Malaysia

Industrial production in February gained 6.7% YoY, following a revised growth of 3.5% (3.7% previously) in January. Higher than market expectations of 6.2%, this gain is mainly due to better than expected growth in the manufacturing sector. Technically, a sharper MoM contraction in February last year has partly contributed to the higher YoY growth this year. Based on the 3-month moving average (3mma), production increased by 5.1% YoY (January: 3.3%) On a monthly comparison, industrial production fell by 5.8% MoM but based on the seasonally adjusted index, it expanded by 2.9% MoM. Year-to-date saw production rising by 5.1% YoY compared to a contraction of 0.7% seen in the same period a year ago. (Please refer to Economic Viewpoint for further comments)

Asia Pacific

Chinese Exports And Imports Fall Sharply In March. China's exports and imports fell sharply in March, adding to recent indicators pointing to a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. The country's exports fell by 6.6% in March when compared with the previous year. Imports dropped by 11.3% in the same month, when compared with the same time last year. This is the second straight month of falling exports for China. In February, exports dropped by 18.1%. It is the first time since 2009 that exports have fallen for two months in a row. (BBC)

Bank Of Korea Lifts Growth Forecasts As Keeps Rate Unchanged. The Bank of Korea raised its growth forecast for this year after leaving its key rate unchanged as Governor Lee Ju Yeol said the priority is to spur Asia’s fourth-biggest economy while ensuring price stability. Meeting for the first time since Lee took the helm last week, the policy board left the seven-day repurchase rate at 2.5 % for an 11th straight month, according to a statement released in Seoul today, as forecast by all 18 economists in a Bloomberg News poll. The BOK lifted its 2014 growth projection to 4 % from 3.8 %, Lee said at a press conference. (Bloomberg)

Japan Machinery Orders Drop Sharply, Casts Doubt On Capex. Japan's core machinery orders fell sharply in

February, casting doubt on the strength of capital spending as early signs suggest the world's third biggest economy may struggle to cope with a sales tax hike that kicked in this month. Core orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as an indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, declined 8.8%, Cabinet Office showed on Thursday. The fall followed a 13.4 % jump in January, the quickest gain since March 2013, but was much worse than the 3% drop forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. (Reuters)

Australia’s Unemployment Unexpectedly Falls. Australia’s unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in March, sending the Aussie to a 4 1/2 month high as traders added to bets on an interest-rate increase. The jobless rate declined to 5.8 % from a revised 6.1 %, the statistics bureau said in Sydney today. That’s the biggest drop since August 2010 and defied economists’ estimates for unemployment of 6.1 %. The number of people employed rose by 18,100 after climbing a revised 48,200 a month earlier. (Bloomberg)

USA

Fewest Firings Since 2007 Mark U.S. Job-Market Gains. Fewer Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits last week than at any time since before the last recession, indicating bigger gains in hiring will soon follow. Jobless claims decreased by 32,000 to 300,000 in the week ended April 5, the least since May 2007, seven months before the worst economic slump in the post-World War II era began, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. Another report showed rising gasoline prices were hurting consumer sentiment. (Bloomberg)

Europe

UK Interest Rates Held At 0.5% By Bank Of England. UK interest rates have been held at their record low of 0.5% for another month by the Bank of England. The Bank also kept the size of its bond-buying stimulus programme unchanged at £375bn. No changes had been expected to either rates or the bond-buying measure, despite recent evidence that the UK economy is continuing to recover. (BBC)

Huge Investor Demand For Greek Five Year Bond. The sale of long term debt by the Greek government was eight times over subscribed, the government has said. Greece's deputy prime minister Evangelos Venizelos said demand for 3bn euros worth of five year bonds proved the country's debt is sustainable. The sale attracted interest from 550 investors. Greece is retuning to the capital markets for the first time since its economy nearly collapsed in 2010. The Greek government had initially priced the bond to provide a return of between 5% and 5.25%. But with investor orders running at 20bn euros it was able to lower the yield to 4.95% - far lower than analysts had expected. (BBC)

Currencies

Dollar Falls Vs. Yen; Bank Of England On Hold. The U.S. dollar fell against the Japanese yen Thursday as improving U.S. labor-market data were outweighed by the Federal Reserve’s March minutes that suggested the market has taken a too-optimistic view of future interest-rate hikes. The dollar fell to ¥101.49 from ¥101.98 late Wednesday. The ICE dollar index, which measures greenback’s strength against six rivals, fell to 79.411 from 79.514 late Wednesday. The pound traded at $1.6784 versus $1.6793 late Wednesday. The euro rose to $1.3886 from $1.3856 late Wednesday. The Australian dollar rose to 94.13 U.S. cents from 93.86 U.S. cents, boosted by March data that showed a decline in the unemployment rate to 5.8%. (Market Watch)

Commodities

Brent Crude Drifts Lower As China Slows, Libya Worries On Hold. Global crude oil drifted modestly lower on Thursday, pressured by weaker economic data from China as well as the prospect of a rebound in oil exports from Libya. Brent settled 52 cents lower at $107.46 a barrel. U.S. crude settled 20 cents down at $103.40 per barrel. (Reuters)

Gold Extends Rally After Fed Minutes As Stocks Tumble. Gold rose to its highest price in more than two weeks on Thursday, boosted by a sharp pullback in U.S. equities and follow-through buying a day after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting revealed its cautious approach in future interest-rate hikes. Spot gold was up 0.6 % at $1,319.65 an ounce by 2:52 p.m. EDT (1852 GMT), having earlier hit $1,324.40, its highest since March 24. Among other precious metals, silver rose 1.1 % to $20.07 an ounce. Platinum rose 1.4 % to $1,455 an ounce, having earlier reached a three-week high of $1,459 an ounce and palladium gained 1.3 % to $788.50 an ounce. (Reuters)