Dukascopy Market and Economic Research

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on EUR.

Full research available here.



Unlike most of its major counterparts, the single European currency was not subjected to wide fluctuations in its the value. The five-day change totalled to merely 0.04%, whereas at the same time the New Zealand Dollar gained 0.86% and the U.S. Dollar plunged 0.97%. Other currencies finished the trading week somewhere in between. Accordingly, the Euro appreciated the most against the U.S. Dollar, namely 0.9%, but at the same time underperformed relative to the kiwi and the Yen—0.72 and 0.75 per cent respectively.





The farthest positive point from its base value the Euro’s equally-weighted index reached on Jul 24, when it surged up to 100.35 amid the promising statistics on the bloc’s secondary and tertiary sectors, even though the global sentiment suffered from the disappointing data on Chinese manufacturing industry that failed to pick up. The rally in the Euro, however, was stopped by the reports on the well-being of the U.S. economy, real estate and manufacturing of which seem to be improving.
The farthest negative level (99.77) was hit a day earlier, although there were no specific reasons for the investors to reduce their exposure towards the common currency. On the contrary, the context favoured bullish tendency, since the consumer sentiment appears to be gradually ameliorating, but was not realised.

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on USD.

Full research available here.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

The data published lately concerning the U.S. economy have been mixed, giving neither distinctively positive nor distinctively negative signal. While reports on home sales and manufacturing showed somewhat promising figures, unemployment claims and, more recently, consumer confidence took away a significant portion from the optimism. Respectively, the U.S. Dollar, failing to find strong support from the fundamental side, was moving calmly and in close proximity to its base value (100) and therefore stayed largely directionless.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

In the end, the Dollar’s equally-weighted index managed to lift above the starting point and end the five-day period 0.4% higher after dipping down to 99.43 last Friday amid lowered expectations of the market. However, we would not associate the latest rally with improvement in the sentiment towards the greenback, but rather associated with a massive sell-off of the Australian Dollar triggered by the speech of RBA governor Glenn Stevens, who was explicit in saying that a possibility of a rate cut by the central bank persists. Additional boost to the buck’s value was provided amid the weakness in the Swedish Krona, the price of which was damaged by worse-than-expected growth of the economy.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on GBP.

Full research available here.



Performance of the British Pound over the past five trading days was somewhat different from what was implied by the macroeconomic indicators. Since Jul 26 we have come into possession of the data showing that the manufacturing sector in the United Kingdom is gaining steam and consumer confidence improved by a wide margin, its gauge reached a three-year high. Moreover, the Monetary Policy Committee does not seem to be willing to enhance the asset purchase facility anymore, after the last meeting there are no more proponents of additional liquidity being injected into the economy.



Notwithstanding, the Sterling proved to be unable to advance against such a favourable background. On Tuesday and Thursday the currency did attempt to price in the positive statistics, but the rallies turned out to be unsustainable and were soon offset by the subsequent sell-offs. As a result, the equally-weighted index of the Pound fell 0.6% during a five-day period.
However, the results could have been substantially worse, if it was not for a massive debasement of the Australian Dollar—one of a few factors that helped the Sterling to stay afloat (GBP/AUD went up to 1.8%).

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on EUR.

Full research available here.





Last week was notable for the single European currency in the sense that it has finally chosen a particular direction to trade in rather than remaining flat, namely has started trending upward. Even though there were no game-changing decisions made, nor there were any exceptionally positive for the Euro events taking place, investors were still generally increasing their exposure towards the currency over the last five trading days, leading to its 1.6% appreciation on average relative the major counterpart since Jul 29.





Given there were no direct reasons for the Euro to gain in value, we may safely assume it became attractive only as a result of the background that benefited the Euro, although it is more apparent in the third section of this research, on the currency’s significance.
The only currencies that were able to challenge bullishness of the Euro were the U.S. Dollar and the Swiss Franc, tendencies of which, unlike the Euro’s, were justified by the macroeconomic factors. While the latter became more expensive amid the inflation report, the former is recovering after the sell-off, mainly because of the good data, such as non-farm employment change. Meanwhile, the Antipodeans gave up 4% of their worth vis-à-vis the common currency.

