Markets

World oil prices are falling precipitously. For an oil exporter like Malaysia, that is definitely bad news. Unless the country can diversify its economy, it may find it difficult to navigate its way through the economic challenges it faces on...

The US dollar is trading with a slightly heavier bias as the last minute position adjustment takes a toll. The dollar-bloc and Scandi's are doing somewhat better and sterling is a few ticks higher, while the euro and yen are...

China’s wine industry has exploded in recent years, with the number of wineries more than doubling over the past decade, propelling the country past Australia to become the world’s 7th-largest producer. What is driving this fast-paced growth and is the...

As we count down the days and now the hours towards the beginning of 2015, what preoccupies most soothsayers of the outlook for the global economy in the coming year is the shape of the Chinese economy. Nudging the United...

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),...