Markets

George Orwell once observed ‘Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible’. Not long ago, many in the West declared that China would soon be the number one economy in the world.But in the past two...

The failure of Greek Prime Minister Samaras to secure sufficient votes in the third and final parliamentary attempt to select a new president has sparked a sell-off in European stocks and peripheral bonds.  Up until now, the contagion from Greece...

We identify six key issues for investors in the holiday-shortened week ahead.  We identify six key issues for investors in the holiday-shortened week ahead. 1.  The recent string of US economic data showed not only an upward revision in Q3 GDP...

In thin trading conditions, the major currencies are little changed.  The euro is straddling the $1.22 area.  It has held above the low seen earlier this week near $1.2165.   Since the low, the reaction high has been limited to...

2014 witnessed slow growth in the world economy. It tested economies of emerging markets and advanced economies. Economies like Eurozone, Japan and Russia saw some major financial shocks. On the other hand, when compared to 2013, advanced countries like USA...

India’s economy, which has languished in middling growth for the past few years, is on the mend under new Prime Minister Narendra Modi.After experiencing real GDP growth of less than 5 per cent in 2013-14, the Indian economy is expected...

Since its inception in 1985, there have been questions about the effectiveness of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to promote economic integration in South Asia. One of the biggest impediments to SAARC’s progress has been the continued...

The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is unlikely to come into being by its December 2015 deadline due to its overambitious design and apathetic implementation. But there are still plenty of things that ASEAN can do to prepare for when the...

It ain’t so much the things we know that get us into trouble.  It’s the things we know that just ain’t so.  --- Attributed to several American writers It ain’t so much the things we know that get us into...

As the year winds down, a Gordian knot tying Russia, oil prices and China together is receiving a great deal of attention.  Let us see if we can unravel some of the confusing twists and turns.  We turn first to...

EM currencies stabilized after the FOMC meeting last week.  Yet the Fed clearly signaled that it remains on track to start hiking rates around mid-2015.  While Yellen’s guidance was taken as dovish (tightening won’t be at a predictable, “measured” pace),...

The Great East Japan Earthquake, the tsunami and the subsequent nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima on 11 March 2011 changed Japan’s energy future drastically. The revised Strategic Energy Plan, which the Japanese Cabinet approved in April 2014, outlines a...

We begin the 2014 ‘year in review’ series, looking at developments in Asia over the year past and the prospects for the year ahead, with a look at how Indonesia is travelling and the prospects for its economy. We begin...

A greater sense of optimism prevails in Indonesia about the economy in 2015 than a year ago, even though the reality is now more challenging. Growth is slowing, business costs are on the rise, and key economic vulnerabilities persist. In...

Shaping the holiday week, we identify five general points that we expect to underpin the US dollar and equities.  1. Last week's events (FOMC and SNB) reinvigorated the divergence thesis that was questioned during what appears to have been a...