press

• Nov. 28, 2015, 5:00 PM
• 1,757
 
• 1

syndication.ap.orgA holiday shopper browses the electronics section against a backdrop of televisions at a Target store, Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, in Newport, Ky. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Black Friday shopping is shifting from hours spent in line to more time online.

Sales at retail stores on Black Friday fell to $10.4 billion this year, down from $11.6 billion in 2014, according to preliminary figures from research firm ShopperTrak.

And sales on Thanksgiving dropped to $1.8 billion from just over $2 billion. The firm compiled data from 1,200 retail chains. The figures don't include e-commerce.

A big reason for the declines is increased online shopping, as Americans hunt down deals on their smartphones, tablets and computers. Another key factor: Many retailers are offering bargains long before Thanksgiving, limiting the impact of Black Friday specials.

Still, most analysts expect this year's holiday sales to show stronger growth than last year's. Americans are starting to see early signs of pay increases, hiring has been solid in the past year, and low gas prices are leaving more money in shoppers' pockets.

"There's a lot of strength in the consumer," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak. Even with the slip in sales, "Black Friday will end up being the number one sales day in retail this year."

Gerri Spencer and her daughter Jasmine Hansen were enthusiastic participants in Black Friday shopping this year. They left Spencer's home at 4 a.m. Friday and were at Cabela's, a hunting and outdoor equipment store, in Kansas City, Kansas, an hour later.

"There was a very long line, a few tents and a lot of lawn chairs," Spencer said. "They posted signs saying you can't have a fire."

Spencer said she spent a little more than normal this year. "I feel the economy has picked up in a few areas, and I felt the pull of the holiday spirit," she said.

Online retailers have been bombarding customers with email discounts for weeks. Online sales jumped 14.3 percent on Friday compared with last year, according to Adobe, which tracked activity on 4,500 retail websites. Email promotions drove 25 percent more sales compared with 2014, the company said.

Chris Christopher, director of consumer economics at consulting firm IHS, predicts that holiday season e-commerce sales will jump 11.7 percent this year to about $95 billion, up from last year's 10.9 percent gain. IHS considers the holiday shopping season to include both November and December.

That's a much larger increase than the 3.5 percent gain Christopher forecasts for total holiday retail sales, including both online and in traditional retail stores. Overall, about $1 in every $7 in holiday shopping sales will occur online this year, IHS predicts.

Retailers have also started offering deep discounts as early as Halloween, even advertising them as "Black Friday" deals, Martin said. Auto dealers have gotten in on the game and are offering "Black Friday" discounts.

"Consumers have shifted and started earlier," Martin added. Americans are doing more of their holiday shopping in November, he said, a decade-long trend, even though December remains the month in which consumers spend the most.

The move toward earlier discounts was intensified this year because many retailers struggled with overstocked warehouses and store shelves heading into the fall, Christopher said. That prompted many to offer deep discounts as early as the beginning of this month.

"The price discounting has been creeping toward Halloween," he said.

Shoppers are even starting to postpone some of their back-to-school purchases until later in the fall, in anticipation of such deals, Christopher said.

___

AP Writer Bill Draper in Kansas City contributed to this report.

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The IMF is about to give China's economic reform efforts a major endorsement

• Pete Sweeney and Krista Hughes, Reuters

• 16h
• 1,087

Thomson ReutersA customer counts Chinese Yuan notes at a market in Beijing

SHANGHAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - When the International Monetary Fund agrees on Monday to add the Chinese yuan to its reserves basket in the biggest shake-up in more than three decades, the IMF can afford itself a congratulatory nod.

By acknowledging the yuan as a major global currency alongside the dollar, euro, yen, and pound, as is widely expected, IMF members will endorse the efforts of China's economic reformers and by doing so hope that will spur fresh change in China.

But Chinese policy insiders and international policymakers say reforms may not continue at the breakneck pace of recent months. In addition, Chinese sources suggest adding the yuan to the IMF basket leaves economic conservatives better positioned to resist further significant reform in a reminder of the period following China's entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

A slowing in the pace has implications for those who bet that making the yuan a global reserve currency will give it a boost. The yuan has fallen almost 3 percent against the dollar this year, on course for its biggest annual fall since its landmark 2005 revaluation.

