Latin American stocks gained Wednesday as Brazil’s industrial output unexpectedly rose in January and oil prices hit new highs.
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Americas markets wrap: Brazil industrial output lifts stocks
China is world’s top building site
By Ed Hammond in London
China has long been the world’s largest building site. Now it also has the better-sounding accolade of being its most valuable.
The country, which recently displaced Japan as the world’s second-largest economy, has, according to a report published on Thursday, knocked the US off the top spot in global construction spending.
Mexicana: stormy skies
By Ron Buchanan in Mexico City
After four months of jousting with government authorities, unions and creditors, the white knight of Mexicana Airlines has finally broken its lance.
PC Capital, the company formed to rescue Mexicana, has admitted that it has been unable to raise the $200m it promised to get Mexico’s biggest airline back into the skies.
India: come doomsday, come foreign exchange intervention
If a stable currency is the measure of a central bank’s success, the Reserve Bank of India has done a stand out job with its restrained foreign exchange management.
Asia’s third largest economy – where officials are proud of setting the country apart from other emerging markets – is in no hurry to go the Brazil route and grasp at tougher capital controls to boost the competitiveness of its economy.
CEE market wrap: Middle East fears and oil prices dominate
Investors in central and east European remained concerned about turmoil in the Middle East and the rising oil price. Markets finished mixed, with equities mostly slightly down and currencies moderately up against the euro.
In Poland, many investors had expected the central bank to raise interest rates. The decision to stick at 3.75 per cent initially weakened the zloty but the currency later recovered to close 0.3 per cent higher against the euro at 3.979. Polish equities closed 0.6 per cent up.
Deal of the day: JSP buys into Brazil
By Geoff Spiteri of mergermarket
Japan’s autoparts sector has seen a flurry of M&A of late, most recent deals including the completion of RHJ International’s exit of Niles – its Tokyo-based auto switches business – and Nomura’s sale of Tsubaki Nakashim, a ball bearing manufacturer, to the US group Carlyle.
Now JSP Corporation, a Japanese plastics manufacturer, has snapped up Fagerdala Brasil Ltda for a modest R$42.2m (USD 25.4m).
Russia: the rouble rises
The Russian central bank has put into effect its latest moves in the fight against inflation with some style.
After raising interest rates on Monday for the first time since 2008, the authorities late on Tuesday widened the trading band for the rouble – and were happy to see the currency rise sharply on Wednesday, by a full 1 per cent against a US dollar/euro basket.
Brazil: enough smoke and mirrors
Brazil’s central bank will raise its policy interest rate on Wednesday evening – that much seems certain. What analysts are wondering is whether it will take the dovish option of hiking by 50 basis points, or startle us all with its hawkishness and go for 75.
Consumer price inflation was 5.99 per cent in the year to January – its highest since November 2008 and well above the government’s 4.5 per cent target. Yet the government’s determination to fight inflation through fiscal policy appears to be slipping. That may force the central bank to get tough. But does it have the stomach?
Poland: rate rise postponed
Poland’s monetary policymakers have decided that discretion is the better part of valour. With economic growth showing some signs of peaking, the interest-rate-setting Monetary Policy Council on Wednesday decided to hold fast and not increase the benchmark rate from its current 3.75 per cent.
The not unexpected decision showed that the council was not spooked by January’s jump in inflation. However, most analysts expect that the council’s tightening cycle will continue during 2011, with the benchmark rate likely to reach 4.5 per cent.
Why you can’t really swap Libyan crude
It’s not just about finding enough quality crude to replace Libya — it’s about the not insubstantial political risks hanging over those supplies, too.
Fighting in Libya worsened on Wednesday, as rebels counter-attacked an offensive by Gaddafi forces into the country’s east — which is where much of the oil production is (was), incidentally.
Brazil’s corporates: not all easy riders
If you’ve missed Brazil’s earnings season so far, the following template may be helpful:
Brazil’s [insert company name] posted record results as the country’s growing middle classes bought more washing machines/took out more loans/burnt more fuel/spent longer on their mobile phone/splashed out on new clothes/ate more.
Nokia: connecting with Vietnam
Battling high inflation, a depreciating currency and fears of a balance of payments crisis, Vietnam has been boosted by the news that Nokia, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, is to set up a €200m manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Hanoi – its first in Southeast Asia.
While the economic turbulence has made life very difficult for Vietnamese businesses, with commercial lending rates at over 20 per cent each year, direct foreign investors continue to be attracted by Vietnam’s relatively cheap labour and its strategic location, bridging China and Southeast Asia.
Asia markets wrap: renewed concerns on oil spike
Asian stocks were lower on renewed concerns that higher oil prices could choke off the global economic recovery, with airlines bearing the brunt of crude oil’s surge above $100 a barrel.
Global markets were responding to fears that unrest could spread further through the Middle East as violence continued in Bahrain. Stock indices in the Arab region were nursing heavy losses, with Dubai down 3.1 per cent and Saudi stocks off 2.8 per cent.
Sina: still waiting for profits
What’s not to like? Sina is the top internet portal in the world’s biggest internet market. It also has a near-monopoly in China’s rapidly growing micro-blogging world. Its version of Twitter – Sina Weibo – now has over 100m users, and is still growing fast. Even better – Sina’s listing in New York means everyone can buy a slice of it.
What’s not to like? Plenty it seems. The stock fell almost 6 per cent in after hours trading after Sina released first quarter forecasts and fourth quarter numbers that seemed to disappoint.
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Stefan Wagstyl, emerging markets editor
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Find information on how to comment and how to contact the beyondbrics team
Stefan Wagstyl, emerging markets editor
www.ft.com/bb
Browse the full list of other FT blogs
Follow us on: Twitter
Facebook