- Taiwan: Local news reported the appointment of Deputy Premier Sean Chen as Taiwan's next premier by President Ma, after incumbent Premier Wu Den-yih was elected as the next Vice President on 14 Jan. The President is expected to finalise the new Cabinet lineup by Saturday
- Singapore: PM Lee Hsien Loong said society and the population will not remain static and Singaporeans and the leaders have to work together to find a new way to govern Singapore (CNA).
- Malaysia: Governor Zeti commented that monetary policy was 'accommodative' even at current levels ahead of the BNM policy meeting next Tuesday where we are looking at a stand-pat rate decision.
- Indonesia: BI Gov Nasution said inflation could stand at 3.5% y/y, implying 0.5-0.6% rise on the month, ahead of the Jan CPI data due on 1 Feb.
- Indonesia: Further updates on the ex-BI Dep Gov bribery case, the ex-BI official Goeltom acknowledged that she had been named as a suspect in the bribery case though maintained that she was not guilty of the charges
- Thailand: Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul says that the central bank will intervene in FX markets only when necessary. They will allow THB to move in line with fundamentals. Inflation poses a limited risk to economy now and they will closely monitor the global economic slowdown.
- Philippines: Agriculture Secy Alcala said he expects rice imports in 2013 to fall below 500k tonnes, adding that the govt plans to hold a rice tender in Feb.
- Philippines: The country was in talks with the U.S. to enhance defence cooperation, said President spokesperson Carandang, who added that any cooperation will not involve the return of American bases.
- India: Reuters cited a RBI source saying that the central bank might intervene in the spot and forward FX markets to support the rupee.
G7 NEWS
- US: Richmond Fed Pres Jeffrey Lacker said he dissented to keep rates near zero until late 2014 as he believes rates will need to rise before that.
- EU: Greece is destroying its credibility with investors because it isn't carrying out fiscal reform quickly enough, according to the Swedish Finance Minister. - BBG
- EU: PM Jyrki Katainen said that the European govts should pursue growth not by pumping in more stimulus but by carrying out structural reforms, which will improve investor confidence in their countries. - BBG
- EU: German EconMin Philipp Roesler said that the European permanent rescue fund is very strong and has clear limits. - DAR
- Japan: Japan's trade deficit has generated a great deal of media comment, but the figures should come as no surprise. - NKS
CURRENCIES
USD/Majors: Considerable interest was seen in the afternoon market, albeit without any breakout moves. The commodity bloc all gained on continued fund buying, with AUD the clear outperformer. EUR however was stuck in a narrow range. A German name was said to be on the bids (rather than hitting the offers) in both EUR and EUR/CHF, though the rise in both are minimal. Therefore it is hardly surprising to us that EUR/AUD adopted a 1.2200 handle again, though follow through was sorely lacking.
JPY crosses: JPY pairs saw a quizzical move down in early afternoon on what is later said to be a stops-fuelled move. EURJPY fell 20-30 pips to below 101.00 while USD/JPY plummeted 40-50 pips to below the 77.00 handle from 77.40. The positions were previously adopted by traders hoping that the move above 78.00 would finally lead to a breakout and who are increasingly weary and disappointed on what increasingly looks like an iron cast range. Despite the negativity in USD/JPY, AUD/JPY and NZD/JPY actually reclaimed their afternoon's highs before the USD/JPY on the back of fund buying.
USD/Asians: Risky trades treaded on tentative grounds into European hours as Greek government's response to private banks' offer is under scrutiny. With EUR/USD caught into a range around 1.3100, USD/AXJ also consolidated into late hours, underpinned by end-month importers'/ corporate bids. INR was the only exception, chalking 1.3% gains (much due to suspected RBI presence) against the dollar, while IDR was last in the pack, down 0.2%. On the equity-front, most bourses are set to end the day in black, led by PSEi +1.5% and SETi together within SENSEX up nearly 1.0% each.
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