The IMF decision will remove a key incentive – bolstering national pride – that reformers used to push otherwise reluctant conservatives to support reforms.

More importantly, however, are worries in Beijing that the rickety economy can't handle more aggressive reform that allows a freer flow of currency across China's borders.

Beijing is already rapidly losing a taste for more experimentation with capital flows, say the sources - economists involved in policy discussions who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject.

After the stock market buckled more than 40 percent in the summer – which many blamed on nefarious foreign capital – regulators have made it harder for money to leave China to counter yuan selling pressure and have intervened heavily in onshore and offshore currency markets. Not just conservatives, but  more liberal economists are calling for a pause.

"Our ability to control financial risk has yet to be improved," said a senior economist at the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), an influential Beijing think-tank.

"Any rush to open up the capital account completely could be unfavorable for controlling financial risks ... we will definitely be very cautious."

The IMF's executive board, representing the Fund's 188 members, is likely to approve inclusion of the yuan in the reserve basket, known as Special Drawing Rights (SDR). An IMF staff report and Managing Director Christine Lagarde have endorsed the idea. The United States has suggested it will not stand in the way.

The SDR basket determines the currency mix countries like Greece receive when the IMF disburses financial aid. Some economists predict inclusion will boost demand for the yuan, or renminbi (RMB), by more than $600 billion.

Chinese media predicted entry will draw over 1 trillion yuan ($156 billion) of foreign money into China bonds. Both predictions rest on assumptions more capital account opening is on the way.

"The RMB (will be) included so the reform-oriented forces can keep the upper hand; there's no way back now for the conservative members in the party," said an IMF policymaker from an advanced economy, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Seeing the SDR decision as the goal of China's reforms is "as if the tail were wagging the dog," said Otaviano Canuto, who represents Brazil and other Latin American and Caribbean countries on the IMF board.

"The expectation is that the eventual inclusion of the RMB is a moment in the process ... (which) is being undertaken and implemented for itself, because it's part of the development of the Chinese economy," he said. 

"WHY WOULD YOU TAKE MORE RISKS?"

China has pushed to make the yuan more international, setting up swap arrangements with countries so trade can be settled in the currency and China has said it will push ahead with financial reform. It has widened the yuan's trading band and this year went a long way to freeing up interest rates.

But Chinese policy advisers have always been divided, sometimes publicly, on how far China should go in opening up its borders to foreign capital; while few use vocabulary that rejects general reform principles, many domestic policy advisors - including some otherwise supportive of economic liberalization - warn throwing open the gates to cross-border flows would be destabilizing.

They have many quiet allies among China's state-owned banks and other inefficient industries, which fear that a freer market for capital will expose them to international competition and put them out of business.

Foreign access to financial markets is still tightly restricted and of late regulators have reversed some measures that were designed to make it easier to move the yuan offshore.

"The (Chinese) reform camp has been selling (IMF inclusion) partly on the basis of international prestige, in particular equaling Japan," said Derek Scissors, chief economist at China Beige Book.

"What is the reform movement going to say now to move reform forward ... if the IMF has already recognized China as an internationalized currency?" asked Scissors. "Why would you take more risks?"

Some see parallels with China's WTO entry in 2001, in which Chinese reformers used entry negotiations as an incentive to push through painful state sector restructuring, only to see their agenda sidelined shortly after inclusion.

China's retreat from its WTO commitments was widely blamed on the retirement in 2003 of reform-minded Premier Zhu Rongji. Current leading reformer Zhou Xiaochuan, the head of the central bank who has said the yuan will be basically convertible by this year, is at 67 years old already past the typical retirement age for senior Communist Party officials.

"Previous wording was 'accelerating' convertibility, now it's 'making RMB convertible in an orderly manner,'" said an economist, of the China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), who is also close to policy discussions. He said China was well aware capital account liberalization elsewhere - in particular Japan - has been blamed for causing "serious crises."

