Gold ticks higher; on track for 12th annual gain

 Gold ticked up to around $1,660 an ounce on Monday after the euro firmed against the dollar, but wary investors stayed on the sidelines as last-ditch attempts by U.S. lawmakers to resolve a fiscal crisis seemed to be getting nowhere.
Lawmakers pushed the United States to the edge of the "fiscal cliff" as they struggled to reach a last-minute deal that could prevent the world's largest economy from plunging into recession. After adjourning for the day, the Senate will reconvene at 1600 GMT on Monday.
"Maybe a bit of cooling off is good. Well, they have a few hours to sort themselves," said CIMB regional economist Song Seng Wun. "I think Asian equities are probably, at this moment, positioning themselves for a possibility that there may not a be last minute compromise of sorts."
Gold added $5.12 an ounce to $1,660.02 by 0310 GMT. It is up around 6 percent for the year, heading for a 12th straight year of gains on rock-bottom interest rates, concerns over the financial stability of the euro zone, and diversification into bullion by central banks.
A failure to clinch a deal would likely spur safe-haven buying of gold, but since many investors have both equities and gold in their portfolios, the metal may also track stock markets higher if the White House and Congress finally reach an agreement.
U.S. gold for February rose $5.20 an ounce to $1,661.10.
Market holidays were in force in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, with half-day trading in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed. It has gained about 18 percent this year, a sharp turnaround from an 18 percent plunge in 2011.
"I have nothing to share today. I guess the market in the Middle East will still be trading a little bit. But that's a about it," said a physical gold dealer in Singapore.
"Premiums are unchanged at $1 to $1.20."
Spot gold drew support from the euro that edged up 0.1 percent to $1.3231, but hovered below an 8-month high of $1.33085 hit on December 19.
An agreement on the U.S. budget would be viewed as a positive for riskier currencies such as the euro and Australian dollar, while a deadlock would be deemed positive for the safe-haven and highly liquid dollar.
A softer dollar boosts commodities priced in the greenback by making them cheaper for holders of other currencies.
"There's nothing at all in Asia. It's very quiet. We don't expect surprises until the talks resume," said a dealer in Singapore.
Buoyed by his re-election in November, President Barack Obama has insisted that any deal must include a tax increase on the wealthiest Americans, who have seen their earnings rise steadily over the past decade at a time when income for the less affluent has stalled.

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Zambia extends deadline for new bank capital rules

Zambia's central bank has extended a deadline for commercial banks to meet new minimum capital requirements by a year to December 31, 2013, saying it was satisfied with progress made so far.
Zambia raised its capital requirements for foreign banks to $100 million from $2 million this year to insulate its banking sector from the effects of a weak global economy.
The capital requirement for local banks was raised to $20 million from $2 million.
The central bank said on Monday most banks had requested an extension of the deadline. "All banks that requested for dispensation against the initial December 31, 2012 deadline have been granted permission in this regards," it said.
"The extension is intended to enable banks to mobilise additional capital to meet the legal and administrative requirements associated with the new shareholding structures."
Nigerian group United Bank of Africa said in July it would turn its Zambian operation into a local bank and might issue shares to meet new capital rules in Africa's top copper producer..
Foreign banks operating in Zambia include Standard Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.

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S.Africa stocks up 22 pct in 2012 on retail surge

 South African stocks ended the year near record highs on Monday, after a 22 percent surge that marks their best annual return since 2009, lifted by a runaway performance from the booming retailing industry.
Equities in Africa's biggest economy have confounded market watchers this year, as shares largely shrugged off lacklustre economic growth and three months of crippling strikes in the crucial mining sector that sparked credit downgrades.
"It surprised everybody. If you look back at the consensus forecasts, even the optimists were not even close," said Abri du Plessis, chief investment officer at Gryphon Asset Management in Cape Town.
"Our market is running ahead and it is already discounting the commodities cycle picking up again, and I still cannot see that with what's happening in Europe... For that reason, I'm a bit negative on our market in the first half."
The benchmark Top-40 index finished the half day of trade down 0.39 percent at 34,795.50, just off its record high hit last week and up 22.22 percent for the year.
That was the Top-40's best annual performance since 2009, when it rose nearly 29 percent.
The broader All-share index finished the session 0.34 percent lower at 39,250.24, also near a record high and up 22.71 percent for the year.
Shares of Assore surged 94 percent in 2012, making the base mineral mining company the top performer on the blue-chip index.
Retailers have been the real standout in Johannesburg this year, lifted by optimism that government grants to the poor and the growth of a middle class will translate into stronger consumer spending.
SUB-SAHARAN EXPANSION
Woolworths, a clothing and high-end food retailer that is expanding its sub-Saharan presence beyond South Africa, rose 82 percent in 2012.
Mr Price, which targets money-conscious consumers, gained 76 percent, while grocer Shoprite gained 51 percent.
Some investors have cautioned that retailers were now too expensive after this year's steep gains. Eight of South Africa's largest retailers were trading at an average price-to-earnings ratio of 21, well above the average of 14 for the Top-40.
Like other emerging markets, South Africa was helped this year by global monetary stimulus that increased demand for riskier assets.
"It's the emerging markets story again. As global sentiment started to ease and got a bit more positive... emerging markets are one of the first that investors pick," du Plessis said.
In local currency terms, South Africa was the tenth best performer among 31 emerging stock markets tracked by Thomson Reuters.
The best performing emerging market this year was Venezuela, where the benchmark index has quadrupled in value.
In dollar terms, however, the Top-40 managed a more modest 16 percent return, putting South Africa in 18th place among the emerging market indices.
The rand currency has been hit this year by concerns about the outlook for Africa's top economy, which is saddled with high unemployment, slow growth and labour unrest.
Ratings agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's have both downgraded South Africa's credit rating this year. Analysts expect Fitch will cut its rating at its next annual review in January.

