Richard Cayne at Meyer International in Bangkok Thailand notes that Japan’s exports have seen their biggest annual rise for three years.
Exports rose 18.6% to 6.1tn yen ($61bn) in the year to October, largely thanks to more car shipments, its ministry of finance said, this was above analysts’ forecasts of about 16.5%.
A weak yen and an improving global economy has seen oversees demand pick up, but despite this and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s looser monetary policies, Japan’s economy remains fragile.
The yen has fallen approximately 14% against its U.S. dollar value in 2013, making Japanese goods cheaper for foreigners to buy. Car exports rose 31.3% year-on-year, while the volume of overall exports to the U.S. and European Union grew 5.3% and 8% respectively. Richard Cayneadd’s that if this keeps up Japanese equities will continue to rally.
“U.S. private-sector demand remains strong and European economies appear to be bottoming out,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute in Tokyo, “If advanced economies recover, Japanese exports can rise more,” he added.
Richard Cayne Meyer commentsthat China has attracted 5.77% more foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first 10 months of the year, compared to 2012. Government figures show FDI totalled $97bn over the period.
In October alone, the country attracted $8.4bn, an increase on a year earlier but down from September’s figure.
Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang said foreign investment policy would remain stable and transparent as China carried out its reform agenda. Richard Cayne see’s much more long term value in Chinese and HK equities for the foreseeable future
U.S. – The leading U.S. equity markets hit fresh record highs on Monday, suggesting a continued equity rally in the run up to the New Year.
The Dow passed the 16,000 mark for the first time ever, while the S&P 500 recorded a fresh high above 1,800.
Year to date, the Dow is up 22% and the S&P is up 26%, showing growing investor confidence following a strong results season and a continuation of QE. Richard Cayne Meyer comments that he doesn’t feel equity markets are overvalued and have much room on the upside.
Janet Yellen, who is soon expected to take over as the head of the U.S. central bank, mounted a defence of quantitative easing in her first address to Congress last week, giving investors hope loose monetary policy will remain in place to support equity markets for some time to come.
Richard Cayne Meyer comments that the Brazilian Ibovespa index declined the most in seven weeks this week, on speculation Latin America’s largest economy will remain stalled, making stock rallies hard to sustain.
The Ibovespa slid 2.3% at Tuesday’s close in Sao Paulo, the biggest decline since Sept. 30 and the worst performance among major global benchmarks. Sixty-nine of 72 stocks on the index fell. The real weakened 0.5% to 2.2759 per dollar.
Brazil’s gross domestic product will expand 2.45% this year and next, according to the median forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The economy grew 0.9% last year, the worst performance since the 2009 financial crisis.
Richard Cayne Meyer a native of Montreal, Quebec Canada currently resides in Bangkok Thailand and runs the Meyer Group of Companies. Prior to which he was residing in Tokyo Japan for over 15 years and is currently CEO of Asia Wealth Group Holdings Ltd a London, UK Stock Exchange listed Financial Holdings Company.