Category: Japan & Korea

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Asia: India strengthens

India’s Sensex broke through 19000 to confirm an advance to 20000*. Oscillation of 13-week Twiggs Money Flow above zero indicates long-term buying pressure.

Sensex Index

* Target calculation: 19 + ( 19 – 18 ) = 20

Singapore’s Straits Times Index is testing resistance at 3100. Breakout would indicate a test of the upper trend channel at 3260*. Respect would test the lower channel at 2900. The 63-day Twiggs Momentum trough above zero suggests a primary advance.

Singapore Straits Times Index

* Target calculation: 3100 + ( 3100 – 2940 ) = 3260

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index is retracing to test the new support level at 9200/9300. Respect would confirm an advance to 10200*. Rising 63-day Twiggs Momentum suggests a primary up-trend; look for a trough above zero to confirm.

Nikkei 225 Index

* Target calculation: 9200 + ( 9200 – 8200 ) = 10200

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Asia: India and Japan strengthen

India’s Sensex rallied off support at 18300. Troughs above zero on 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicate long-term buying pressure. That and the mild correction suggest a strong primary up-trend. Breakout above 19000 would signal an advance to 20000*.

Sensex Index

* Target calculation: 19 + ( 19 – 18 ) = 20

Singapore’s Straits Times Index found support at 2930. Breakout above 3100 would indicate a test of the upper trend channel, while reversal below support would test the lower channel. A 63-day Twiggs Momentum trough above zero would suggest an advance; below zero would reflect a ranging market.

Singapore Straits Times Index

* Target calculation: 3000 + ( 3000 – 2700 ) = 3300

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index broke resistance at 9200/9300, signaling an advance to 10200*. Expect retracement to first test the new support level. Rising 13-week Twiggs Money Flow — above zero — indicates medium-term buying pressure.

Nikkei 225 Index

* Target calculation: 9200 + ( 9200 – 8200 ) = 10200

South Korea’s Seoul Composite Index is ranging between 1760 and 2060. Expect another test of 2000. Breakout would indicate a primary up-trend, while respect would mean another test of support at 1860. Narrow oscillation of 63-day Twiggs Momentum around zero is typical of a ranging market.

Seoul Composite Index

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Asia: India & China weaken

India’s Sensex broke support at 18500, warning of another correction. Troughs above zero on 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicate long-term buying pressure; so the correction is likely to be mild. Respect of 18000 would suggest a strong primary up-trend, with an initial target of 20000*.

Sensex Index

* Target calculation: 19 + ( 19 – 18 ) = 20

Singapore’s Straits Times Index broke support at 3000, warning of a correction. Expect support at the lower trend channel. Oscillation of 63-day Twiggs Momentum around zero would reflect a ranging market.

Singapore Straits Times Index

* Target calculation: 3000 + ( 3000 – 2700 ) = 3300

China’s Shanghai Composite Index is testing primary support at 2000. Breakout would offer a target of 1850*. Reversal of 13-week Twiggs Money Flow below zero warns of selling pressure. Recovery above 2150 is unlikely but would complete a double bottom reversal.

Shanghai Composite Index

* Target calculation: 2000 – ( 2150 – 2000 ) = 1850

The Hang Seng Index is undergoing a correction. Breach of 21000 would indicate a test of 20000 and the rising trendline. Falling 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicates medium-term selling pressure but the long-term picture remains bullish with, most likely, another trough above zero. Breakout above 22000 is unlikely at present but would signal an advance to 24000*.

Hang Seng Index

* Target calculation: 22 + ( 22 – 20 ) = 24

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rallied to test resistance at 9200/9300. Rising 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicates medium-term buying pressure. Breakout above 9300 would test 10200. Respect of resistance is unlikely but would suggest another test of primary support at 8200.

Nikkei 225 Index

* Target calculation: 9200 + ( 9200 – 8200 ) = 10200

South Korea’s Seoul Composite Index found support at 1860; recovery above 1900 would suggest another test of 2000. A 13-week Twiggs Money Flow trough above zero would indicate long-term buying pressure. Recovery above 2000 would signal another primary advance.

Seoul Composite Index

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The Foolproof Way

In his 2003 paper Escaping from a Liquidity Trap and Deflation: The Foolproof Way and Others Lars E.O. Svensson describes his Foolproof Way of escaping from a liquidity trap — experienced by countries such as Japan, and lately the US, when central bank interest rates are close to zero.