July Release of Dukascopy Bank Sentiment Index

(Video version of the report will be available shortly. You will be able to find it here.)

- The six-month global economic sentiment index rose to 0.59 from 0.57 in June. The three-year economic outlook deteriorated 0.03 to 0.66, the lowest level since October 2012.

- The European six-month economic outlook improved 0.04 to 0.42. The three-year economic prospects worsened to 0.51, down from 0.58 in June when they deteriorated another 0.03.

- Respondents became slightly more optimistic about the six-month North American economic prospects. The six-month economic sentiment index climbed to 0.71. The three-year economic outlook worsened to 0.73.

- The Asia-Pacific six-month and three-year economic outlooks were little changed. The six-month outlook climbed 0.02 to 0.65 and the three-year economic outlook was unchanged at 0.73 from the prior month.



Figure 3 presents the term structure of the Dukascopy Bank Sentiment Index (Y-axis) mapped against GDP growth forecasts made by poll respondents (X-axis). Overall, DBSI values and GDP growth forecasts match directionally, suggesting the global economy will perform better three years from now.
Poll respondents suggest that the European economy will be flat in 2013 and will expand 0.63 per cent three years from now.
Respondents revised the North American six-month and three year economic growth forecasts to 1.87% and 2.34% in July, from 1.80% and 2.60% respectively in June.
The Asia-Pacific economic growth prospects remain the most promising, despite lower sentiment compared to North America region. Experts forecast growth of 3.43% and 3.90% six months and three years from now respectively.



Figure 4 presents the business cycle and its phases - expansion (real GDP is increasing), peak (real GDP stops increasing and begins decreasing), contraction or recession (real GDP is decreasing), and trough (real GDP stops decreasing and begins increasing).
A majority of respondents (15) claim the European economy is contracting and twelve say it is in a recessionary trough. Less than a half (12) believe that the European economy will be expanding three years from now.
Experts became more uncertain about the North American 3-year EDS - 18 experts forecast expansion, 6 say the economy will reach its peak and 4 claim the economy may slide into a recession.
Respondents are largely united about Asia-Pacific economic development stages - a majority (20) believe that the regional economy will be expanding both six months and three years from now.

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on USD.

Full research available here.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

Judging by the latest data, the economy of the United States is improving and its denial is becoming harder and harder to justify with each new week. A series of promising reports was started by the GDP growth figure that by a wide margin exceeded broad expectations. The optimistic flow was kept by the continuously falling unemployment claims, improving situation in the manufacturing and services sectors. Moreover, one of the most important macroeconomic indicators, namely the unemployment rate, ticked lower, while the trade deficit also added to the overall bright picture—it narrowed by a substantial amount.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

It would be then reasonable to equate these positive results to a decreasing likelihood of extended period of the asset purchases, which in turns leads to a conclusion that the U.S. Dollar is bound to display bullishness and generally appreciate. However, its equally-weighted index failed to do so, finishing the five-day period where it started.

At first the greenback was moving in the implied direction, it gained 1.1% during the first two days. Then the only fly in the ointment, namely non-farm employment change, has completely negated the bullish tendency. Additionally, it prevented subsequent news from positively impacting the valuation of the buck.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on JPY.

Full research available here.



The Japanese Yen was behaving counter-intuitively over the past five trading days, being that the overall outlook on the currency is strongly bearish, especially in the longer-term perspective. However, as it turns out, unprecedentedly large stimulative measures currently undertaken by the Bank of Japan are by a wide margin insufficient to dampen the demand for the Yen. Its equally-weighted index appreciated the most among its major counterparts, namely 1.5%. The largest gains were staged against the U.S. Dollar (2.9%) and against the Canadian Dollar (2.7%).



The only currency able to challenge bullishness of the Yen proved to be the British Pound that on average has become 1.4% more expensive since Aug 2, mainly due to the upbeat data on construction sector and inflation report both of which substantially increased the British Pound’s attractiveness in the Forex market. These events occurred on Aug 2 and Aug 7, the same dates when the Japanese Yen posted the largest rallies—0.7 and 1.1 per cent respectively. This performance was largely associated with weakness in other currencies, such as in NZD, USD, EUR and CAD, while the BOJ appeared to be reluctant for the time being to make any new steps in order to accelerate economic growth, thereby exacerbating the effect.

