China reports first trade deficit in two years

Fundamental outlook EMPLOYMENT rate increased in US as the possibility of a rate hike looms closer. Crude prices declined as shale oil production by US manufacturers increased.

China recorded a trade deficit for the first time in two years amid low consumer prices. European Central Bank (ECB) retained its policy as it observes the economic performance of the region.

US factory orders rose 1.2 per cent in January, matching forecast. Trade deficit widened to US$48.5 billion in January compared with US$44.3 billion recorded in the previous month. US weekly claims for jobless benefits remained stagnant at 243,000 last week, recovering from a 44-year low record.

Monthly payroll saw 235,000 jobs in February, the best recorded in seven months. Unemployment stayed at 4.7 per cent. US crude inventory on weekly basis rose significantly to 8.2 million barrels as at March 4, beating forecast.

Saudi energy official warned US oil firms not to take advantage of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ ( OPEC) decision to cut production by increasing shale oil production in the US. The statement comes after WTI Crude prices plunged below US$50 per barrel due to the increase in supply from US.

China reported a rare trade deficit for first time since February 2014 with a 60 billion yuan gap. Export dropped 1.3 per cent while import jumped 38.1 per cent.

Consumer prices surprisingly grew 0.8 per cent in February on a yearly basis, falling for first time in two years, below the one per cent benchmark. Producer prices jumped 7.8 per cent compared to a year ago, after rising 6.9 per cent in January.

Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter (4Q) while current account surplus expanded 1.2 trillion yen in January, still lower than 1.66 trillion yen recorded in the previous month.

GDP in the eurozone for 4Q was at 0.4 per cent, unchanged from the previous quarter. The ECB retained its policy by maintaining the refinance interest rate at zero. The bank’s overnight deposit rate stayed at minus 0.4 per cent while policymakers forecast a 1.8 per cent growth in 2017.

UK manufacturing production slumped 0.9 per cent in January from 2.2 per cent gains recorded in the previous month. The trade gap between exports and imports for January was at 10.8 billion pounds. Technical forecast US dollar/ Japanese yen advanced to 115 last week, driven by mild bullish sentiments. The trend could be supported at 113.20 region this week with a possibility of going above the 115.50 resistance. Beyond this point, our next target is 117.50.

Euro/US dollar reversed from its uptrend on Friday after ECB announced that it would be retaining its policy. The trend might be resisted at 1.07, similar to what we predicted last week, while moving sideways above the 1.05 support.

New buying interest could happen it the trend closes above 1.07. British pound/US dollar went down to its two-month low as the trend approached 1.215 level.

The trend is likely moving into bearish sentiments unless it could close above 1.23 levels again. This week, we observe the major benchmark at 1.2 as support is possible and a sideways movement could happen before Thursday. Breaking beneath 1.2 support indicates new bears.

Disclaimer: This article was written for general information only. No liability by the writer or newspapers. Dar Wong is a registered fund manager in Singapore with 28 years of trading experience in global Derivatives & FX markets. He can be reached at dar@pwforex.com.

According to chief executive officer Albern Murty in an exclusive with The Borneo Post, Digi is clearly the preferred digital partner for internet-loving Sarawakians, who are among the highest data users on the group’ network.

“This continued trust from our customers is what drives us to continue challenging ourselves to deliver excellent retail, digital and network experiences for them,” he said.

“Even more so now that the digital world is expanding and customers want to do much, much more on their smartphones.”

He added, “This year, we plan to further expand our 4G plus network into new areas because of the growing demand for internet services in the region, which includes deploying services on our 900Mhz spectrum to provide stronger indoor service, wider coverage and better network capacity.”

In Sarawak, Murty affirmed that Digi has invested more than RM135 million collectively in capex over the past three years to support the group’s focus in bringing high-quality retail and network service experience to customers here.

“To make it easy for customers to engage with us physically, we have refreshed our touch points in prime locations in Sibu, Miri and Kuching among others, while working with our partner dealers to widen our accessibility in other areas of Sarawak including Kota Sentosa, Matang and Vivacity

This continued trust from our customers is what drives us to continue challenging ourselves to deliver excellent retail, digital and network experiences for them.

Megamall in Kuching, Star Mega Mall in Sibu, Imperial Mall in Miri and Jalan Masjid Lama in Sarikei in addition to the existing touchpoints state-wide,” he added.

On the network front, Digi has remained steadfast in building and maintaining a network that provides both expansive coverage and excellent quality.

Digi has and continues to work closely with the state and relevant state-backed companies (SBCs) to build a wide fibre and sites network that will ensure East Malaysians get quality service coverage wherever they are.

“These collaborations are important in building East Malaysia into a leading digital region, and the success of the state to benefit from all the social and economic opportunities that come with digitisation.

“These efforts have seen us expanding our network to cover 38 cities and towns in the state,” Murty said.

He added that this includes delivering 4G LTE services into towns further out of the city such as Lundu, Limbang and Lawas among others, and strong 4G+ services in key market centres like Kuching, Miri, Bintulu, Miri, Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau.

Murty went on to highlight that where there is 4G and 4G+ coverage, Digi’s customers can now enjoy VoLTE services.

Digi’s network footprint currently is respectively 79 per cent for 3G, 73 per cent for 4G LTE and 25 per cent for 4G+.

Beyond connectivity, Digi is also a big believer that the group is in a position to make a difference in the lives of many, and must do its part to contribute to the betterment of the community where it operates.

“One of the ways is by being a good, equal-opportunity employer creating job opportunities where we are able. We are pleased to share that there are over 2,700 Sarawakians employed in the Digi ecosystem currently,” Murty said.

Digi has also worked with the local entrepreneur community on different platforms across the entrepreneurship spectrum to energise the entrepreneur ecosystem and enable new businesses to start up through the group’s flagship business accelerator and incubator programmes, Digi Accelerate and Digi Incub8.

He added that the latter in particular is focused on being a launchpad for new and budding East Malaysian entrepreneurs in the early stages of venturing into their new businesses.

Overall, Digi hopes its customers will take advantage of the steady network experience built for entertainment, and innovations in our postpaid and prepaid products to do what they love on their mobile – whether for music and video streaming or gaming onthe-go, handle their accounts and consumption anytime, anywhere they want to.

“The idea is for them to fully be in control of their own digital experiences, and for us to enable them easily for customers,” he said.

Albern Murty, Digi CEO