The Philippines economy unexpectedly accelerated its growth rate in the second quarter, which reached its levels before the financial crisis in mid-2007. Consumer spending and the state contribute to the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) of the country by 7.9 percent annually. During the first three months of this year Philippine economy also reported high annual growth of 7.8 per cent. The increase was more than expected growth of 6.3 per cent and is the largest of the second quarter of 2007. Philippine economy proved more resilient to slowing world economy in comparison with neighboring Malaysia and Thailand, where growth rates fell in the second quarter. Analysts say the country’s low inflation will allow the Philippine central bank to maintain its liberal monetary policy during this month. The base rate in the Philippines fell to a record low level since 4 percent last year, expectations are that it will not change until the end of this year. This, combined with rapid rates of economic growth is expected to give impetus to the local stock exchange and the Philippine peso. Liberal fiscal and monetary policy is also aimed at raising incomes of the population, as estimated by the World Bank one in four people in the country lives on less than 1.25 dollars a day.
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The European banks will be subjected to more frequent stress tests to be strengthened, thus investor confidence in the banking system in the old continent. It told the Bloomberg European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Policy Commissioner Olli Rehn, specifying that regulatory authorities in the European Union (EU) to consider in what interval to repeat testing of credit institutions in Europe. According to Olli Rehn, stress tests are very important and useful tool for restoring confidence in the financial system and ensure transparency in the banking sector. He added that through them that will provide information for making a solid and reliable analysis of its condition. Olli Rehn plans to discuss the introduction of more frequent testing of banks with the 27 EU finance ministers at the meeting with them, which will be held on 7 September in Brussels. Financial regulators in Europe each year to undergo stress tests the largest banks in the EU. In July were tested 91 of the largest European banks, which account for 65% of the banking industry on the continent. Of these, seven did not pass, including Germany mortgage lender Hypo Real Estate Holding, Greek Agricultural Bank of Greece and five savings banks in Spain. Tests showed that they have enough capital to avoid bankruptcy in case of re-recession and depreciation of government securities.
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The stock market indexes in Asia and Pacific region rose, led by energy and financial companies for second consecutive day. They helped the regional MSCI Asia Pacific index to reach its highest level in three months, while the main stock measure in India – BSE Sensex 30 rose to peak for the last two and a half years. MSCI Asia Pacific, which includes almost 1000 stock companies from ten Asian countries plus Australia and New Zealand moves to increase by 0.5 percent to 121.33 points and is on track to finish today’s session at its highest level 5 May onwards. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.3 percent to 9 694.01 points and was best performing among all regional indexes. The main Indian stock indicator BSE Sensex 30 rose by 0.2% to 18 103.04 points, led by shares in the banking sector, led by ICICI Bank, which yesterday announced a 17% increase in profit for the second quarter and 15 percent expected growth lending. BSE Sensex 30 rose by 3.6 percent this year and is near its highest level since February 2008. In Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose by 0.2% to 21 457.66 points, also supported primarily by financial shares because of good financial results in two of the largest European banks – HSBC and BNP Raribas announced Monday. Indices in Taiwan, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand also rose, as their lead was reduced in the range of 1%.
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The stock markets in Asia and the Pacific region remained positive momentum from the previous two sessions and rose for a third day, leaving the regional MSCI Asia Pacific Index to its highest level last month. Increases in the U.S. indexes and good financial results for the quarter a number of companies in the region supported the optimistic stock investors today. Among the most profitable for banks, they had relaxed rules governing the capital adequacy of banks, which were announced by the Basel Committee. He was instructed by the leaders of the G-20 to establish new rules to regulate the financial sector because of the severe consequences of the financial crisis. MSCI Asia Pacific, which covers the stock markets in ten Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand increased by 0.4 percent to 118.49 points. After winning the last three sessions, it is a 8.2% below its highest point this year, which said on April 15. Exchange in Australia S & P / ASX 200 rose 0.3 percent to 4 497.40 points after the index of leading indicators showed that the Australian economy will continue to grow in the second half of this year. He rose for the third consecutive month in May, increasing by 0.3 percent compared to April.
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The first session on Wall Street this week started with a strong growth indexes, but the positive mood could not be kept until the end of the day. Initial support came after a strong rise in European markets, where exchange measurements progressed with more than 2%. On the other hand, market participants were attracted by lower prices of U.S. stocks, resulting from sales in the last two weeks. On the economic calendar ISM index for services for June recorded a decline from 55.4 to 53.8 points, which was below analysts’ expectations for a weak correction to 55.2 points. Enterprise-level Microsoft bulls lead among blue chips, rose 2.35 percent to 23.82 dollars per share. Second Home Depot recorded the largest decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, losing 1.7 percent to 27.30 dollars. The energy sector remained the most stable after shares of British Petroleum advanced 8.7 percent to a 31.9 dollars per share. Exxon Mobil rose 1.5 percent to 57.46 dollars, while Chevron advanced by 0.37 percent to 67.56 dollars. Financial sector Bank of America rose 1.6 percent to 14.05 dollars, and JPMorgan added 1.4 percent to 36.33 dollars per share.
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The U.S. shares lost positions in the last hours of trading stock on Thursday, with unsatisfactory results dragged down shares of companies trading in consumer goods, while the energy sector has suffered due to uncertainty about the moratorium on drilling for oil in deep waters. Standard & Poor’s 500 has made a loss for the fourth straight day – the longest red index series for seven weeks. S & P 500 fell 1.68 percent to 1074 points. Nasdaq Composite lost 1.63 percent to 2217 points. “The mood of the market is bleak,” said Steve Sosnik, strategist Timber Hill LLC / Interactive Brokers Group LLC. “The feeling is not good, and the reason is not just one article or adopting a new law. This is a disease, “he added. Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.41 percent to 10,153 points. J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America lost their positions in anticipation of new details about the legislation governing the financial sector, which is expected to agree the Senate and Congress in Washington. The new law is likely to tighten control over the financial sector more than analysts expected. Lawmakers have agreed on new capital requirements for banks that will have a five-year grace period. According to a clause proposed by Congress, the White House administration will be able to levy any bank that failed to repay the Federal Reserve rescue packages for granted during the financial crisis.
