Dollar Rally Gathers Pace as China Wanes, Fed Rate Increase Seen

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China faltering economy is enhancing the dollar’s allure as a growth asset, driving the greenback to maintain gains that have taken it to its strongest in at least a decade.

The dollar climbed for a fourth day versus Australia’s currency after China on Sunday reported exports and imports that contracted more than economists forecast, damping the outlook for nations reliant on commodity shipments. Chinese data on inflation, retail sales and industrial output are due this week. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, surged the most since March on Friday amid speculation the Federal Reserve will lift interest rates next month.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1 percent to 1,233.64 as of 10:07 a.m. in Tokyo after climbing 1.1 percent on Friday, the most since March 19. The greenback rose 0.1 percent to 70.35 cents per Australian dollar, adding to a 2 percent, three-day advance. The greenback climbed 0.2 percent to 123.34 yen and was up 0.1 percent at $1.0731 per euro.

Source : Bloomberg

Oil Holds Losses Below $45 as China Imports Drop to 5-Month Low

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Oil held losses below $45 a barrel as crude imports dropped to the lowest level in five months in China, the world’s second-biggest consumer.

Futures were little changed in New York after declining 4.9 percent last week. China’s crude imports fell to about 6.23 million barrels a day in October as demand slowed and storage tanks filled, according to data Sunday from the Beijing-based General Administration of Customs. A market surplus will continue for as long as five years as producers in the Middle East ramp up output, according to Mohammed Al-Shatti, Kuwait’s representative to OPEC.

Oil has slumped 43 percent the past year amid speculation the global oversupply will persist as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries continue to pump above their collective quota. Total exports from China, the world’s second-biggest economy, dropped in October more than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

West Texas Intermediate for December delivery was at $44.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 14 cents, at 8:37 a.m. Hong Kong time. The contract lost 91 cents, or 2 percent, to $44.29 on Friday, the lowest close since Oct. 27. The volume of all futures traded was about 22 percent above the 100-day average.

Brent for December settlement was 10 cents higher at $47.52 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices fell 4.3 percent last week. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $3.10 to WTI.

Source : Bloomberg

Asia Stocks Swing After U.S. Payrolls, China Trade; Japan Gains

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Asian stocks fluctuated after a U.S. labor report bolstered prospects of an interest-rate increase this year and Chinese export data added to headwinds facing the world’s second-largest economy. Japan’s Topix index climbed after the yen weakened.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.2 percent to 133.91 as of 9:05 a.m. in Tokyo, swinging from a loss of 0.3 percent. The Topix added 1.1 percent after the yen slid 1.1 percent against the dollar on Friday. Data showed a 271,000 gain in U.S. payrolls in October, the biggest this year and exceeding all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Odds on the Federal Reserve hiking benchmark rate at its next meeting in December jumped to 68 percent. China’s exports fell for a fourth straight month and imports matched a record stretch of declines, figures released Sunday showed.

Source : Bloomberg

Japanese Stocks Gain as Yen Weakens on Bets Fed Will Raise Rates

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Japanese stocks advanced as the yen weakened against the dollar after a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report boosted the odds that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month.

The Topix index added 0.8 percent to 1,575.57 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo, extending a 14 percent surge from an eight-month low on Sept. 29. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.7 percent to 19,391.84. The yen traded at 123.22 per dollar after dropping 1.1 percent on Friday as the best monthly U.S. employment report of the year pushed odds for an interest-rate hike in 2015 to 68 percent.

American employment in October jumped by the most this year, wage growth accelerated and the jobless rate fell to 5 percent, the report showed. It came after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said she sees the economy firming and officials are prepared to raise their target rate as soon as December.

The U.S. economy has reached at least one measure of full employment and the decision to keep interest rates near zero in October was a close one, John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said at the weekend. He told reporters later that he’s waiting to see incoming data before making predictions about a rate increase at the Dec. 15-16 Fed meeting in Washington.

Source : Bloomberg