"The most important thing is to handle domestic issues well; we cannot afford to see another collapse of the stock market."

(Additional reporting by Kevin Yao in HONG KONG; Editing by Neil Fullick)

Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2015. Follow Reuters on Twitter.

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South Korea IT firms see shares surge after online banking nod

NOV 30, 201512:55 PM

[SEOUL] South Korea's top messaging app operator saw its share price soared 13 per cent Monday - a day after being named by financial regulators as one of two companies permitted to start Internet-only banking services.

Kakao Corp, which runs the Kakao Talk app, and telco major KT Corp each won preliminary approval from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to set up what will be South Korea's first online-specific lenders.

They will also be the first new South Korean commercial banks to open in more than 20 years, with the FSC hoping they will help the domestic banking sector out of an extended slump.

"They'll stir up fresh competition in the banking industry and create more job opportunities," Doh Kyu Sang, the director general of the FSC's Banking and Insurance Bureau said Sunday.

Kakao's share price surged as much as 13 per cent in early trade - the biggest intraday gain in more than a year - while KT Corp jumped more than 5.0 per cent.

In a briefing on Monday, the head of Kakao's mobile banking team, Daniel Yun, said Kakao Bank would aim to start operations as early as the latter half of next year.

It will feature credit payment, deposit and loan services, Yun said, adding that the plan was to expand beyond South Korea.

"We will unveil Internet banking services in Southeast Asian nations where we have a sizeable user base like Thailand and Malaysia," he said.

The Kakao messaging app has 48 million users globally, including 39 million in South Korea out of a total population of 51 million.

The firm - which also runs Seoul's second-largest Internet portal, Daum - has long eyed an entry into the online banking sector beyond the saturated instant-messaging market.

But its efforts have been delayed by a suffocating regulatory framework that has left South Korea - one of the world's most wired nations - lagging behind other countries such as the US and China in web-based financial services.

WeChat - China's popular messaging app run by the Internet giant Tencent - began offering online banking services this year, along with e-commerce giant Alibaba.

AFP

    
 

About 100 passengers rescued after Batam-Singapore ferry hits floating object

Commuter ferries leaving the HarbourFront terminal as they head to Batam. 

PHOTO: AFP

NOV 30, 20158:52 AM

[SINGAPORE] All 97 passengers travelling on board a ferry headed to Singapore from Batam were rescued after the vessel hit a floating object in the water and started to sink.

In a statement on Sunday night, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said that it had received a report that the Indonesia-registered ferry Sea Prince had hit a floating object after leaving the Nongsapura ferry terminal in Batam
.

Singapore to shift to even greener footing

It has committed to reduce carbon emissions intensity by 36% in 2030, from 2005 levels, for the UN climate change talks in Paris

By

Andrea Sohsandrea@sph.com.sg@AndreaSohBT

Starting on Monday, world leaders from 190 countries will gather in Paris over the next two weeks to finalise a new global climate accord aimed at reducing carbon emissions. 

PHOTO: SPH

 Paris climate change talks: An overview

NOV 30, 20155:50 AM

Singapore

STARTING on Monday, world leaders from 190 countries will gather in Paris over the next two weeks to finalise a new global climate accord aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

If successful, the agreement - a historic first - will have wide-ranging implications for sectors ranging from energy and transport to building and construction.

Regardless of the outcome, Singapore is intent on continuing its path towards a greener economy: not only in reducing carbon emissions across industries and households, but also in seizing the economic opportunities that come along as cities prepare themselves for climate change.

The Paris summit kicks off amid a cautious optimism that has grown over the past few months - in sharp contrast to the acrimonious talks during the Copenhagen conference in 2009 due to a deep mistrust between developed and developing nations - as countries including China and the US committed to cutting emissions.

Over 170 countries, representing more than 90 per cent of the world's emissions, have already submitted commitments, known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), to reduce emissions ahead of the Paris summit. Some of the world's largest multinational firms, ranging from Ikea to Pepsi and Siemens, have also rallied behind the goal.