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The unexpected increase in new applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. last week renewed fears about the state of the labor market and the recovery of U.S. economy. As a result, all three major indexes on Wall Street took down sharply in early session today. From the sale of shares suffered most manufacturers of durable goods, including Caterpillar, Boeing, Honeywell and Deere. Their share dropped by over 1% in morning trade. The index of 30 largest and often traded U.S. companies Dow Jones IA decreased by 0.7% to 10 338.19 points an hour after the start of the session. The broader S & P 500 lost 0.6 percent to 1 107.61 points and Nasdaq Exchange main index Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.7% to 2 291.05 points. All three stock closed yesterday Measure volatile session of the neutral zone after repeatedly changed its direction of movement. The series of U.S. economic data today showed that prices of consumer goods fell for the second consecutive month in May, and initial unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week. Meanwhile, it was clear that the growth of imports at the beginning of this year has increased and the negative balance on current account of the country to 109 billion dollars in the first quarter. Shortly thereafter came the data for the index of leading indicators, which predicts the development of the U.S. economy in the future. He rose for the 13th time in 14 months, adding 0.4 percent on a monthly basis in May after April remained unchanged.
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Almost all the major stock indexes in Asia and the Pacific ended today’s session of positive territory, led by increases in mining companies, after economic optimism increased the prices of metals and energy resources. The regional MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose for a fourth day, adding 0.4 percent to 127.43 points. The price of copper rose above the psychological level of 8 thousand dollars per ton, since in recent days it became clear that employment in the U.S. grows, along with activity in the services sector. Companies from the raw materials sector was best performing group in the composition of the MSCI Asia Pacific today, over the past four days the price of their shares has risen by an average of 1.5 percent, according to Bloomberg. Exchange Taiex in Taiwan rose 0.8 percent to 8 089.7 points, while South Korean Kospi, and the Chinese Shanghai Composite, ended the session with a growth of 0.1 percent. Hong Kong Stock Exchange remained closed since April 1 because of the celebration of national holidays. The main measure in India BSE Sensex 30 rose 0.2 percent to 17 971.1 points, while in Indonesia Jakarta Composite decreased by 0.4% to 2 876 points after the central bank left the main interest of its record low level of 6.5 percent for the eighth consecutive month. Among the few indexes fell today, and ordered the Japanese Nikkei 225, which lost 0.5 percent, but remained above the psychological level of 11 thousand points. Appreciation of the yen against the euro has put pressure on shares of companies exporting the Tokyo Stock Exchange today.
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The latest this week in the U.S. trading session began with strong increases in three major indexes, after earlier today showed that initial unemployment in the country has fallen to its lowest level in 19 months, while factory activity in the sector reached its highest point for six years. The index of 30 largest and most traded companies in the Dow Jones IA U.S. rose by 0.7% to 10 396.82 points one hour after the start of the session. The broader S & P 500 advanced by 0.8% to 1 179.14 points and Nasdaq Exchange main index Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, added 0.7 percent in value to 2 415.13 points. Stock optimism today was supported by data on the labor market, which showed that the planned redundancies reduced for the 13th consecutive month in March, and new applications for unemployment benefits fell to its lowest level since August 2009 here. The number of long-term unemployed Americans is also reduced. Finance Minister of the United States, however, warned in a television interview today that unemployment in the U.S. can remain “unacceptably high” for an extended period of time. He stated that at this stage, the country can not afford to reduce its budget deficit at the expense of supporting the economy forward CNBC. Even better were the data after the start of today’s trading session, which showed that U.S. factory sector recover more quickly from the crisis. The index, which monitors business activity in it, rose for the eighth consecutive month in March and reached 59.6 points to its highest level in six years.
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Most major stock indexes in Asia and the Pacific withdrew to negative territory today after strong growth, which reported on Wednesday. Most of the stocks suffered sell-offs of Japanese exporters and those companies from the real estate sector. The regional index MSCI Asia Pacific, which includes stock companies from ten Asian countries plus Australia and New Zealand, losing 0.3 percent of its value today at 124.58 points after the end of yesterday’s session, rose by 1.5% to its highest level in two months. Despite the concerns of investors that are soon to tighten monetary policy in China and the U.S. stock indexes rally in Asia continued during the past six weeks. However, according to some financial analysts has made an assessment of market shares in the region too high. The index of blue chips in Japan, the Nikkei 225 slid 1 percent to 10 744 points yesterday after having surged by 1.2 percent. Shares of Canon and Mazda dropped by more than 2 percent after the yen rose against all major currencies. This makes the price of goods of Japanese exporters higher on foreign markets. Yesterday the Japanese central bank doubled the amount of the special program for lending to commercial banks in the country to 222 billion dollars. Shortly thereafter, the World Bank increased its forecast for economic growth in China, as already expected growth of 9.5 percent this year. Wide Chinese Shanghai Composite Index fell less with 0.1% to 3 046 points and the exchange in Hong Kong Hang Seng lost 0.3% to 21 330.67 points. Today it became clear that the Chinese government will carry out “stress tests” in 12 industries to assess the impact of any lifting of the yuan exchange rate.
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