NEWS / Foreign Exchange

Japan CPI falls as expected

Japanese core consumer prices fell from a year earlier in September, as expected, marking the eighth straight month of decline and doing little to change expectations that the Bank of Japan's monetary policy will be on hold for now.
The government said on Friday it would not include the new, cheaper mobile phone fees that could have trimmed 0.3 percentage point or more from core CPI.
After the latest CPI and output data, swap contracts on the overnight call rate are pricing in less than a 20 % chance of a BOJ rate rise by the end of this year, little changed from the level before the data.

Oil tops USD 91 on supply worries, Middle East tensions

Oil prices extended gains to a new all-time high of USD 91.10 a barrel in early electronic trade on Friday, bolstered by supply concerns during the northern Hemisphere winter and growing political tensions in Middle East.

NYMEX crude for December delivery, which rose to a record high of USD 91.10 barrel, was up 31 cents at USD 90.77. U.S. crude settled up USD 3.36 to USD 90.46 a barrel on Thursday after striking a record USD 90.60. London Brent crude also hit a new record high of USD 88.01 a barrel.

Earnings, oil help lift Asian stocks to another high

Asian stocks hit an all-time high on Friday as upbeat earnings from the likes of Sony Corp lifted investor sentiment, while a rally in oil prices to a record high above USD 91 a barrel boosted energy shares.
Swept up by the surge in U.S. crude, gold rose to USD 773 an ounce, its best level in 28 years.