Market Update - 9 August 2012

Standard Chartered Plc CEO Peter Sands hits back at the New York regulator’s claim that the bank broke US sanctions, and said he saw “no grounds” for revoking the lender’s license.

Fitch affirmed Germany AAA rating, with a stable outlook, meanwhile Greek credit rating outlook downgraded from stable to negative, already at CCC

Bank of England cut GDP forecast but left rates unchanged. GBP/USD is supportive following BOE’s King's assertion that raising rates had limited impact

New Zealand dollar weakened after a surprise increase in jobless rating

Most Asian stocks rose for a fourth day ahead of data expected to show China’s inflation cooling and before a Bank of Japan stimulus decision.

Japan’s machinery orders rebounded less than forecast in June, underscoring concerns that the world’s third-largest economy’s recovery will slow in the second half of this year

The weakest monsoon since 2009 is set to prevent India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from     reducing the biggest budget deficit among the largest emerging markets, thus increasing the risk of a downgrade of India’s debt rating

Gold advances for the third time in four sessions on speculation that central bank will take steps to bolster the economy, increasing the appeal of precious metal as a store of value

USD/MYR largely unchanged from yesterday, trading within the range of 3.0900 - 3.1100