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on EUR.

Full research available here.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

Confidence of the market with respect to the common currency appears to be on the decline, considering that its value on average lost 1.3% within the last five trading days, thus negating the monthly advancement, while in the longer term the tendency remains bullish (+3%).
The only currency the Euro was able to outperform turned out to be the U.S. Dollar, specifically it gained 0.5% vis-à-vis the greenback. Relative to the rest of the counterparts the Euro gave up from as little as 0.3% (relative to CHF) to as much as 2.8% (relative to NZD).





The sell-off of the Euro occurred regardless the plethora of positive data on the 17-nation bloc. Eurozone services sector and retail sales published Monday exceeded expectations, but did not manage to prevent depreciation of the single currency that amounted to 0.6% on Aug 5.
Afterwards it was the flagman of the Euro area, Germany, that raised the chance of the currency stepping higher, since the country’s factory orders, industrial production and trade balance were notably better than expected. Nevertheless, the optimism completely disappeared from the markets on Wednesday, once the disappointing Canadian data came out, forcing the Euro to slip 0.3% within a few hours.

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on USD.

Full research available here.



With the exception of Aug 9, the U.S. Dollar was rarely standing in the same place for long, moving either up or down, depending on the sentiment in the market. For example, last Wednesday and Thursday investors were reluctant to purchase the greenback and the excess of supply drew the index lower, by 0.5% and 0.4% respectively. In this case even fairly optimistic figure of the unemployment claims failed to underpin the Dollar’s value, while sharp appreciation of the Sterling (inflation report) and Australian Dollar (unemployment rate) weighed upon the currency.





After a reprieve the U.S. Dollar took last Friday due to a lack of macroeconomic releases on the state of the United States, it managed to reverse the tendency and started gaining value. An increase in the currency’s attractiveness may be attributed to hopes that retail sales that were to be published on Aug 13 would restore confidence the economy is improving, this turned out to be the case in the end.
However, we must note that a precipitous decline of the Japanese Yen (over 1%) amid the lagging GDP growth rate and a pending issue with the taxes also played a notable role in this week’s buoyancy of the Dollar, allowing it to erase all of the prior losses.

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on CHF.

Full research available here.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

Last week there were already some doubts whether the Swiss Franc deserves appreciation, as it was sliding along with the common currency. The bearish tendency was preserved after the weekend as well, despite some of the positive reports that have been published lately, such as on retail sales and economic expectations. On Tuesday, amid the improving economic setting in the Eurozone, the Franc decoupled from the Euro and started moving south at an accelerated pace, creating a significant gap between the indices of these currencies.





In the end, even a substantial increase in value on Thursday (+0.8%) proved to be unable to remove the Franc from the list of the worst-performing currencies, on average it gave up 0.8% of its worth since last Friday, lagging behind all of its major peers, with the only justifying debasement fundamental factor being stagnant producer prices.
Against the New Zealand Dollar the Swiss Franc moved the most, namely 1.8% down, being that demand for kiwi was boosted by an improving economic picture (the volume of retail sales grew more than expected). The second most notable decline was recorded in GBP/CHF—1.3%, since the Sterling was buoyed by the constant inflow of positive data—falling number of claimants and increasing retails sales.

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on EUR.

Full research available here.




The beginning of the last week the Euro started quite confidently, appreciating by 0.4%, although the data was not unanimously positive for the bloc. While the sentiment in the Eurozone seemed to be improving, industrial production was well below the estimations, but did not manage to lead the single currency astray from the bullish path. Accordingly, the Euro was predisposed to rally farther, especially considering that the GDP posted a positive growth rate after a long period of contraction.




Nevertheless, Wednesday turned out to be a bearish day, as the currency gave up all of its prior gains. The factor that weighed upon the Euro was strongly bullish behaviour of the British Pound that in turn got buoyed by the positive data published in the morning. Later on the Euro attempted to recommence a recovery, but the rally, made mainly at the expense of the U.S. Dollar that incurred significant losses amid the disappointing manufacturing statistics (-0.8%), proved to be unsustainable and was quickly eroded. As a result, for the period from Aug 12 to Aug 16 the Euro became on average only 0.2% more expensive, while the Sterling and the New Zealand Dollar became respectively 1% and 1.1% more expensive.

