EURO DROPS AS GERMAN INFLATION RATE TURNS NEGATIVE AGAIN

Germany’s inflation rate has turned negative, for the first time since January.

The German consumer prices index fell by 0.2% year-on-year this month, according to new data from the Federal Statistics Office.

Analysts had expected the CPI to be unchanged; this negative reading could intensify calls for the European Central Bank to increase its QE programme.

The euro gave up 0.28% to trade at 1.1212 against the dollar.

Credit: mql5.com

Thank you for reading EURO DROPS AS GERMAN INFLATION RATE TURNS NEGATIVE AGAIN.

SINGAPORE ENTERS BEAR MARKET, ASIAN SHARES MOSTLY LOWER

On Monday Singapore’s FTSE Straits Times Index was down 1.6%, putting the index in bear market territory — defined as a 20% fall from a recent peak.

Stocks in Singapore, a commodities-trading hub, have come under pressure amid signals of China’s dipping economy and weak business climate, which have hurt commodities prices.

Earlier Monday, the world's second largest economy reported its August industrial profits fell 8.8% from a year earlier.

Singapore-listed firms that focus on offshore marine engineering and commodities led the declines, with SembCorp Marine down 3.4% and Noble Group shedding 2.2%.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average was down 1.32% and the Shanghai Composite added 0.27%, while Australia's S&P ASX 200 was up 1.35%.

In Japan, some investors are reestimating how realistic expectations of additional monetary easing by the Bank of Japan would be, which contributed to selling in Tokyo, said Soichiro Monji, general manager of economic research at Daiwa SB Investments.

On Friday Japanese shares rose 1.8%, partly driven by hopes of more monetary easing after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the prime minister’s residence early that afternoon to discuss the economy.

Abe also said during a news conference after the market closed Friday that he wasn’t considering an immediate stimulus package.

The Japanese economy is shrinking, prompting some economists to question whether the “Abenomics” growth program is at risk of failing. On Thursday Abe said that he would aim to increase the size of the economy by around a fifth, without specifying exactly how or when that would be accomplished. Economists were skeptical.

Meanwhile, many investors see a buying opportunity in Tokyo, where corporate earnings are at record highs.

The Nikkei is near a bottom and a drop in commodity prices will provide “significant merits” to the economy in the longer term, said Masayuki Kubota, chief strategist at Rakuten Securities.

Credit: mql5.com

Thank you for reading SINGAPORE ENTERS BEAR MARKET, ASIAN SHARES MOSTLY LOWER.

BLOOMBERG'S ROBIN HOOD INDEX: HOW MUCH EACH PERSON WOULD GET IF THE RICHEST ONE IN THE COUNTRY GAVE MONEY TO THE POOR?

How would the global wealth be distributed if at least one billionaire from each country became a Robin Hood and gave out his or her fortune to the poor?

Bloomberg's analysts took a spattering of 42 countries with completely different demographics and economies, and then compared the wealthiest persons to the percentage of the populations living in poverty.

What is notable is that the richest person in Chile, Holland, France and Australia is a woman.

The gauge shows how the net worth of each country's wealthiest person compares to the livelihood of his fellow countrymen by calculating the lump sum in dollars each person living in poverty would get if the assets of the richest citizen were redistributed.

The net worth of Bill Gates would turn into a one-off payment of $1,736 if distributed to the neediest 15 percent of Americans.

In Cyprus and Sweden the poor would gain the most, - $45,987 and $33,149 respectively, yet they are also exceptional, as they have small populations — the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean has 1.1 million people — and quite high level of life — Sweden ranks among the highest when it comes to GDP per capita.

Moreover, analysts admit that quantifying the boost from each payout is hard because each dollar will buy you something different in local currency terms. The poverty line also varies from nation to nation.

Xredit: mql5.com

Thank you for reading BLOOMBERG'S ROBIN HOOD INDEX: HOW MUCH EACH PERSON WOULD GET IF THE RICHEST ONE IN THE COUNTRY GAVE MONEY TO THE POOR?.