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Asian Currencies Have Best Weekly Gain in a Year on Fed Decision
By Lilian Karunungan & Yumi Teso – Sep 20, 2013 Asian currencies rallied this week by the most in a year after the Federal Reserve unexpectedly maintained monetary stimulus that’s led to capital inflows to emerging-market assets. Malaysia’s ringgit and Thailand’s baht led the advance after Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Sept. 18 more evidence of a recovery in the world’s largest economy is needed before the central bank starts paring its $85 billion a month of bond purchases. Global funds bought $494 million more stocks than they sold in the first four days of the week in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Enlarge image The Malaysian currency is headed for its best weekly gain since the 1998 Asian financial crisis, helping the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index of shares to climb 1.4 percent this week. Photographer: Sanjit Das/Bloomberg “Investors reversed positions built up across the board on speculation about the stimulus reduction,” said Tohru Nishihama, an economist covering emerging markets at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc. in Tokyo. “But the Fed will eventually trim stimulus, and investors will become more selective. The long-term trend of gradual dollar appreciation may remain intact.” The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index , which tracks the region’s 10 most-active currencies excluding the yen, climbed 0.8 percent during the five days to 116.14 as of 5:20 p.m. in Singapore, the most since the period ended Sept. 14, 2012. The ringgit strengthened 4 percent this week to 3.1650 per dollar in Kuala Lumpur , according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Thai baht appreciated 2.9 percent to 30.96 and the Indonesian rupiah rallied 0.5 percent to 11,350. Bernanke Concern The Federal Open Market Committee is concerned that the rapid tightening of financial conditions in recent months could damp growth, Bernanke said at a press conference in Washington on Sept. 18. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were predicting a cut of $5 billion in the Fed’s monthly bond buying. The Malaysian currency posted its biggest weekly gain since the 1998 Asian financial crisis, helping the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index of shares climb 1.8 percent. The U.S. is Malaysia’s fourth-largest overseas market. Shipments rose in July after a five-month contraction. “We are building up our portfolio to come back to a long position on emerging currencies versus the dollar,” said Philippe Jauer, chief investment officer for global fixed income and currencies in Singapore at Amundi, which oversees about $1 trillion, said in an e-mail interview yesterday. “The Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand are the first countries any investor should come back to because the economic fundamentals are much better than in India and Indonesia.” RBI Policy The Reserve Bank of India unexpectedly raised its benchmark repurchase rate by a quarter percentage point to 7.5 percent today, the first increase since 2011. Governor Raghuram Rajan , who took office two weeks ago, is seeking to rein in inflation that’s hurting the poor and dimming economic prospects. The rupee dropped 0.6 percent to 62.1387 in Mumbai, trimming the week’s gain to 2.2 percent. It reached 61.6450 yesterday, the strongest level since Aug. 16, as markets reacted to the Fed decision. The S&P BSE Sensex Index of shares fell 2 percent, after climbing 4.6 percent in the previous four days. The rupee and Indonesia’s rupiah are the worst-performing Asian currencies this year after the yen, with losses of 12 percent and 15 percent, respectively, as investors fled nations with worsening current-account deficits. “Asian currencies’ strength this week has a lot to do with the Fed’s decision not to taper quantitative easing,” said Nizam Idris , the head of fixed income and currency strategy at Macquarie Bank Ltd. in Singapore. “It gives countries with worsening current accounts more time to get their houses in order.” Elsewhere in Asia, the Philippine peso rose 1.9 percent this week to 43.037 per dollar. Vietnam’s dong traded at 21,115, unchanged from the end of last week. South Korea’s markets are shut for three days from Sept. 18 for public holidays, while China and Taiwan are closed for two days from Sept. 19. Hong Kong also has a public holiday today. To contact the reporters on this story: Lilian Karunungan in Singapore at lkarunungan@bloomberg.net ; Yumi Teso in Bangkok at yteso1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Regan at jregan19@bloomberg.net Continue reading
