Yen Remains Lower After 3-Year Tumble; Kiwi Slips on China Data

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The yen remained lower against the dollar after tumbling for a third straight year amid speculation the Bank of Japan will continue unprecedented stimulus measures, while the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year.

The dollar held gains against its 16 major peers before a report by Market Economics which economists say will show that a U.S. manufacturing index rose. The New Zealand dollar weakened, extending declines since 2013, after a Chinese manufacturing gauge slipped to the lowest level in 18 months.

The yen declined 0.1 percent to 119.87 against the dollar at 8:10 a.m. in Singapore. Against the euro, Japan™s currency was little changed at 144.86. The shared currency slipped 0.2 percent to $1.2085. New Zealand™s currency, also known as the kiwi, fell 0.1 percent to 77.95 U.S. cents.

Financial markets are shut today in China, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.

Source : Bloomberg

Pending Sales of U.S. Existing Homes Increase 0.8% in November

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Contracts to purchase previously owned homes rose in November as employment gains and low borrowing costs helped bring potential buyers into the market.

The pending home sales index advanced 0.8 percent after a revised 1.2 percent decrease in October, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for the index to rise 0.5 percent, with estimates ranging from a decline of 1.5 percent to an advance of 3.5 percent.

Purchase contracts climbed 1.7 percent in the 12 months ending in November after a 2.1 percent annual increase in October on an unadjusted basis, the NAR report showed. The three months of year-over-year advances follow a series of 11 straight declines.

The pending sales index was 104.8 on a seasonally adjusted basis. A reading of 100 corresponds to the average level of contract activity in 2001, or œhistorically healthy home-buying traffic, according to the NAR.

Pending sales increased in three of four regions from the previous month, led by a 1.4 percent gain in the Northeast. Contract signings climbed 1.3 percent in the South and 0.4 percent in the West. They fell 0.4 percent in the Midwest.

Source : Bloomberg

Steepest Drop in World Oil Prices in 2014

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World oil prices fell the most last year since the financial crisis of 2008.

When the stock closed at the end of 2014, the price of Brent crude from the North Sea and West Texas Intermediatedari America, both of which are an international benchmark, has dropped more than 45 percent last year.

Almost all of the decline in prices that occurred since June, when prices reached more than 100 dollars per barrel. At the end of the year, Brent traded 57 dollars 33 cents a barrel and US crude oil at 53 dollars 27 cents.

Analysts said the decline in prices was due to an abundant supply on the world market, which is caused by various factors.

The US and Canada have increased their oil production, thanks to fracking technology that allows companies drilling reach oil deposits that were previously unreachable. US oil production reached 9 million barrels per day, the highest level in more than 30 years.

At the same time, economic growth slowed in China, the largest energy consumer in the world, while the Japanese economy entered into recession and the euro currency exchange rate almost shrunk.

But in the US, lower oil prices have led to the lowest gasoline prices for the owners of motor vehicles within a few years, and helped boost growth in the world's largest economy.

Experts say oil prices could continue to fall in the first quarter of 2015 before rising again.

Source: VOA

Oil Advances With U.S. Index Futures as Japan’s Currency Drops

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Oil rose after falling last year by the most since 2008, while U.S. stock-index futures gained. The yen weakened and silver climbed.

Crude in New York advanced 2.5 percent at 8:04 a.m. in Hong Kong following a 46 percent drop in 2014. Standard & Poor™s 500 Index futures increased 0.3 percent. Australia™s S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 0.1 percent. The yen dropped 0.1 percent against the greenback. Silver rose 1.2 percent.

The S&P 500 rallied to records last year and extended the bull market rally past 200 percent. European shares advanced a third year, while Chinese equities had the best performance since 2009 even as emerging-market shares posted the first back-to-back annual loss in 12 years. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 11 percent for its best performance in data going back to 2005 and Treasuries returned the most in three years.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.33 to $54.60 a barrel. Silver futures for March delivery climbed to $15.78 an ounce, after tumbling 4.2 percent on the last day of the year.

Source: Bloomberg