|
|
|||||||
| Coffee Shop Talk of a non sexual Nature Visit Sam's Alfresco Heaven. Singapore's best Alfresco Coffee Experience! If you're up to your ears with all this Sex Talk and would like to take a break from it all to discuss other interesting aspects of life in Singapore, pop over and join in the fun. |
 |
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
#1
09-08-2015, 02:40 AM
|
|||
|
|||
Malaysian market feels the heat as ringgit falls to new 17-year low
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
Malaysian market feels the heat as ringgit falls to new 17-year low THE RINGGIT'S exchange rate dropped to 3.91 against the US dollar yesterday, which is a new 17-year low, as the sell-off in the stock market intensified amid weakening growth prospects continuing to weigh down on investor sentiment. A drop in the price of Brent crude oil, the benchmark for Malaysian petroleum products, back to below US$50 a barrel and falling prices of crude palm oil (CPO) to near 2,000 ringgit (US$511.80) a tonne added to the uncertainties. The two commodities are the country's major exports after electrical and electronic products. Despite the weak ringgit, total exports declined 3.7 per cent in the second quarter after having registered a 2.5 per cent drop in the first quarter. Analysts said weak external demand and a slowdown in domestic consumption was putting the brakes on economic growth. Citi Research, a unit of Citigroup Global Markets Inc, projected Malaysia's economic expansion may slow to 4 per cent in the second quarter ended June 30 from the 5.6 per cent achieved in the first quarter. "With growth slowing, we also doubt Bank Negara (central bank) will hike to defend the ringgit," its economist Wei Zheng Kit said. Bank Negara kept its key overnight policy rate steady at 3.25 per cent in July. The last interest rate hike was in July 2014. The ringgit remained Asia's worst-performing currency year-to-date, despite sharper declines by its regional counterparts over the past one month. "We have become more bearish on several Asian currencies, as domestic growth and exports have been disappointed," the economic team at ABN AMRO said in a recent note. The firm did not include the ringgit in its coverage. ABN AMRO said central banks in South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore were expected to be more tolerant of a weaker currency as a means to stimulate their economy. "FX intervention to weaken currencies is also a policy option," it said. It expects China and Taiwan to cut interest rates later this year to boost growth. But the ringgit's 10.6 per cent drop year-to-date has raised concerns that the currency has weakened too fast and too far. CIMB Research in a recent note predicted that it would take 4 ringgit to buy one US dollar by the end of the year. "There has been talk that Bank Negara is taking steps to reduce the volatility in the currency market," one currency dealer told StarBiz. But the ringgit continued to face pressure amid a huge outflow of foreign funds from the stock market. MIDF Research calculated that net foreign outflow so far this year had reached 11.7 billion ringgit. THE STAR ASIA NEWS NETWORK August 8, 2015 1:00 am http://www.nationmultimedia.com/busi...-30266198.html Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com. 
|
| Advert Space Available |
|
|
| Bookmarks |
| Thread Tools | |
|
|