Singapore has pledged to reduce emissions intensity - measured by emissions per GDP dollar - by 36 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, and to stabilise emissions with the goal of peaking then.

This follows a pledge in 2009 to cut emissions by 16 per cent from 2020 business-as-usual standards, if a legally binding global agreement comes into place. Ahead of that, the country has already put in place policies and measures that will reduce emissions by 7-11 per cent from 2020 business-as-usual levels.

The city-state currently ranks 113th out of 140 countries in terms of carbon intensity, and contributes about 0.11 per cent of global emissions.

The new commitment is a "stretch target", the government has sought to emphasise, with efforts needed across both businesses and households.

"For a very small country with limited alternative energy options, the stabilisation of our emissions with the aim of peaking around 2030 requires serious efforts by everyone," Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said in July when Singapore announced its submission for the Paris climate change talks.

Earlier action to develop in a sustainable manner means Singapore is reducing emissions from an already small base, the government says.

About 95.5 per cent of electricity in Singapore is currently generated using natural gas - the cleanest form of fossil fuel - up from 19 per cent in 2000. Fuel oil was the main energy source until the country switched to natural gas piped in from Malaysia and Indonesia and, since 2013, liquefied natural gas (LNG), after the opening of the LNG terminal.

The country has limited options in terms of alternative energy such as geothermal resources, wind and tidal power; it is banking on solar as the only technically feasible renewable energy.

To this end, the government - in efforts led by the Economic Development Board (EDB) and Housing and Development Board (HDB) - has started the SolarNova programme to aggregate solar demand across various agencies, so as to generate economies of scale and accelerate solar deployment. Singapore currently has about 33 megawatt-peak (MWp) of photovoltaic capacity installed - around 8 per cent of the national target of 350 MWp by 2020.

Nevertheless, Singapore's use of solar energy is limited by its small size and dense urban landscape, though recent developments such as a study by PUB (Singapore's national water agency) to install solar panels at reservoirs could open up new possibilities.

The government has therefore identified energy efficiency as the key to reducing emissions and, in turn, pushed out levies, rebates, training programmes and stricter standards across sectors from transport to building and construction.

In particular, in the refining and chemicals industry - which is expected to contribute about half of Singapore's 2020 business-as-usual emissions - it has put in place various schemes to facilitate the adoption of energy-efficient technologies and processes such as co-generation plants.

"To date, the government has supported S$1.6 billion worth of fixed-asset investments to improve energy efficiency in the energy and chemicals sector, and to work towards being more carbon-efficient than other such sectors in the region and globally," said EDB energy and chemicals director Damian Chan, adding that Big Data will play a key role going forward in helping petrochemical firms to become more resource-efficient.

The energy and chemicals sector contributed the most to Singapore's manufacturing output last year, accounting for 34 per cent of its total manufacturing output.

Even as Singapore works to reduce carbon emissions, it is also adopting various measures to protect against the future impact of climate change.

Changes in average temperatures, rainfall and sea levels are expected to affect public health, biodiversity and greenery, and reliability of water supplies, as well as lead to erosion and flooding of coastal areas, among others.

Still, it is not all doom and gloom - there is a silver lining in the form of a clean-technology sector that is growing globally. It is also one that the Singapore government has identified as a growth sector and actively courted since 2007.

"The climate challenge also means greater global demand for clean technology and growth in green jobs," Mr Teo noted in July.

It was a view echoed by Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S Iswaran in late October, when he said the sector is one with "significant potential" for Singapore - there is demand for it in Asia, not just in terms of technology but also in financing models and business structures that Singapore can develop.

"Regardless of the outcome (of the Paris talks)," he told delegates at the Asia Clean Energy Summit, "many countries and cities are already planning their economic growth within an increasingly carbon-constrained operating environment."

It is in Asia that the tension between growth and energy requirements versus carbon constraints will be the sharpest, and this will contribute to demand for sustainable forms of growth, he added. A study released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) last week revealed that Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, in particular, are at high risk of climate-related disasters.