The Foolproof Way consequently consists of announcing and implementing three measures: 1) an upward-sloping price-level target path, starting above the current price level by a price gap to undo; 2) a depreciation and a crawling peg of the currency; and 3) an exit strategy in the form of the abandonment of the peg in favor of inflation or price-level targeting when the price-level target path has been reached.
As discussed in the previous subsection, a currency depreciation and a crawling peg is unique in providing the central bank with a concrete action that demonstrates the central bank’s commitment to a higher future price level, establishes credibility for the peg, induces private-sector expectations of a higher future price level, and stimulates the economy by reducing the real interest rate. As argued, via a depreciation and a crawling peg with a rate of appreciation approximately equal to the average foreign interest rate, the central bank can actually implement approximately the optimal way to escape from a liquidity trap and strike the optimal balance between current stimulus of the economy and the future price level. Furthermore, as discussed, the exchange rate is unique in providing a relatively direct measure of the private-sector expectations of the future price level.

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The Liquidity Trap

In his 2003 paper Escaping from a Liquidity Trap and Deflation: The Foolproof Way and Others Lars E.O. Svensson describes the liquidity trap experienced by countries such as Japan and lately the US, when central bank interest rates are close to zero percent.

If the nominal interest rate is initially low, which it is when inflation and expected future inflation are low, the central bank does not have much room to lower the interest rate further. But with deflation and expectations of deflation, even a nominal interest rate of zero percent can result in a substantially positive real interest rate that is higher than the level required to stimulate the economy out of recession and deflation. Nominal interest rates cannot fall below zero, since potential lenders would then hold cash rather than lend at negative interest rates. This is the socalled “zero lower bound for interest rates.”
In particular, conventional monetary policy seems unable to provide sufficient stimulus to the economy and address recession and deflation once the zero lower bound for interest rates has been reached. The problem is that the economy is then satiated with liquidity and the private sector is effectively indifferent between holding zero-interest-rate Treasury bills and money. In this situation, standard open-market operations by the central bank to expand the monetary base by buying Treasury bills lead the private sector to hold fewer Treasury bills and more money – but this has no effect on prices and quantities in the economy. When this “liquidity trap” occurs, expanding liquidity (the monetary base) beyond the satiation point has no effect. If a combination of a liquidity trap and deflation causes the real interest rate to remain too high, the economy may sink further into a prolonged recession and deflation.

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Asia: India strong, China & Japan weaken

India’s Sensex continues to hold above 18500, suggesting a healthy up-trend. Rising troughs above zero on 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicate buying pressure. Breakout above 19000 would signal an advance to 21000*.

Sensex Index

* Target calculation: 18.5 + ( 18.5 – 16.0 ) = 21.0

Singapore’s Straits Times Index continues to test support at 3000. Breach of 2950 would test the lower trend channel, while breakout above 3100 would indicate an advance to 3300*. Oscillation of 63-day Twiggs Momentum around zero would reflect a ranging market.

Singapore Straits Times Index

* Target calculation: 3000 + ( 3000 – 2700 ) = 3300

Japan’s Nikkei 225 is headed for another test of medium-term support at 8450 after latest economic numbers warn of a contraction. Failure would test primary support at 8200. Oscillation of 13-week Twiggs Money Flow largely below zero indicates selling pressure. Breach of 8200 would signal a decline to 7200*.

Nikkei 225 Index

* Target calculation: 8200 – ( 9200 – 8200 ) = 7200

South Korea’s Seoul Composite Index is testing medium-term support at 1880 but rising 13-week Twiggs Money Flow reflects buying pressure. Recovery above 1960 would test this year’s high at 2060.

Seoul Composite Index

China’s Dow Jones Shanghai Index is testing primary support at 250. Breakout would offer a target of 225*. Oscillation of 63-day Twiggs Momentum below zero reflects a primary down-trend.

Dow Jones Shanghai Index

* Target calculation: 250 – ( 275 – 250 ) = 225

Rising 13-week Twiggs Money Flow above zero indicates strong buying pressure on the Hang Seng Index. Breakout above 22000 would signal an advance to 24000*. A test of the rising trendline is still a possibility, but a correction that respects support at 20000 would still reflect a healthy up-trend.