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on USD.

Full research available here.



On the whole the U.S. Dollar has been bearish since Aug 14, losing 0.6% of its value if viewed as an equally-weighted index consisting of eight pairs. The currency underperformed the most relative to the Swiss Franc (-1.6%) due to an influx of funds into the safe havens, and the British Pound (-1.3%), considering that the United Kingdom’s economic statistics are improving and the central bank therefore is not willing to enhance the stimulus. However, the debasement of the buck was not ubiquitous, it was able to become more expensive with respect to its counterparts from Oceania and with respect to its northern counterpart as well.





The bearishness of the currency was well-justified by the fundamental factors, being that most of the releases displayed a weak side of the U.S. economy, specifically in the manufacturing sector. Meanwhile, a fractional improvement in the labour market, shown by the decrease in the unemployment claims, was insufficient to restore the sentiment and provided only a temporary relief.
The effect of the disappointing numbers was amplified by the anticipation of the FOMC meeting minutes that are expected to give more insight into the plans of the Fed regarding the QE3. Against the background of weak macroeconomic picture, the officials may deem necessary to postpone the wrap-up of the currently running programme.

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on GBP.

Full research available here.



In the absence of figures that would speak explicitly about the state of the U.K.’s economy, this week there were only public sector net borrowing and industrial orders expectations figures, the British Pound preserved the bullish momentum received last week. Then a series of various statistics was confidently speaking in favour of improving economic conditions, namely in the retail sector and in the labour market. Consequently, the Sterling appreciated by 0.7%, adding to already the most impressive among the peers monthly (2.1%) and half-year (5.7%) up-moves.





The largest portion of the latest gains of the Pound’s equally-weighted index were attributed to GBP/NZD that advanced 3%, since the New Zealand Dollar appears to have suffered the most from the outflow of funds from the emerging markets and the general risk-off sentiment ahead of the FOMC meeting minutes. In the meantime, despite the improving outlook with respect to the United Kingdom, it underperformed relative to the European currencies and the U.S. Dollar, since a lack of the positive reinforcement in the form of the positive data has led to the eventual exhaustion of the rally, while there were appearing more and more reasons for the investors to enhance their exposure towards the Euro.

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on EUR.

Full research available here.




Despite the presence of some bearish factors, such as worse-than-expected German PPI (Aug 20) and disappointing services and manufacturing PMI in the several Euro area countries, the average price of the common currency was unceasingly moving upwards, posting gains every day of the last week. In the end this summed up into a 1.3% appreciation, leaving most of the counterparts, especially the New Zealand Dollar, far behind (EUR/NZD soared 4.1%). The only currency to outperform the Euro turned out to be the Swiss Franc (EUR/CHF slid 0.3%), whereas against the Swedish Krona it largely stayed unchanged.





While each day since Aug 19 the Euro has been bullish, the speed of appreciation varied quite noticeably depending on the context of the market. Surprisingly, the most impressive thrust in value the currency staged last Tuesday, when German producer prices were reported to decline. However, the effect of the information shared by the Bundesbank on the timing of the changes in the monetary policy previous day, amplified by the weakening U.S. Dollar in the wake of the FOMC meeting minutes that were to be released later in the day, proved to be beneficial for the shared currency that is now 4.7% more expensive than it was half a year ago, being second only to the British Pound—it is currently 6.2% more valuable than six months ago.

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on USD.

Full research available here.



Without looking at the dynamics in the U.S. Dollar currency index over the past five trading days, it may seem that the investors in the foreign exchange market have become more confident in the well-being of the world’s largest economy. We can come to such a conclusion considering exclusively the fact that on average the greenback is 0.6% more expensive now than it was on Aug 21. Moreover, the currencies that the buck did not manage to outperform, namely the Japanese Yen and Swedish Krona, were not able to increase the advantage to a substantial level, gaining merely 0.16% and 0.1% relative to the buck.





