Forex News from InstaForex

[IFX Gertrude]

FITCH MAINTAINS JAPAN'S SOVEREIGN RATINGS



Fitch Ratings maintained the sovereign ratings of Japan with a 'negative' outlook on Monday.

The ratings were retained at 'A' citing the strengths of an advanced and wealthy economy, with correspondingly robust governance standards and public institutions.

Fitch affirmed a 'negative' outlook on Japan's ratings, given continued downside risks to the macroeconomic and fiscal outlook from the coronavirus shock.

The agency expects the large fiscal support to be unwound gradually, but downside risks to growth exacerbate the challenge of placing the debt ratio on a downward path over the medium term.

After a 5.3 percent fall in 2020, Fitch forecast the economy to rebound by 3.5 percent in 2021 and 1.5 percent in 2022, supported by continued overseas demand for Japanese exports, which have recovered over recent months.

Fitch estimated government debt to have jumped to 254.8 percent of GDP in 2020 from 231.2 percent in 2019, the highest pre-pandemic debt ratio among Fitch-rated sovereigns. The debt is forecast to peak at 258.6 percent in 2023.

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[IFX Gertrude]

EUROPEAN ECONOMICS PREVIEW: GERMAN FOREIGN TRADE DATA DUE



Foreign trade data from Germany is due on Tuesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 2.00 am ET, Destatis is slated to issue Germany's foreign trade figures. Economists forecast exports to fall 1 percent on month, reversing a 2.2 percent rise in November. Imports are seen easing 1.1 percent after rising 4.7 percent a month ago.

Germany's trade surplus is expected to fall to EUR 15.9 billion from EUR 16.4 billion in November.

At 4.00 am ET, Italy's Istat publishes industrial output data for December. Production is expected to grow 0.3 percent, in contrast to a 1.4 percent drop in November.

At 5.00 am ET, December industrial production report is due from Greece. Production had increased 8.6 percent on a yearly basis in November.

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[IFX Gertrude]

NEW ZEALAND ELECTRONIC CARD TRANSACTIONS SLIP 0.4% IN JANUARY



The total value of electronic card transactions in New Zealand was down a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent on month or NZ$24 million in January, Statistics New Zealand said on Thursday - following the 19.2 percent spike in December.

Spending in the core retail industries slipped 0.7 percent on month or NZ$39 million.

On a yearly basis, electronic retail card spending was up 1.9 percent - slowing from 3.5 percent in the previous month.

By industry, the movements were: durables, up NZ$34 million (2.1 percent); motor vehicles (excluding fuel), up NZ$3 million (1.7 percent); fuel, down NZ$1 million (0.3 percent); apparel, down NZ$7 million (2.0 percent); and consumables, down NZ$31 million (1.3 percent).

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[IFX Gertrude]

NEW ZEALAND FOOD PRICES CLIMB AN UNADJUSTED 1.3% IN JANUARY



Food prices in New Zealand were up an unadjusted 1.3 percent on month in January, Statistics New Zealand said on Friday.

Seasonally adjusted, food prices were flat on month.

In January 2021 compared with December 2020: fruit and vegetable prices rose 1.7 percent (down 1.4 percent after seasonal adjustment); meat, poultry, and fish prices rose 1.1 percent; grocery food prices rose 1.8 percent (up 0.8 percent after seasonal adjustment); non-alcoholic beverage prices rose 2.5 percent; and restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices rose 0.3 percent.

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[IFX Gertrude]

EUROPEAN ECONOMICS PREVIEW: EUROZONE INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT, FOREIGN TRADE DATA DUE



Industrial production and foreign trade figures from euro area are due on Monday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 2.00 am ET, GDP data from Denmark and foreign trade data from Norway are due.

At 3.00 am ET, December construction output data is due from Hungary. Production had increased 5 percent annually in November.

At 4.00 am ET, consumer prices data is due from Poland. Inflation is forecast to remain unchanged at 2.4 percent in January.

At 5.00 am ET, Eurostat is scheduled to issue euro area foreign trade and industrial output figures for December. Economists forecast production to fall 1 percent on month, reversing a 2.5 percent rise in November.

The euro area foreign trade surplus is seen at EUR 25.3 billion in December versus EUR 25.8 billion in the previous month.

In the meantime, January consumer price data is due from Greece. Consumer prices are forecast to drop 2.3 percent annually in December.

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[IFX Gertrude]

RBA MINUTES ON TAP FOR TUESDAY



The Reserve Bank of Australia will on Tuesday release the minutes from its Feb. 2 monetary policy meeting, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

At the meeting, the RBA decided to maintain the targets of 10 basis points for the cash rate and the yield on the 3-year Australian Government bond, as well as the parameters of the Term Funding Facility.