More Signs Of Land Price Leveling
http://www.agricultu…jpg&type=editor DANIEL LOOKER 08/30/2013 Business Editor A report to be released next week on land prices will mirror a leveling off shown this week by an Illinois study. Rabobank will release its own report, which, like the Illinois survey, will show that land prices this year are up by about 2% to 3% over a year ago, said Sterling Liddell, an economist and vice president for the agricultural lender. A survey by the University of Illinois and Illinois society of Professional Farm Managers shows the first half of 2013 with a 2.5% to 3% year-over-year increase for good to excellent land in that state. “That is consistent with what we’re seeing as well, from both the opinion perspective as well as appraisals,” Liddell told Agriculture.com in a telephone interview Friday. Bank analysts were expecting that to happen last year as well, he said. And good farmland prices were rising at about a 2% to 3% rate until the last quarter of 2012, when concerns by both sellers and buyers over looming federal tax changes added incentives to pay more for land. Sellers wanted to avoid increases in capital gains taxes. Liddell won’t be surprised if the trend continues into 2014. “If we get lower prices on this crop, then we expect to see a leveling off into next year as well,” he said. Prices could actually decline if corn averages less than $4.50 a bushel, he said. Another big factor will be higher interest rates, which will make purchasing land more expensive and also will likely strengthen the U.S. dollar, potentially making U.S. crop exports less competitive against those of Brazil and other competing nations. That would put downward pressure on U.S. crop prices. “If we have strong increases in interest rates, it will have a very negative effect on land values,” Liddell said. That applies mainly to new sales, but a significant percentage of recent land purchases are still financed by floating rate mortgages. Liddell didn’t want to generalize about all farmland loans or disclose Rabobank’s statistics on the amount of farmland mortgages that don’t have fixed rates locked in. It’s less than a majority, he said. “There are more than would make me comfortable,” he said. Mortgages with floating rates have been less costly, but when the Federal Reserve ends its quantitative easing program to hold down long-term rates, that isn’t likely to continue. “That’s something I would recommend, that farmers look at: How do they extend these low rates?” Liddell said. Continue reading
EcoPlanet Bamboo Achieves 10,000 Acre Milestone of Commercial Bamboo Plantations
The purchase of the 3,435 acre San Jose farm in Nicaragua’s RAAS this week marks the completion of EcoPlanet Bamboo’s initial target of restoring 10,000 acres of degraded pastureland into biodiverse bamboo forests. “Associated with this purchase is the creation of an additional 250 permanent jobs (and many more seasonal ones),” says EcoPlanet Bamboo’s Central American President, John Vogel. Barrington, IL (PRWEB) July 30, 2013 The purchase of the 3,435 acre San Jose farm in Nicaragua’s RAAS this week marks the completion of EcoPlanet Bamboo ’s initial target of restoring 10,000 acres of degraded pastureland into biodiverse bamboo forests. The conversion of these lands not only restores micro-climates and aids adaptation to climate change, but reduces pressure on remaining forests through the provision of a sustainable alternative fiber, targeted at US timber manufacturing industries, many of whom have been coming under increasing pressure for poor environmental practices and the harvesting of old growth forests. Included within this farm is approximately 1,000 acres of primary tropical forest. These areas have been set aside for conservation purposes, and surrounding reforestation efforts with native bamboo will expand wildlife habitat and biodiversity corridors. Associated with this purchase is the creation of an additional 250 permanent jobs (and many more seasonal ones) says EcoPlanet Bamboo’s Central American President, John Vogel, within an area that has traditionally suffered from abject poverty and few options for economic diversification. Although bamboo is often touted with a wide range of low and medium value products, EcoPlanet Bamboo’s FSC certified Guadua aculeata is most suited as an engineered product, replacing softwood species in OSB, laminates and veneers. EcoPlanet Bamboo is the owner and operator of commercial bamboo plantations in Central America and Southern Africa. For more information please contact: Kristena Blume: kblume(at)ecoplanetbamboo(dot)com / +1 847 387 3609 or visit http://www.ecoplanetbamboo.com . Continue reading
