Asia

 Foreign Investment In China Up 6.2% In First 9 Months. Foreign investment in China rose 6.2% on year in the first nine months of 2013, the government said Thursday, but warned that the world's No 2 economy still faced domestic and external headwinds. And while the commerce ministry said Chinese investment overseas had increased sharply over the first nine months of the year, the amount of cash going to Japan had almost halved as a diplomatic row with Tokyo drags on. Beijing said Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which excludes financial sectors, reached US$88.6bil for January-September. For September alone FDI climbed 4.9% to US$8.84bil, well up from the 0.62% rise seen in August. But the figure is sharply down from 24.13% seen in July and 20.12% in June.(AFP)

USA

 US Government Employees Head Back To Work. Hundreds of thousands of US government employees are back at work after President Barack Obama signed a law ending a 16-day government shutdown and extending the US debt limit. The cross-party deal came hours before the US government risked running out of money to pay its bills. "There are no winners," Mr Obama said, adding the US would "bounce back". The deal followed 16 days of partial government shutdown, which began when Congress failed to agree on a budget. The deal does not resolve the budgetary issues that fiercely divide Republicans and Democrats. Instead, it establishes a cross-party committee of legislators tasked with crafting a long-term budget deal and reporting back to Congress by mid-December. (BBC)

 Jobless Claims In U.S. Fall Less Than Forecast On California. More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week as California continued to work through a backlog, indicating it will take time to gauge the impact of the federal shutdown. Jobless claims decreased by 15,000 to 358,000 in the week ended Oct. 12 from a revised 373,000 in the prior period, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 46 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a decrease to 335,000. Applications in California remained elevated and last week’s total also included some non-federal workers dismissed due to the gridlock in Washington, a Labor Department spokesman said as the figures were released. (Bloomberg)

Europe

 UK Retail Sales Up 0.6% In September, Says ONS. Retail sales grew by 0.6% in September compared with the previous month, following an unexpected fall in August. The Office for National Statistics also said sales volumes had risen by 2.2% compared with September 2012, despite a fall of sales in supermarkets. The retail sales figures are based on a monthly survey of 5,000 UK retailers. Furniture sales provided the biggest driver for the monthly rise in sales, owing to a pick-up in the housing market. Sales volumes in household goods stores grew by 3%. (BBC)

Currencies

 Dollar Falls With Yields After U.S. Debt Deal. The dollar fell on Thursday after U.S. lawmakers reached a deal to avoid default and end the 16-day partial government shutdown, with currency analysts now looking toward another Washington showdown, possibly early next year. The dollar’s drop Thursday registered in most major currency pairs. The euro jumped to $1.3677 from late Wednesday’s $1.3532, while the British pound rose to $1.6160 from $1.5950. The ICE dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against six rivals, slipped to 79.662 from late Wednesday’s 80.469. In other trade, the Australian dollar rose to 96.26 U.S. cents from 95.43 U.S. cents late Wednesday, while the dollar eased to ¥97.88 from ¥98.75. (Market Watch)

Commodities

 Brent Steady Above $110 As US Debt Impasse Ends, Data Deluge In Focus. Brent futures were steady above $110 a barrel on Thursday, with investors reluctant to lock in fresh positions ahead of a deluge of data expected in the wake of Washington's deal to end a partial government shutdown. Brent crude was unchanged at $110.59 a barrel at 0424 GMT. The November contract, which expired overnight ended 90 cents higher, while the December contract settled up $1.17. U.S. oil fell 7 cents to $102.22 on Thursday, after ending $1.08 higher. (Reuters)

 Gold Jumps 3 Pct; U.S. Budget Deal Seen Delaying Stimulus Change. Gold prices surged 3% on Thursday, boosted by a dollar slide and expectations that a temporary deal to avoid a U.S. debt default might prompt the Federal Reserve not to reduce its monetary stimulus. Spot gold rallied to a high of $1,324.06 per ounce early in the U.S. session. By 3:29 p.m. EDT (1929 GMT), it was up 3 % at $1,319.24, up 2.7 %. Other precious metals also rose broadly, with silver up 2.2 % to $21.80 per ounce, platinum up 3.2 % to $1,432.74 and palladium rising 3.3 % to $737.50. (Reuters) 

Source: Kenanga