Global

Bond Funds Worldwide Gain $2 Billion After Record Outflow. Global investors committed $2.11 billion to bond funds in the latest week after pulling a record $23.3 billion out of the funds the prior week, data from EPFR Global showed on Friday. Funds that hold high-yield "junk" bonds gained $384 million in new cash in the week ended July 3, recovering from record outflows of $6.8 billion the prior week. Emerging market bond funds, meanwhile,  suffered outflows of $956 million over the week, an improvement from record-high outflows of $5.6 billion the prior week. The inflows into bond funds overall in the week ended July 3 came as three U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers sought to downplay the notion that the central bank would end its accommodative monetary policy any time soon. (Reuters)

Asia 

Tokyo To Tighten Rate Monitoring. Japan’s banking industry group says it will tighten monitoring of how its interbank lending rates are set, responding to growing public distrust in benchmark rates around the world in the wake of rate-rigging scandals. The Japanese Bankers Association (JBA) said it would set up an independent monitoring body to oversee the  operation of the Tokyo interbank offered rate, hire outside auditors to improve its transparency and scrap rates that are rarely used. (Reuters)

Indonesia: Consumer Confidence Falls On Fears Of More Price Hikes. Indonesian consumers are less optimistic about the economy due to fears of continued cost pressures following  last month's subsidised fuel price increase, a survey showed. The consumer confidence index, a measure of consumers' inclination to buy durable goods, declined by one point in June to 90.4, according to a Danareksa Research Institute survey based on 1,700 households from six Indonesian cities. A reading below 100 means consumers are generally pessimistic about the economy. (Business Times) 

Philippine June Inflation Up. Philippine annual inflation picked up slightly more than expected to 2.8% in June on higher prices of tobacco and alcohol and educational fees related to the start of a new school year in the month. Analysts had forecast the consumer price index would rise 2.7% in June from a year earlier, a slight pick up from May’s 2.6% increase but still below the central bank’s 35% target band for the year. (Reuters)

USA

Positive US Jobs Numbers Add To Rate Rise Speculation. The US economy added a net 195,000 new jobs in June, official figures show. The figure was well above economists' expectations of 165,000. Revisions to data for April and May added a further 70,000 jobs to previous estimates. The jobless rate remained steady at 7.6% of the workforce, according to the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (BBC)

Europe

Transatlantic Trade Talks Set To Open Amid Tensions. Talks aimed at creating the world's largest free trade zone between the EU and the US are set to open amid tensions over spying and protected industries. The talks come at a time of growing friction over snooping by the US National Security Agency on its allies. France has demanded protection for its film and television industry. If an agreement can be reached, it would create the world's largest free-trade area, involving 820m people. (BBC)

UK House Prices Rising 'At Fastest Annual Rate For Three Years'. House prices are rising at their fastest annual rate for nearly three years, according to one of the UK's biggest mortgage lenders. The Halifax said prices in the three months to the end of June were 3.7% higher than in the same quarter last year. That is the fastest rate of increase since August 2010. The survey compares with a 1.9% annual increase reported by the Nationwide building society last week. (BBC)

Currencies

Dollar Index Hits 3-Year High On Fed Views. A widely used measure of the dollar’s value rose to a three-year high Friday after stronger-than-expected June U.S. jobs data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will soon move to begin slowing the flow of monetary stimulus to the economy. The ICE dollar index, which measures the U.S. unit against six other major currencies, closed at 84.449, up from 83.291 late Thursday in North America. The U.S. dollar surged from around 100.11 yen ahead of the data to trade at ¥101.18 in recent action, compared with ¥99.80 late Thursday. The British pound dropped, hitting its lowest level since March. It last traded at $1.4894. Meanwhile, the Australian dollar gave up a modest rebound to slip to 90.65 U.S. cents in recent trade, down from 91.09 U.S. cents on Thursday. (Market Watch)

Commodities

U.S. Crude Holds Above $101 Ahead Of Jobs Data. U.S. crude edged up on Friday, set to post its strongest weekly gains since April, ahead of key U.S. jobs data that could shed light on the timing of any move by the Federal Reserve to pare back economic stimulus. U.S. crude futures for August delivery inched up 6 cents to $101.30 a barrel by 0011 GMT, after settling at a 14-month high on Wednesday. There was no settlement in Thursday due to a holiday in the United States. Brent crude for August delivery was at $105.60, up 6 cents, after settling down on Thursday for the first time this week as concerns eased over the threat of supply disruption in the Middle East after Egypt's army ousted its president. (Reuters)

Gold Falls 3 Pct As U.S. Jobs Data Beat Forecast.  Gold tumbled 3 % on Friday after positive U.S. jobs data sent the dollar rallying and rekindled worries the Federal Reserve could be tempted to scale back its monetary stimulus later this year. The spot price of bullion dropped by as much as 3.3 % to a session low of $1,207.50 an ounce. By 2:00 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) it was hovering at around $1,215, still down nearly 3 % and set for a third consecutive week of losses. The spot price of silver fell 3.7 % to $18.79 an ounce. Platinum was down 1.0 % to $1,324.99 an ounce and palladium rose 0.5 % to $677.97 an ounce. (Reuters)

Source: Kenanga