(RTTNews) - Monday, the week started in Asia with strong trade numbers from China.

The Chinese trade surplus increased to a record US$29.3 billion in September, the Customs Bureau said. Economists were expecting a surplus of US$24.5 billion. In August, the trade surplus totaled US$28.7 billion.

Exports increased 21.5% in September from the previous year to US$136.4 billion, while imports grew 21.3%. Economists had predicted an annual growth of 20% for exports and 22.9% for imports.

The Chinese consumer confidence index deteriorated to 93.8 in the third quarter from 94.1 reported in the prior quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics revealed. The indicator reflecting consumer satisfaction with the current economic situation remained at 90.3 in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the index for economic expectations dropped to 96.2 from 96.7.

In other news, the Bank of Japan is part of the latest joint action by the leading world central banks to boost dollar liquidity in short term funding markets. Under the operation, central banks from Europe will offer unlimited dollar funds at a fixed interest rate. The Fed increased the sizes of the swap lines with these banks. The BoJ said it will be considering the introduction of similar measures.

The Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said the root cause of the present uncertainty in the stock markets was liquidity and not any dramatic change in the fundamentals of the economy. Accordingly, the Indian government along with the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities & Exchange Board has been working in a coordinated fashion, to introduce more measures that could increase liquidity in the financial system, make credit intermediation smoother and raise confidence of investors and depositors, the minister said. Such measures would be announced shortly, the minister added.

The Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said that India might escape the worst consequences of the global financial crisis with its strong internal drivers for growth. However, he said the other three segments of the financial markets-money, debt and credit markets-could be impacted indirectly.

Speaking at the International Monetary and Financial Committee Meeting in Washington DC, Subbarao said emerging and developing economies should be taken into confidence and consulted whenever the policies and actions of the developed countries have implications for them.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, or MAS said it would take any necessary step to safeguard the stability of the financial system, adding that it would also be willing to inject additional liquidity if the need arose.

The approach of the MAS was to include stringent regulation and supervision of financial institutions so that any weaknesses could be identified and addressed at an earlier stage. The MAS had ensured a high level of liquidity in the banking system and there was no necessity to implement any extraordinary measures.

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Posted in Categories: Economy, Eurozone, Forex, Japan, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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