The meeting came ahead of a summit of euro zone leaders on
Sunday that could push for deeper losses or “haircuts” for
owners of Greek bonds.Ackermann is chairman of the IIF, which represents banks
that own Greek bonds and whose backing is important to secure
any restructuring of Greek debt.
* Comments from Germany take wind out of equity rallyTOKYO, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Japan’s Nikkei share average fell
more than 1 percent on Tuesday from a six-week high hit the
previous day on concerns that Europe’s solution to its debt
crisis may not be as fast and comprehensive as some had hoped
for.Shares in Olympus , tumbled for a third day and have
lost 41 percent since its shock dismissal of its CEO, with the
camera and endoscope maker under pressure to disclose details of
payments to advisers in the buyout of a UK-based medical
equipment firm.Germany said on Monday that a summit of EU leaders next
Sunday would not produce a miracle cure for the euro zone’s
sovereign debt crisis, a warning that poured cold water on hopes
of a clear-cut solution to the debt’s crisis.”I’d say more than half of equity rally this month had been
driven by hopes of European policy steps. I thought the rally
would run out of steam after the EU summit but it came faster,”
said Soichiro Monji, chief strategist at Daiwa SB Investments.The Nikkei average fell 1.4 percent to 8,755.46,
while the broader Topix index lost 1.2 percent to
752.95.For now, support for the Nikkei is seen around 8,689, a 38.2
percent retracement of its rally to Monday’s six-week closing
high from its Oct. 5 low, and then at its 25-day moving average,
now around 8,650.Shares of exporters, which had benefited from optimism on
the euro zone’s debt crisis, underperformed the overall market.Machinery manufacturers fell 2.4 percent while
makers of electronics goods fell 2.2 percent and auto
stocks dropped 1.7 percent.Some of those manufacturers, such as Honda and Sony
, have also been hit by concerns over flood damage at
their factories in Thailand.Olympus continued to fall in heavy trade, briefly hitting a
new 2-1/2-year low of 1,455 yen as the company’s feud with
ousted Chief Executive Michael Woodford grows nastier.The company told investors on Monday that it may take legal
action against Woodford, accusing him of disclosing confidential
information in media interviews.Woodford in turn has accused the board of firing him for
probing allegations of improper payments related to
acquisitions, according to media reports.Investors are also focused on U.S. corporate earnings, with
the scorecard so far mixed at best.This week will see reports from Goldman Sachs , Bank
of America , Apple Inc and other prominent
companies.”Looking at U.S. corporate earning so far, I’m left with the
impression that even though EPS is coming in line with
expectations, the top line is weak at many companies. I expect
global shares to slip towards the end of month,” Monji said.
* WSJ Europe parent Dow Jones to meet with ABCOct 13 (Reuters) - Britain’s newspaper circulation auditor
said on Thursday it may re-examine a sponsorship deal between
the Wall Street Journal Europe and a Dutch consulting firm that
raised questions about the Journal’s circulation data.The Audit Bureau of Circulations, which had earlier
approved the sponsorship agreement, said it had recently looked
at it again “based on some new evidence available.”“There now appears to be additional new information which
may give grounds for further investigation,” ABC UK Chief
Executive Jerry Wright said in an e-mailed statement.The Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday that the WSJ
Europe had used the Dutch firm, the Executive Learning
Partnership, to secretly buy thousands of copies of its own
paper, misleading advertisers about its true circulation.WSJ Europe publisher Andrew Langhoff resigned a day earlier
over what the Journal said were ethical issues related to the
paper’s relationship with ELP, which was not disclosed in
articles that prominently mentioned the firm.The Journal, owned by the Dow Jones unit of Rupert
Murdoch’s News Corp , said the Guardian article was
“replete with untruths and malign interpretations.”“Andrew Langhoff resigned because of a perceived breach of
editorial integrity, not because of circulation programs, whose
copies were certified by the ABC UK,” the Journal said on
Wednesday.The Guardian said the WSJ Europe had used ELP to take up to
12,000 copies of the paper per day — about 16 percent of total
circulation — for which it was paying just 1 cent per copy.As part of the deal, the WSJ Europe promised to write
articles that would promote ELP’s activities, the Guardian
said.NO PROMISEELP issued a statement denying that it had been involved in
any scheme to artificially boost the Journal’s circulation, or
that it had been promised any editorial coverage.”ELP is not pleased that our name appears in this context,
which seems to be driven by internal dynamics in WSJE and the
current investigative climate around News Corp organizations,”
the company said.A Dow Jones spokesman said the company has been in contact
with ABC UK since July and reached out again on Thursday.”We have always been transparent with the ABC, and they
have certified this program over recent reporting periods,”
said the spokesperson in an e-mail. “We plan to meet with them
soon and review all the details with them again.”Sponsorship deals are controversial, but not unusual in the
newspaper industry.ABC UK said it had examined the agreement when it was first
set up in 2009 and again when it audited the July-December 2010
circulation figures, and found it to be in order.It said investigations were confidential until complete,
and results were published only in cases where complaints are
upheld.The Guardian has led an investigative campaign into
phone-hacking practices at another Murdoch newspaper, Britain’s
News of the World, which was shut earlier this year as a
result.A spokesman for ABC in the United States said there was no
additional audit or investigation planned of the circulation
practices of the Journal’s U.S. edition.News Corp acquired the Journal, a trophy purchase for
Murdoch, as part of Dow Jones in 2007.Dow Jones competes with Thomson Reuters Corp .
