China,
Australia Service Industries Falter
China's
service sector lost some momentum and Australian service industries
contracted further in July, data released Friday showed, the latest
signal of stress in Asia-Pacific economies.
WSJ,
3
August, 2012
The
news followed data Wednesday showing a broad deterioration in Asia's
export-dependent manufacturing sector, which has faced heavy pressure
from a faltering U.S. recovery and a downturn in the euro zone's
crisis-hit economy. The soft readings in domestic-oriented services
industries add to expectations that policy makers in Asia will take
more steps to shore up growth.
China's
official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index fell to 55.6 in
July from 56.7 in June, as Chinese government measures to rein in
property prices took hold. The gauge covers the real estate sector,
among others including retail, aviation and software.
The
reading came in lower than some private estimates, and two days after
China's manufacturing PMI fell to 50.1 from 50.2 in June.
For
both manufacturing and services PMIs, a reading above 50 indicates
that the sector is expanding while below 50 shows contraction.
"China's
economic situation has reached a stalemate. No significant
improvements were seen in July," said Citi economist Ding
Shuang.
A
separate PMI measure of China's services sector compiled by HSBC HBC
-0.48% rose to 53.1 from 52.3 in June.
HSBC
co-head of Asian economic research Frederic Neumann said the Chinese
services PMI data shows China's economy is stabilizing, and is much
less worrying than this week's lackluster manufacturing data.
The
official 55.6 reading shows the economy is still expanding at a
healthy pace, but underlines that Beijing should continue to support
it including with measures to spur construction, given the bleak
external picture, he said.
"Domestic
demand is certainly carrying the load, and will have to for quite
some time," said Neumann.
In
Australia, the Australian Industry Group-Commonwealth Bank
Performance of Services Index fell to 46.5 in July from 48.8 in June.
The parts of the country's economy not directly tied to its booming
mining sector continue to struggle, as a strong Australian dollar
continues to take its toll, Neumann said.
BHP
writes down US shale assets by $US2.8b
BHP
boss gives up bonus after $3b write-down
ABC,
3
August, 2012
BHP
Billiton's chief executive will forgo his annual bonus after
announcing shale gas and nickel write-downs totalling $3.15 billion.
The
company is taking a $2.71 billion hit on the value of its
Fayetteville shale gas fields in the US acquired from Chesapeake
Energy only 18 months ago, in February 2011.
Since
then, the price of gas in the US has roughly halved, and BHP has
shifted its drilling to focus on liquid rich shale fields, with the
price of oil remaining much stronger than natural gas.
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