Industrial production in the People's Republic of China (PRC) expanded by 16.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) in October, following a 13.9% rise in September. Urban investment in fixed assets in the PRC grew by 33.1% y-o-y in the January–October period. Retail sales of consumer goods also climbed in October by 16.2% y-o-y. The PRC’s exports dropped 13.8% y-o-y in October, but this was less than the 15.2% decline in September. Imports fell by 6.4% y-o-y in October compared to a 3.5% decline in the previous month. The PRC's trade surplus widened to USD24 billion in October, which is almost double the USD12.9 billion surplus registered in September. In other economic news, growth in the PRC's money supply, as measured by M2, was at a record-high of 29.4% y-o-y in October, while new loans for the month of October were CNY253 billion, which is about half of September’s loan total of CNY516.7 billion. Consumer price inflation once again stayed below zero at –0.5% y-o-y in October.
- Bumi Resources, Indonesia’s largest coal mining company, issued USD300 million of 7-year bonds with a 12.0% coupon. In Singapore, OCBC Bank issued USD500 million of callable lower tier-2 subordinated bonds with a 4.25% coupon. Hutchison Whampoa issued EUR1.75 billion (USD2.6 billion) of 7-year bonds with a 4.625% coupon, which was the third foreign currency bond from the Hong Kong, China-based conglomerate this year.
- Japan's real gross domestic product (GDP), on a seasonally adjusted basis, rose by an annual rate of 4.8% in 3Q09, compared to 2.7% in the previous quarter. Japan's machinery orders rose by 10.5% month-on-month (m-o-m) in September. In Indonesia, GDP expanded by 4.2% y-o-y in 3Q09, following a 4.0% growth rate posted in the previous quarter, led by hikes in private and government consumption. Malaysia's industrial production fell by 6.0% y-o-y in September, compared to the 7.0% decline in August.
- M3 money supply in the Philippines grew by 11.6% y-o-y in September, following 13.4% growth in August, on the back of an expansion in net foreign assets. The Bank of Korea's Monetary Policy Committee left its base rate at 2.0% last week.
- Government bond yields generally fell in most emerging East Asian markets last week. Yields fell for all maturities in Hong Kong, China and Korea, and for most maturities in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Yield curves generally steepened in most emerging East Asian markets due to a larger drop in short-term yields compared to long-term yields. On the other hand, yields rose for all maturities in Viet Nam and for most maturities in the Philippines. Yield spreads between 2- and 10-year maturities widened in Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the PRC, Singapore, and Thailand, while they narrowed in most other Asian markets.
- Finally, the more interesting data points this week include: GDP for Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand; consumer price inflation for Hong Kong, China; Malaysia; Singapore; and Viet Nam; government budget deficit for the Philippines; unemployment rate for Hong Kong, China; balance of payments for the Philippines; Bank of Japan's target rate for Japan; and external short-term debt for Korea.