* Analysts say data allows China to ease appreciation trend
for yuan* Data shows China feels the pinch from economic woes in
Europe, U.S.By Langi Chiang and Koh Gui QingBEIJING, Oct 13 (Reuters) - China’s trade surplus narrowed
for a second straight month in September to $14.5 billion, with
both imports and exports lower than expected, reflecting global
economic weakness and domestic cooling that will deepen policy
quandaries facing Beijing.The trade data issued on Thursday laid bare trends at the
heart of Beijing’s debate about how to handle U.S. pressure for
a higher yuan while seeking to protect both export-driven jobs
and tame inflationary pressures.Moments after the data was released, a deputy chief of
China’s customs agency staked out one position in that debate,
saying a higher yuan is already hurting exports.”The rise in the renminbi exchange rate may limit the room
for export growth,” Lu Peijun, the deputy head of the Chinese
customs administration, said at a news conference about the
data. The renminbi is another name for the yuan.”China is still facing relatively big imported inflationary
pressure and trade conditions are also deteriorating,” said Lu.Many traders are already wagering Beijing will tighten its
leash on the yuan, which fell against the dollar on Thursday
after the central bank set a sharply weaker mid-point for daily
trading. Forwards markets are pricing in depreciation of the
currency in the year ahead.But other influential Chinese voices, including an official
newspaper on Thursday, say Beijing may be preparing for a
widening of the yuan’s daily trading band to help fend off
speculators and inflation.September’s trade surplus was smaller than August’s $17.8
billion and less than half of the $31.5 billion recorded in
July. The annual pace of exports to the troubled European Union
more than halved from August.”It is now certain that external demand is falling. Chinese
export growth will continue to slow in the rest of the year,”
said Shi Lei, an analyst for Pingan Securities in Beijing, who
said the figures were unlikely to prompt swift policy shifts.China’s annual inflation stood at 6.2 percent in August, and
leaders have said taming price rises remains a priority.”As falling external demand is expected by Chinese
policymakers, any broad-based loosening of the monetary policy
is unlikely in the short term until we see a clear fall in
inflation,” said Shi. “The window for possible policy easing is
around November and December.”Both imports and exports were weaker than forecast by
economists in a Reuters poll and several analysts said no
rebound is in sight.Exports rose 17.1 percent last month from a year ago,
slowing from a 24.5 percent gain in August, and imports rose
20.9 percent, compared with August’s 30.2 percent increase.Still, the value of China’s imports and exports are near
record highs.”The trade surplus is narrowing on a trend basis. I think
this shows that the Chinese economy is (in the midst) of
rebalancing,” Jian Chang, an economist for Barclays in Hong
Kong.”Going forward, the effect of weakening external demand will
slow export growth to mid- to lower teens. We expect import
growth to hold up better.”SHRINKING SURPLUSChina’s economic growth — which has averaged around 10
percent for a decade — has slowed this year as the global
recovery from the credit crisis stumbled. Second-quarter growth
of 9.5 percent was the weakest since late 2009.Reflecting some concern about the slowdown, China on
Wednesday unveiled measures to support cash-starved small
businesses, which account for 75 percent of employment.Still, if the world did slip into another full-blown
economic crisis, China had the means to support its economy,
said Anoop Singh, head of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific department.”I would say China has the scope to respond were these
downside risks to materialise. What’s important to notice is
that even China’s response would offset a part of the shock. It
could not offset entire shock,” Singh told a news conference.A breakdown of China’s trade numbers showed
shipments of major export and import items slowed markedly.Compared to August, annual growth in China’s electronics
exports slowed by a third to around 13 percent, while that for
high-tech shipments more than halved to 6.3 percent.Annual growth in China’s commodity imports also slowed.
Crude oil shipments fell 12 percent from a year-earlier record
level after holding steady in August.For iron ore imports, annual growth more than halved to 15
percent compared to August, although the volume of shipments was
at an eight-month high.China could point to its reduced trade surplus as evidence
that it is moving to deal with economic imbalances that have
riled lawmakers in the United States, who point to U.S. trade
deficit as evidence that the yuan is drastically under-valued.The U.S. Senate approved a controversial bill on Tuesday
aimed at forcing Beijing to push the yuan higher against the
dollar, which supporters argue would reduce a U.S. trade deficit
with China of more than $250 billion.”The shrinking trade surplus and easing imported inflation
may reduce some pressure for Beijing to quicken the pace of yuan
appreciation,” said Du Zhengzheng, an analyst at China
Development Bank Securities in Beijing.”With exports growing at a slower-than-expected pace, I
think Beijing could slow the pace of nudging up the yuan in the
coming months for fear of hitting its exports too much,
especially when the external demand is weakening.”But the main direction for Beijing’s yuan regime reform
would not be changed, which is to widen the trading band and
guide two-way movements.”In month-on-month terms, China’s exports rose in September
after calendar adjustment by 1.6 percent, versus a decline of
3.3 percent in August and a rise of 5.4 percent in July.China’s overall balance of trade with the United States,
however, remained unchanged in September from August; in both
months China recorded a $20.0 billion surplus.China’s trade surplus with the European Union was $12.9
billion in September, down from $14.8 billion in August.Although the fate of the U.S. currency bill is uncertain, it
has drawn sharp rebukes from Beijing. The central bank argued
that a stronger yuan would not on its own reduce the bilateral
trade imbalance nor save American jobs.”We should say that the narrowing trade surplus will reduce
the risks for a possible world trade war, although the passage
of the currency bill in Washington may actually blur the outlook
for China’s exports,” said Zhang Zhiwei, an economist with
Nomura Securities in Hong Kong.
