Asia Pacific

Indonesia Sees Chance For Policy Easing In 2015. Indonesia will have a chance to ease monetary policy next year as inflation slows, after maintaining a tight stance in 2014, Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Halim Alamsyah said. Inflationary pressures are easing after interest rates were raised last year, Alamsyah said in an interview at Bank Indonesia in Jakarta yesterday. Consumer-price gains will probably slow to about 5 % by the end of this year and less than 4.5 % in 2015, he said. (Bloomberg)

China New Credit Declines As Money-Supply Growth Decelerates. China’s broadest measure of new credit fell 19 % from a year earlier and money supply grew at the slowest pace on record, underscoring risks of a deeper slowdown as the government tries to curb financial dangers. Aggregate financing was 2.07 trillion yuan ($333 billion) in March, the People’s Bank of China said in Beijing today, down from 2.55 trillion yuan a year ago. M2, China’s broadest gauge of money supply, rose 12.1 % from a year earlier, compared with the 13 % median estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg News survey and 13.3 % in February. (Bloomberg)

India's March WPI Inflation Hits 3-Month High Of 5.70%. India's wholesale prices-based inflation accelerated to a threemonth high of 5.70 % in March, driven up by increases in food and fuel costs, government data showed on Tuesday. The rise in the wholesale price index (WPI) compared with a 5.30 % jump forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. In February, wholesale prices, long seen as India's main inflation measure, rose 4.68 %, their slowest pace in nine months. The reading for January WPI inflation was revised to 5.17 % from 5.05 % earlier. Food prices rose 9.90 % year-on-year last month, faster than an annual rise of 8.12 % in February. (Reuters)

RBA Repeats Steady Cash Rate Likely As Domestic Demand Boosted. Australia’s central bank reiterated the most prudent course is likely to be a period of steady interest rates as it noted low borrowing costs are helping boost domestic growth. “A strong pick-up in dwelling investment was in prospect and there was some evidence that consumer demand had strengthened a little,” the Reserve Bank of Australia said in minutes released today of its April 1 meeting, where it left the cash rate at a record-low 2.5 %. “However, many businesses appeared to be waiting for an increase in current demand to occur before they were willing to increase investment spending.” (Bloomberg)

USA

Accelerating Inflation Adds To Signs U.S. Improving. Consumer prices accelerated in March as Americans paid a bit more for food and rent, adding to signs that demand is improving in the world’s largest economy. The consumerprice index climbed 0.2 % after increasing 0.1 % in February, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. Over the past year, costs rose 1.5 % following a 1.1 % gain in February that was the smallest in four months. (Bloomberg)

Europe

UK Inflation Falls To 1.6% In March. The UK inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) fell to 1.6% in March from 1.7% in February, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is the third consecutive month inflation has been below the Bank of England's 2% target rate, and the lowest rate since October 2009. The largest contribution to the fall in the rate came from petrol prices. The rate of Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation also fell to 2.5% from 2.7%. (BBC)

Germany Economic Sentiment Index Weakens. Investor confidence in Europe's largest economy fell for the fourth month in a row in April, as concerns about Ukraine weighed on sentiment, a closely watched survey showed Tuesday. "The cautious expectations in this month's survey are likely to be caused by Ukraine conflict, which still creates uncertainty," said the Center for European Economic Research, or ZEW institute, in a news release. The six-month expectation index hit 43.2 in April, falling from 46.6 the previous month. Analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a slight decline to a reading of 45.0. (WSJ)

Portugal Plans Budget Savings Worth $1.9 Billion For 2015. Portugal plans to implement budget measures worth 1.4 billion euros ($1.94 billion) to narrow its budget deficit and meet a target set for 2015. The measures represent about 0.8% of gross domestic product and include cutting costs at government ministries and reducing the number of public sector workers through retirement and agreements to end employment contracts, Finance Minister Maria Luis Albuquerque said in Lisbon today. The government will continue to charge an extraordinary contribution on energy companies in 2015. (Bloomberg)

Russian Holdings Of Treasuries Fall To Lowest Since 2011. Russia’s holdings of U.S. government securities fell to the lowest level since 2011 in February as tensions in Crimea escalated and the ruble weakened, Treasury Department data showed. Russian holdings declined for a fourth straight month, to $126.2 billion, from $131.8 billion in January, according to figures released today in Washington as a part of a monthly report on foreign holders of Treasuries as well as international portfolio flows. Russia might have been selling Treasuries, world’s most liquid assets, as part of an effort to limit a decline in the ruble, which lost 2 % versus the dollar in February, the biggest drop that month among 24 emergingmarket peers tracked by Bloomberg. The currency weakened amid rising tensions in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. (Bloomberg)

Currencies

Dollar Gains Against Aussie; Loonie In Focus. The dollar rose against the Australian dollar on Tuesday as gold futures dropped more than 2% and investors anticipated Chinese data that is likely to show a slowing of growth. The Australian dollar fell to 93.57 U.S. cents from 94.17 U.S. cents late Monday. The dollar rose to 1.0977 Canadian dollars from 1.0966 late Monday. The ICE dollar index which pits the dollar against a basket of six rivals, rose to 79.795 from 79.729 late Monday. The dollar traded at ¥101.89 versus ¥101.88. The euro inched down to $1.3812 from $1.3819 late Monday. The British pound edged down to $1.6723 from $1.6730 late Monday. (Market Watch)

Commodities

Brent Oil Rises With Ukraine Tension; Capped By Libya Output. Benchmark Brent oil rose slightly on Tuesday after news that Ukrainian armed forces launched military operations in the east of the country, though gains were limited by the prospect of a resumption of oil exports from Libya. U.S. crude futures fell 30 cents to settle at $103.75. The June contract for Brent, which will become the front-month contract on Wednesday, settled 29 cents higher at $109.36 a barrel. The Brent contract for May, which will expire after settlement on Tuesday, fell 33 cents to $108.74. (Reuters)

Gold Dives 2 Pct On Heavy Stop-Loss Orders, Technicals. Gold tumbled about 2 % on Tuesday on heavy stop-loss orders placed by momentum traders as prices broke below the key 200-day moving average. Spot gold was down 1.8 % at $1,302.89 an ounce by 3:22 p.m. EDT (1922 GMT). Silver prices tracked gold lower, hitting their lowest since Feb. 4 at $19.24 an ounce, down 3.4 %. They were later down 2 % $19.53 an ounce. Palladium was down 1.6 % at $793 an ounce, while platinum fell 1.6 % to $1,436.25 an ounce. (Reuters)