On the other hand, if we take into the account the timing of the major intervals of appreciation and depreciation, it becomes evident that the sentiment among the investors towards the U.S. Dollar is currently not strongly bullish and the upside potential of the currency may be limited.
We must admit—there were favourable for the Dollar events, such as the existing home sales, FOMC meeting minutes, manufacturing PMI and consumer confidence; however, it is also a fact that we received a plethora of reports that point to the risks to the economic recovery that still exist. Because of this the rally that took place last Wednesday was subsequently reduced by a significant amount.

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on JPY.

Full research available here.




The period of the last five trading days was chary on the news from Japan. One of the few updates concerned the retail sales of the world’s third largest economy, but this figure is far from explaining how the Yen has outperformed all of its major counterparts, appreciating, on average, 1.2 percent. The report came in only late Wednesday and, in addition, was disappointing, meaning that if the price of the currency has been determined solely by this release since Aug 23, the outcome would be different, namely the Yen would most likely depreciate. Instead the most timid gains amounted to 0.5% (vs. USD), while SEK/JPY moved in favour of the Asian currency 1.8%.





However, these numbers include Yen’s performance on Wednesday and Thursday, when the currency performed poorly amid a retracement from the highs. The rally was started late Monday and was carried into the next day, resulting in a whopping two percent advancement of the index within just 24 hours. Among the reasons for such a spectacular performance of the Yen we may highlight instability of the geopolitical situation in the world coupled with the massive outflow of funds from the emerging markets into their safer peers.
In the longer-term perspective, the Yen still remains bearish, its equally-weighted index is currently 3.6% cheaper than half a year ago.

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on EUR.

Full research available here.



Even though in the perspective of six months the single European currency remains one of the most bullish foreign exchange instruments, gaining 4.6% and losing only to the British Pound, which in turn appreciated by 6.5%, the most recent weeks, including the one ended on Aug 30, the Euro has been getting softer with each new day. The sell-off by the market participants, however, appeared to be completely justified, given that a majority of news related to the Eurozone and released starting from Aug 26 took away a substantial portion from the optimism.




As a consequence, on average relative to its main counterparts, the Euro gave up 0.7% of its value, winning only against the Swedish Krona (+0.8%) that nosedived amid the dismal retail sales data and in the end depreciated by 1.6%. One of the factors for such bearish behaviour of the Euro was decelerating inflation, but before that mixed economic situation in Germany, where improving business climate failed to increase the currency’s attractiveness, allowing the subsequently published labour market statistics to negatively influence the valuation. Moreover, unresolved situation in Syria also promoted downward bias towards the Euro, since the overall sentiment became risk-off, sizeably benefitting the Japanese Yen (+1.2%).

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on USD.

Full research available here.



Activity of the U.S. Dollar’s equally-weighted index in terms of duration was reduced to a sole day, namely Aug 29, while during the other dates the currency stayed completely unchanged, failing to find any reasons to gain or lose worth despite the events in different from the United States parts of the world. Neither abrupt decline of the Japanese Yen this Monday nor gradual depreciation of the single European currency were able to benefit the buck that usually does not miss an opportunity to appreciate at their expense.




In total for the period starting last Wednesday and ending Sep 3 the greenback advanced 0.9%, posting the most significant changes against the Japanese Yen (+2.3%), which lost footing after Shinzo Abe received approval for a sales tax hike, and against the Swedish Krona (+2.1%) that suffered substantial damage due to disappointing retail sales statistics.
As mentioned earlier, the lion’s share of the progress the U.S. Dollar made within the past five trading days is attributed to its explicitly bullish performance on Aug 29. It was mainly invoked by the surprisingly good data on the GDP growth rate of the world’s largest economy, which proved to be expanding at a 2.5% pace instead of the estimated 2.2%, up from modest 1.7% last quarter.

Highlights of the latest Marker Research release on CHF.


Full research available here.



From a fundamental point of view, the environment favoured appreciation of the Swiss Franc. At the very beginning of the studied period the expectations regarding the economy rose, as was shown by the leading indicators in aggregate. Later on, namely on Sep 3, the hopes proved to be justified, as quarterly GDP growth notably exceeded estimates of the market. However, given the tight correlation between the currencies due to the existing cap at 1.20, the Euro, having recently lost its bullish momentum, pulled the Swiss Franc along, forcing it to give up 1.6% of the value.