EDB, which had earlier set a goal of having the sector create 18,000 jobs by the end of this year and contribute US$3.4 billion in value-add to Singapore's GDP, told BT that it is confident of reaching the target.

The general awareness and global commitment towards reducing carbon emissions work in the cleantech sector's favour, Mr Iswaran said.

"The prospects are there because of government priorities and the need in the market . . . Industry players see significant potential - in Asia, in particular.
"

China: Stocks end flat after volatile session

NOV 30, 20153:24 PM

[SHANGHAI] China stocks ended flat after a highly volatile session, with major indexes swinging wildly in and out of negative territory following Friday's more than 5 per cent slump.

The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose 0.3 per cent, to 3,566.41, while the Shanghai Composite Index also gained 0.3 per cent, to 3,445.40 points.

The indexes had plunged more than 3 per cent in early afternoon trading but bargain hunters managed to lift the gauges into positive territory at market close.

The wild swings reflect diverging views after the market rebounded over 20 per cent from its August lows.

Some analysts said the current correction is natural, and short-lived, while some others expect to see a repeat of the summer market rout if the economy continues to slide while the yuan keeps depreciating.

The real estate index has been very strong throughout the day, up 3.6 per cent at the close.

REUTERS

    
 

Gold set for worst month in 2-1/2 years on US rate hike view

NOV 30, 20153:17 PM

[SINGAPORE] Gold extended losses on Monday, dropping towards its lowest level in nearly six years, and was poised to record its steepest monthly slide in 2-1/2 years on prospects of a US interest rate hike this year.

The precious metal has fallen out of favour as investors position themselves for the first US rate hike in nearly a decade. The Federal Reserve is expected to raise rates at its next policy meeting on Dec 15-16.

Investors believe gold, as a non-interest-paying asset, will take a hit to demand from higher rates as the dollar gains.

Spot gold slipped 0.2 per cent to US$1,055.60 an ounce by 0656 GMT. It had dropped to US$1,052.70 earlier in the session, within striking distance of US$1,052.46, the lowest since February 2010, reached on Friday.

"With the charts looking increasingly dicey as we head into the Fed policy meeting, just as investment money continues to flee the complex, the odds are good that the $1,000 level is the next stop for (gold) prices," said INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir.

Bullion has lost about 7.5 per cent of its value in November, its biggest monthly dip since June 2013.

Investors are pulling money out of bullion funds, exacerbating the sell-off in gold.

Assets in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's top gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell to their lowest since September 2008 on Friday.

The strength in the dollar also kept a lid on any increase in gold prices.

The dollar climbed to a fresh eight-month high against a basket of major currencies on Monday. A robust greenback makes dollar-denominated gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.

"Continued dollar strength will likely put further downwards pressure on the precious metals this week, potentially opening up the 2010 low of US$1,045," MKS Group trader Sam Laughlin said.

Among other precious metals, silver was poised to log its worst month in year, with a near-10 per cent drop.

The platinum group metals were the worst performers in the precious group in November. Palladium has lost 20 per cent for the month, while platinum has lost 16 per cent - both biggest monthly drops in four years.

For trading cues this week, bullion traders would be focused on the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday. A strong jobs report could seal the case for a rate hike at the Fed's Dec. 15-16 meeting.

The European Central Bank policy meeting on Thursday will also be eyed for impact on the currency markets. The ECB is widely expected to ease policy.

REUTERS

    
 

Singapore starts new public engagement initiative, looking at SG100

By

Soon Weilunsoonwl@sph.com.sg@SoonWeilunBT   

PM Lee said "I hope you will step forward to work with your fellow Singaporeans to shape our future - the future of us". 

PHOTO: YEO KAI WEN / THE STRAITS TIMES

NOV 30, 20155:50 AM

Singapore

PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday encouraged Singaporeans to voice their views on what they hope Singapore will be like over the next few decades, and called on all to work together to help shape that future.

To strengthen national unity in the process, the government is launching a new public engagement initiative called "SGfuture", to solicit ideas to attain that vision.

