Dawn of a year of trading dangerously

From Reuters Out with the old year, in with the new and for investors uncertainty is likely to be the only certainty once more. The euro zone debt crisis is far from resolved, turmoil in the Arab world has shifted to Syria and Iran has threatened to stop the flow of oil from the Gulf if sanctions are imposed due to its nuclear ambitions. 2011 was a dire year for equities outside the United States with world stocks poised to drop by around eight percent and emerging...

Gold’s ‘death cross’ signals more losses coming

From Reuters Gold’s 20-day moving average falling below its 200-day and its brief foray into a bear market suggest momentum has turned bearish and a further pullback could be on its way. Bullion’s 20-day moving average dipped below its 200 DMA on Thursday, in what technical analysts termed a ‘death cross,’ as the short-term momentum has turned more negative than long-term trend. That could show that the current downtrend is pervasive. ‘Any time there is a death cross,...

Santa rally may face test next week

From Reuters Get ready. The last trading week of the year will be a test for stocks to prove whether they have the strength to carry a rally into next year. The broad S&P 500 index broke through its 200-day moving average on Friday after turning positive for the year as a four-day rally lifted stocks following a spell of better-than-expected economic data. At Friday’s close, the S&P 500 was up 0.6 percent for the year. But despite the recent economic data...

Euro creeps higher but vulnerable into 2012

From Reuters The euro edged up versus the dollar on Friday with risk appetite underpinned by upbeat U.S. data but with the euro zone crisis unresolved, investors were likely to sell the single currency again in 2012. A drop in U.S. weekly claims for jobless benefits to a 3-1/2-year low and improved U.S. consumer sentiment in December boosted stocks and kept the euro afloat, though traders said flows were light as year-end holidays approached. The single currency...

Fragile euro edges higher, helped by U.S. data

From Reuters The euro edged up versus the dollar on Friday with risk appetite underpinned by better U.S. data, but investors were likely to sell the currency again in 2012 while the euro zone remained plagued by uncertainty surrounding its debt crisis. A drop in U.S. weekly claims for jobless benefits to a 3-1/2-year low as well as an improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment in December boosted stocks and kept the euro afloat, though traders said flows were light...

Asian shares up as US data spur year-end bounce

From Reuters Asian stocks rose more than 1 percent and U.S. index futures also gained on Friday, as signs of a strengthening economy in the United States encouraged a year-end bounce for riskier assets. European shares were also expected to open higher, helped by a 0.5 percent rise in S&P 500 index futures that pointed to further gains when U.S. trading resumes. Wall Street stocks had risen for a third straight day on Thursday, leaving the S&P 500 index...

Japan set to enter dollar swap agreement with India

From Reuters The Japan government is considering a dollar swap arrangement with India to provide emergency liquidity in case the European debt crisis reaches emerging economies, the Nikkei business newspaper reported on Sunday. The agreement would set the total swap arrangement at $10 billion, or 780 billion yen, the Nikkei said. Both countries are looking to sign off on the arrangement next Wednesday, when leaders meet at a bilateral summit, the paper said. The...

Bangladesh Bank speeds up financial inclusion, says governor Atiur Rahman

From The Daily Star Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Atiur Rahman yesterday said the central bank has intensified financial inclusion movement to ensure sustainable development. It increased credit flow to agriculture, small and medium enterprises and environment-friendly projects, he said. “The central bank has taken various steps to help the government ensure sustainable development and equitable economic growth for poverty reduction,” the governor said while addressing...

Celebrating the successes of small efforts

From The Daily Star ‘NO society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which by far the greater part of the numbers are poor and miserable’ - Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations (1776). Sadly, poverty is still a scar on humanity’s face and a denial of every ‘basic human right’—health, education, housing, food, water and energy, and access to fairer banking and credit. The idea of small, ‘collateral-free’ loans for poor—developed by Nobel Peace Prize-winning Bangladeshi...

Bangladesh mobile operators’ infrastructure sharing at stake

From The Daily Star A regulatory move is holding back Bangladesh’s mobile operators’ infrastructure sharing business with other service providers. According to a decision of the regulator, the mobile companies will now have to share their network through a common network. Also, the mobile operators will not be allowed to do such business in the areas where the common network—Nationwide Telecommunications Transmission Network (NTTN) -- has coverage. Now two local...

United Airways to connect Muscat

From The Daily Star Local private carrier United Airways (BD) will open flights to Muscat in January, targeting mainly Bangladeshi migrant workers in Oman. The airline plans to start flying to the Arab state in the third week of the next month, it said in a statement yesterday. “We have obtained permission from Muscat Civil Aviation Authority to operate on the route with our own Airbus-310 having 250 seats,” said Tasbirul Ahmed Choudhury, chairman and managing director...

Low prices cut into RMG export growth: analysts

From The Daily Star A drastic reduction in prices of cotton, yarn and fabrics has slowed down export growth, analysts and exporters said. As the prices of raw materials are low, the products have become cheaper and the buyers now pay less for their garment purchase, they said. According to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) statistics, overall exports grew by only 2.4 percent in November this year compared to the same month in the previous year. The growth was 15.44...

As euro steadies, fund managers hedge bearish bets

From Reuters The European debt crisis roiled markets all year, producing the most volatile trading since the 2008-2009 meltdown. That is, except in one market -- the euro. Fund managers that bet on a volatile, wild year of losses in the euro are paring back positions against the single currency going into 2012 after its surprising resilience to Europe's sovereign debt crisis damaged their portfolios. Many still expect market turmoil arising from Europe's debt...