The board also decided to buy an additional A$100 billion of bonds issued by the Australian Government and states and territories when the current bond purchase program is completed in mid-April. These additional purchases will be at the current rate of A$5 billion a week.

Japan will see December results for its tertiary industry index; in November, the index was up 0.7 percent on month.

Finally, the markets in Taiwan and China remain closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

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[IFX Gertrude]

MicroStrategy decides to buy more Bitcoin



The bitcoin exchange rate is trading near the level of $50,000 per coin and is not even going to stop there. Ether is also not far from its highs, but it is still correcting and is now near the level of $1,745. At the moment, there are no discussions on any fall of the two largest cryptocurrencies. This is pretty logical, considering the latest news. For the past two weeks, everyone has been talking about Elon Musk's posts on Twitter and Tesla's decision to buy $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. These events led the cue ball to the cost of $50,000 per coin. However, further messages began to arrive, saying that the oldest banks, payment systems, and some other companies were already ready to join the cue ball hype. Since bitcoin and ether are already traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the popularization of the cryptocurrency segment is in full swing. In the future, bitcoin is going to be used as payment for goods and services. Apple already provides its users with the ability to store cryptocurrencies on their phone. But at the same time, there is still a huge number of skeptics of bitcoin and other tokens remaining in the world. While they criticize the cue ball, the coin continues to break value records. Despite this, many believe that the "bubble" is inflating again and will soon burst. The problem is that bitcoin itself is worthless, so it doesn't have any fair value. It can cost as much as you want, just like other cryptocurrencies. Its price is formed solely on the basis of supply and demand. And supply and demand are formed from the hype. To put it simply, the more people join the general mainstream in order to make money on the rise, the more expensive the cryptocurrency becomes. But this does not mean that it becomes more useful or more scarce. Just yesterday, it became known that MicroStrategy is going to raise $600 million of borrowed funds to buy more bitcoins. According to approximate estimates, the company's account already has about 72,000 coins, which is equal to 3.6 billion in dollar terms. The company has invested in bitcoin throughout 2020 and is now referred to as the "corporate sponsor" of bitcoin. The company, whose main activity is not actually related to investments in cryptocurrencies, but to business analytics, has risen in price by 580% during 2020 alone, due to its activity on the purchase of the number 1 cryptocurrency. Now, MicroStrategy is going to issue 600 million bonds for sale with a maturity in 2027. We also stand by the opinion that the "bubble" is inflated and will burst sooner or later. But while it is still growing, it is possible to make good money on it.

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[IFX Gertrude]

EUROPEAN ECONOMICS PREVIEW: ECB MINUTES DUE



The minutes of the policy-setting meeting of the European Central Bank is due on Thursday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 2.00 am ET, January foreign trade data is due from Switzerland. The trade surplus totaled CHF 3.05 billion in December.

At 3.30 am ET, Statistics Sweden is scheduled to issue consumer price data for January. Inflation is forecast to rise to 1.5 percent from 0.5 percent in December. At 4.00 am ET, industrial production and producer price figures are due from Poland. Production is expected to rise 0.6 percent on year in January, slower than the 11.2 percent increase in December.

At 6.00 am ET, Turkey's central bank announces its interest rate decision. The bank is expected to hold its one-week repo rate at 17.00 percent.

At 7.30 am ET, the ECB releases the account of the monetary policy meeting of the governing council held on January 20 and 21. At the meeting, policymakers had decided to leave its key interest rates and asset purchases unchanged, and reaffirmed its willingness to adjust the policy tools when needed.

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[IFX Gertrude]

SOUTH KOREA PRODUCER PRICE INFLATION RISES FOR SECOND MONTH



South Korea's producer price inflation rose for the second straight month in January, data published by Bank of Korea showed on Friday.

Producer prices increased 0.8 percent year-on-year in January, following a 0.2 percent rise in December.

Prices for agricultural, forestry and marine products prices increased 12.5 percent and those of services grew 1.6 percent. Prices for manufacturing products remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, prices for electric power, gas, water and waste declined 5.3 percent.

On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.9 percent in January, following a 0.8 percent increase in the prior month.

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[IFX Gertrude]

THAI TRADE DATA DUE ON MONDAY



Thailand will on Monday release January figures for imports, exports and trade balance, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

Imports are expected to sink 10.5 percent on year after rising 3.62 percent in December. Exports are called higher by an annual 2.4 percent after adding 4.7 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $0.1 billion, down from $0.96 billion a month earlier.

China will provide February data on prime loan rates; in January, the one-year rate was 3.85 percent and the five-year rate was 4.65 percent.

Hong Kong will see January figures for consumer prices; in December, overall inflation was down 0.7 percent on year.

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