Hang Seng Index

* Target calculation: 22 + ( 22 – 20 ) = 24

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Japan economy shrinks as China dispute takes toll

Elaine Kurtenbach at USA Today writes:

Japan’s economy contracted in the latest quarter, signaling that like Europe it may already be in recession, further weighing down world growth. On an annualized basis, the world’s No. 3 economy shrank 3.5% in the July-September quarter, the government reported Monday. It was in line with gloomy forecasts after Japan’s territorial dispute with China hammered exports that were already weakened by feeble global demand……

Rajeshni Naidu-Ghelani at CNBC writes that Japan’s recovery depends on global demand:

Izumi Devalier, Japan economist at HSBC in Hong Kong backed that sentiment saying Japan’s economic development over the past decade shows that it’s been extremely dependent on exports and external demand.

“Sad to say, Japan will have to wait for the overseas economies to pick up before it sees its own economy really lifted,” Devalier told CNBC.

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Asia: India & Hong Kong strengthen

India’s Sensex respected support at 18500. Recovery above 19000 would confirm the primary advance to 21000*. Rising 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicates strong buying pressure. Breach of support is now unlikely, but would warn of a test of primary support at 16500.

Sensex Index

* Target calculation: 18.5 + ( 18.5 – 16.0 ) = 21.0

Singapore’s Straits Times Index continues an anemic up-trend, consolidating below 3100. Reversal below 3000 would test the lower edge of the trend channel. 63-Day Twiggs Momentum below zero would suggest further consolidation, while a fall below -5% would indicate a primary down-trend.

Straits Times Index

China’s Shanghai Composite Index continues to test resistance at 2150 (and the descending trendline). Reversal below support at 2000 would signal a decline to 1800*. But rising 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicates medium-term buying pressure. Upward breakout would test 2250.

Shanghai Composite Index

* Target calculation: 2150 – ( 2500 – 2150 ) = 1800

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index broke resistance at 22000, indicating a primary advance to 26000*. Rising 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicates buying pressure, but wait for retracement to confirm the new support level.

Hang Seng Index

* Target calculation: 22000 + ( 22000 – 18000 ) = 26000

Japan’s Nikkei 225 continues to test resistance at 9200. Breakout would indicate a rally to 10200. Rising 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicates medium-term buying pressure. Respect of 9200, however, would indicate another test of primary support at 8500.

Nikkei 225 Index

* Target calculation: 9200 + ( 9200 – 8200 ) = 10200

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Middle-income traps in Asian countries | FRBSF

Excerpt from a paper by Israel Malkin and Mark M. Spiegel at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The two believe that China’s richest provinces, Beijing and Shanghai, are experiencing a slow-down in GDP growth (per capita) as they experience a classic middle-income trap, while China’s poorer provinces continue to experience high GDP growth rates.

What evidence exists for middle-income traps in a group of Asian economies that, like China, experienced episodes of rapid growth? We pool data for Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan from 1950 to 2009……. growth of these economies slowed markedly after they reached middle-income status.

Growth rates for these economies are highest just below the $10,000 per-capita-income level and then slow down rapidly as income increases. …..[the] economies grew on average at a 4.8% rate when per capita income reached $17,000, down from a high of 7.2% at the $7,800 level.

Interestingly, the middle-income trap appears to arise in Asia at lower income levels than has been found for broader groups of emerging-market economies. It may be that large Asian countries with relatively low prevailing wages cause the dynamic of the middle-income trap to shift. In Asia, countries may begin to become uncompetitive for certain labor-intensive activities at lower income levels than in other parts of the world……

via FRBSF Economic Letter: Is China Due for a Slowdown? (2012-31, 10/15/2012).

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Global QE

Observation made by Philip Lowe, RBA Deputy Governor:

Since mid 2008, four of the world’s major central banks – the Federal Reserve, the ECB, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England – have all expanded their balance sheets very significantly, and further increases have been announced in a couple of cases. In total, the assets of these four central banks have already increased by the equivalent of around $US5 trillion, or around 15 per cent of the combined GDP of the relevant economies. We have not seen this type of planned simultaneous very large expansion of central bank balance sheets before. So in that sense, it is very unusual, and its implications are not yet fully understood……

via RBA: Australia and the World.

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