Mr Lee made the announcement on Sunday after taking part in two major events - the SG50 Jubilee Big Walk and the launch of the exhibition "The Future of Us" - that brimmed with significance in celebrating the 50th anniversary of Singapore's independence.

Said Mr Lee: "I hope you will step forward to work with your fellow Singaporeans to shape our future - the future of us. So by SG100, we'll have another celebration as happy and satisfying as this one."

The SGfuture series is expected to run until the middle of next year, and will build on ideas solicited through the year-long Our Singapore Conversation, a similar government initiative that kicked off in September 2012.

The SGfuture series will be led by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing.

Noting that there are now "new fault lines" appearing, Ms Fu told reporters that the launch of SGfuture will be integral in helping Singaporeans maintain a sense of unity as the country charts its way forward.

"This is a crucial point for us to look beyond SG50 towards SG100, and among the challenges that Singapore will face is how to keep the society united as we find new fault lines in a very new nation," she said.

This new series of engagement will take inspiration from the possibilities presented in "The Future of Us".

Through focused discussions and dialogue sessions, organisers hope to attract Singaporeans to share their views for the future.

In addition, Singaporeans are also encouraged to turn these ideas into reality by taking part in workshops and embarking on projects.

The first SGfuture session, organised by the National Youth Council, was held on Sunday.

One hundred youths aged between 16 and 35 took part. They discussed issues such as security, the environment, and how to build an empathetic society.

Members of the public can visit www.singapore50.sg/sgfuture to sign up for upcoming sessions.

"The Future of Us" exhibition, held at Gardens by the Bay, will open to the public on Tuesday.

The three-month-long free exhibition draws upon government research papers and masterplans as well as ideas collected from youth seminars and Our Singapore Conversation.

It comprises six interactive zones, four of which will be housed in four purpose-built domes.

Gardens by the Bay was the end point of a 5km walk that PM Lee took part in earlier on Sunday.

In the SG50 Jubilee Big Walk, organised by The New Paper and People's Association, Mr Lee and some 25,000 participants walked past key landmarks and sites that mark significant events in the nation's development, including the Padang and Parliament House.

He also launched the 220-metre Jubilee Bridge that connects Merlion Park and the waterfront promenade by the Esplanade.

      

Singapore bank lending falls again in October

By

Jamie Lee leejamie@sph.com.sg@JamieLeeBT 

Bank lending in Singapore fell in October from the previous month, dragged by weaker business loans, preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) showed on Monday. 

ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

NOV 30, 201510:38 AM

BANK lending in Singapore fell in October from the previous month, dragged by weaker business loans, preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) showed on Monday. It reflected a deeper contraction than that in September.

Loans through the domestic banking unit - which essentially captures lending in all currencies but mainly reflects Singapore-dollar lending - stood at S$602 billion last month, down 1.1 per cent from September, the MAS figures showed.

In September, bank lending stood at S$608 billion, down 0.8 per cent from August.

Business loans in October fell 1.9 per cent to S$360 billion from September. A month ago, it fell 1.6 per cent.

Growth in consumer lending was up 0.2 per cent at S$241 billion in October from a month ago. This was the same pace of growth seen in September.

From a year ago, bank lending in October fell 0.4 per cent. This compared to the 0.6 per cent year-on-year gain posted in September.

  

China, Hong Kong: Stocks open slightly lower after biggest drop since summer rout

PHOTO: REUTERS

NOV 30, 20159:52 AM

[SHANGHAI] China stocks opened slightly lower on Monday after falling more than 5 per cent on Friday triggered by concerns over a widening probe by regulators into brokerages.

The CSI300 index fell 0.1 per cent, to 3,554.89 at market open, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1 per cent, to 3,433.86 points.

The market posted its biggest drop since this summer's rout on Friday on news that Haitong Securities was being probed by China's securities regulator.

The Hang Seng index dropped 0.4 per cent, to 21,974.81 points. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 0.8 per cent, to 9,778.05.

REUTERS