USA

No Slowdown in China

China’s banks probably made more new loans in January than the previous three months combined as lenders sought to head off a credit clampdown by policy makers seeking to stem rising inflation pressures.

New bank lending totaled 1.38 trillion yuan ($201 billion) last month, according to the median estimate of 16 economists in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of a government report scheduled for this week. Separate figures are projected to show consumer prices rose the most since 2008 and export gains accelerated.

Regulators are seeking to …

Volume spike in Oil brings rally

Oil rose for the first time in four days as the US mid-Atlantic region braced for a new winter storm in coming days and dug out from a weekend blizzard.

Oil …

Market turns lower

Fears about the sovereign debt of peripheral European nations continued on Monday as investors showed dissatisfaction with the stance of European G7 members.

Although it traded up earlier today, the S&P …

ASIA

Heffo’s Asia Update

Asian share markets looked to be on firmer ground on Today after a series of recent losses, while the euro rose tentatively, investors took a break from selling it off over fiscal concerns in the euro zone and the Obama factor. It is very possible the HSI will turn green today and lead Asia higher.

The MSCI index of Asian shares outside Japan slipped 0.2 percent after dipping to a five-month low, although IT stocks gained, and shares in Shanghai and Seoul turned higher while S&P futures were …

Heffo’s Asian Pre Market

No clear direction from US or European markets will leave us with a flat start across Asia, Metals and oil both had better days so there may be some uptick …

Japan’s Exports Fuel Current Account Surplus

Greater demand for Japan’s exports from China and other Asian nations further bolstered Japan’s current account surplus in December, though the recovery was smaller than expected, in a boost to …

EUROPE

UBS returns to profit

UBS AG, the European bank with the biggest losses from the credit crisis, reported its first quarterly profit in more than a year, helped by a recovery at the investment bank and a lower charge on the company’s debt.

Fourth-quarter net income amounted to 1.21 billion Swiss francs ($1.13 billion), compared with a loss of 9.56 billion francs a year earlier, the Zurich-based bank said in a statement today. Earnings beat the 416 million-franc median estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, helped by a 480 million-franc …

Barclays Capital,Morgan Stanley and UBS see surge of metals

Copper may surge + 34% this year as the global economic recovery gathers momentum, according to Barclays Capital, a unit of London-based Barclays Plc. Paul Ebeling special report.

The …

G7 focuses on Europe debt

Finance chiefs from the world’s rich powers took a close look at European debt problems at an Arctic summit, and a senior official said Europe was determined to solve its …

BRIC

India 7.2% growth as economy recovers

One of Ebeling Heffernan’s favorite economies to watch this year is India. The huge population offers wide ranging opportunities for growth not only as a producer but also as a consumer.

India’s economy should expand by 7.2 per cent this fiscal year, the government forecast on Monday, as growth heads back to the robust levels seen before the global financial crisis.

The projection for the 12 months ending March 2010 was contained in an estimate by the statistics office for use in drafting next year’s budget to be presented …

No Slowdown in China

China’s banks probably made more new loans in January than the previous three months combined as lenders sought to head off a credit clampdown by policy makers seeking to stem …

Emerging Markets Shine

The biggest tumble in developing- nation stocks in 11 months is making investment strategists at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as bullish as ever. …