As it turned out, this was among the worst performances, comparable with the depreciation of the Japanese Yen, which was sold off following the approval Shinzo Abe received on the increase of the sales tax. The Swedish Krona was in a similar situation, its debasement amounted to 1.6% as a result of the dovish stance the Riksbank is currently holding.
The weakest performance the Franc showed relative to the Australasian currencies, improvement in the sentiment towards which was mainly boosted by the steadily growing GDP and an accelerated growth of the building approvals.

August Release of Dukascopy Bank Sentiment Index

The six-month and three-year global economic expectations worsened in August, a Dukascopy Bank SA poll showed. The six-month economic sentiment index fell 0.06 to 0.53. The three-year economic outlook declined 0.01 to 0.65.
The European six-month economic outlook slid 0.01 to 0.41. The three-year economic prospects improved to 0.56, from 0.51 in July when they deteriorated 0.07.
The North American economic outlooks also worsened. The six-month economic sentiment index retreated 0.05 to 0.66 and the three-year economic outlook fell to 0.71, the lowest level in 10 months.
The Asia-Pacific six-month economic expectations tumbled 0.12 to 0.53, the lowest reading since November 2011. The three-year sentiment index declined to 0.69 from 0.73 in July.



Figure 3 presents the term structure of the Dukascopy Bank Sentiment Index (Y-axis) mapped against GDP growth forecasts made by poll respondents (X-axis). Overall, DBSI values and GDP growth forecasts match directionally, suggesting the global economy will perform better three years from now.
Poll respondents suggest that the European economy will contract an annualized 0.10% in the next six months and will expand 0.90% three years from now.
Respondents revised the North American six-month and three year economic growth forecasts to 1.17% and 1.87% in August, from 1.87% and 2.34% respectively in July.
The Asia-Pacific economic sentiment remains subdued, despite strong growth projections (compared to other regions). Experts forecast growth of 2.70% and 3.73% six months and three years from now respectively.



Figure 4 presents the business cycle and its phases - expansion (real GDP is increasing), peak (real GDP stops increasing and begins decreasing), contraction or recession (real GDP is decreasing), and trough (real GDP stops decreasing and begins increasing).
More than a half of the respondents (22) suggest the European economy is in a recession. Twenty claim that the economy will be expanding three years from now.
Experts from academia are largely united about North America economic development stages - twenty four say that the regional economy will be expanding both six months and three years from now.
Experts are united about the Asia-Pacific 3-year EDS - 25 experts forecast expansion, 1 say the economy will reach its peak and 4 claim the economy will slide into a recession.



Figure 5 shows the six-month economic outlook for Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. The global six-month economic sentiment index declined to 0.53, the lowest level since December 2012.
The European six-month economic sentiment index slid 0.01 to 0.41. Thirteen respondents (43%) are pessimistic about the economic outlook, fourteen (47) say the outlook is “neutral” and only three (10%) claim the outlook is “positive”.
The North America six-month economic prospects also worsened. The sentiment index decreased 0.05 to 0.66 - twenty experts (66%) claim the outlook is “fairly” or “definitely” positive and eight (27%) suggest the economic outlook is “neutral”.
The Asia-Pacific sentiment index plunged to 0.53 from 0.65 in July with experts being strongly divided about the six-month outlook. Twelve respondents (40%) are either “fairly” or “definitely” positive about the six-month economic outlook, while eleven (36%) suggest prospects are either “fairly” or “definitely” negative.



Figure 7 presents the three-year economic outlook for Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. The three-year global economic outlook worsened for a third consecutive month to 0.65 from 0.66 the prior month.
The three-year European economic sentiment index gained 0.05 to 0.56 in August. Thirteen respondents (43%) say the outlook is “fairly” or “definitely” positive. Twelve (40%) claim that the three -year economic outlook is “neutral” and five (17%) say that the outlook is negative.
The North American three-year economic prospects deteriorated 0.02 to 0.71 in August, the lowest level in nine months. An absolute majority of respondents (84%) say the long-term economic outlook is either “fairly” or “definitely” positive and four (13%) claim prospects are negative.
The Asia-Pacific economic sentiment index declined to 0.69 from 0.73 the previous month. Nineteen experts (63%) say prospects are “fairly” or “definitely” positive.