CHINA
Factory price inflation spikes
Factory price inflation, a key barometer of the industrial sector, last month accelerated sharply, reflecting strong demand and a reduction in excess capacity that has plagued the nation’s economy. The producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 6.3 percent year-on-year, much faster than expected and compared with the 5.5 percent registered in July, the National Bureau of Statistics reported yesterday. The consumer price index, a main gauge of retail inflation, rose 1.8 percent year-on-year, stronger than the 1.4 percent posted a month earlier, but still well below the government’s target of 3 percent.
CANADA
Unemployment extends fall
Statistics Canada on Friday released figures that showed the labor market is in its longest run of employment gains since the 2008-2009 recession, with signs also emerging that sluggish wages are also on the rise and companies are quickly running out of capacity. The country last month added 22,200 jobs, the ninth straight monthly gain, versus market expectations for a gain of 15,000, while annual average hourly wage gains hit 1.8 percent, the highest since October last year, agency data showed. The jobless rate fell to 6.2 percent last month, the lowest since 2008, the data showed.
MAURITIUS
Export sectors to get support
The government is to provide foreign currency support to sugar and other export-oriented sectors to cushion them against the impact of a strong Mauritian rupee, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development said on Friday. Businesses have over the past few weeks been calling on policymakers to intervene after export revenues fell 8 percent to 20.5 billion rupees (US$623.4 million) year-on-year in the first six months of the year. Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth on Friday told business executives that the government would introduce an exchange rate support scheme, a statement from the ministry said. The rupee is up 9 percent against the US dollar so far this year and down 5 percent against the euro.
RETAIL
Target shares fall over sales
Target Corp said it is discounting thousands of products throughout its stores, sending its stock down and dragging most of the retail sector with it. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based retailer, which is spending billions to remodel stores and strengthen its online business, on Friday said that it would continue “to offer additional savings on the right products at the right times.” Target reported its online sales last quarter jumped 32 percent and revenue beat Wall Street expectations. However, shares in Target closed down 2 percent after the company’s announcement.
FINANCE
Agran quits Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs Group Inc commodities trading cohead Greg Agran is leaving the bank after 26 years, according to an internal memo on Friday. Jeremy Taylor and Ed Emerson are to continue to serve as coheads of commodities trading, the memo said. Goldman in July posted the weakest commodities results in its history as a public company. In its second-quarter earnings, Goldman reported a 40 percent slump in fixed income trading, driven in large part by poor performance in its commodities group.
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