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China to keep prudent monetary policy in 2013: central bank

 China will stick to a prudent monetary policy next year and keep consumer prices stable, its outgoing central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, said on Monday, in fresh sign that Beijing won't be changing direction when the new government takes over in 2013.
Reiterating China's long-stated vow to reduce the level of central planning in its economy and make room for more market forces, Zhou also said China will deepen reforms in its financial sector in 2013.
"In 2013, we will continue to implement prudent monetary policy and make policies more pre-emptive, targeted and flexible," Zhou said in a brief new year address.
"We will keep overall price levels basically stable and promote healthy and sustainable growth of the economy," he said. "We will also further deepen financial reforms and the opening up of financial markets."
Zhou's remarks follows similar comments from China's soon-to-be-retired president, Hu Jintao, who promised that reform of China's economic growth model would be a crucial theme next year.
Hu said in a separate new year address broadcast nationally that China's economy will grow at a balanced and sustainable pace in 2013, whilst noting the challenge from sluggish growth for the world economy.
"Transforming the economic growth model will be a main theme," Hu said, without giving further details. "The trend of weak global economic growth will continue."
China's leaders have repeatedly promised to encourage domestic consumption and reduce the nation's heavy reliance on exports for growth, a task that has become more pressing due to expectations of prolonged weak demand in developed nations.
Most analysts and academics agree China needs to transform its growth model to allow consumption, not exports and investment, to drive activity.
But there is no clear agreement on how or when China can pursue such changes.
Zhou, who has been head of the central bank since 2003, is set to retire in coming months.
Hu will relinquish office March 5 when China starts its annual parliament meeting, to make room for his successor Xi Jinping.

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British retailers start online sales early

British retailers have brought forward their Christmas clearance sales online in the hope that shoppers will log on to buy bargains and offset lackluster spending in stores.
Marks & Spencer launched its sale online at midday on Monday, it said on its website, while department store John Lewis said it would cut online prices when its stores close at 1700 GMT. Debenhams has already started its online sale.
Retailers in recent years have started sales online on Christmas Day, ahead of the clearances in stores from Boxing Day, but are increasingly launching their online offers before Christmas after delivery deadlines for the day have passed.
Hard-pressed shoppers have been leaving it later to buy presents in the hope that retailers would slash prices, the British Retail Consortium said.
It was forecasting that 5 billion pounds ($8.1 billion) would be spent in the shops on Saturday and Sunday combined, the last weekend before Christmas.
Richard Dodd, the BRC's head of Media and Campaigns, said weekend trading had met expectations.
"Christmas, ultimately once all the final sums are done, will turn out to be acceptable but not exceptional," he said.
He said the sector expected a modest increase in cash spending against a year go, but not necessarily any significant increase in real terms once inflation was stripped out.
Many British families' budgets are stretched, according to a survey from Markit that showed the biggest deterioration in household finances for seven months.
Analyst Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight said the weakening in household finances could not come at a worse time for retailers, and it highlighted why many people appeared to have been careful in their Christmas shopping this year.
"The suspicion has to be that consumers will be especially keen to take advantage of genuine major bargains in the sales to acquire items that they cannot otherwise afford or are reluctant to make at the moment," he said.
"However, we suspect that people will likely to be more careful in buying - or reluctant to buy - items that they don't really want or need in the sales."

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China may require real name registration for internet access

China may require internet users to register with their real names when signing up to network providers, state media said on Tuesday, extending a policy already in force with microblogs in a bid to curb what officials call rumors and vulgarity.
A law being discussed this week would mean people would have to present their government-issued identity cards when signing contracts for fixed line and mobile internet access, state-run newspapers said.
"The law should escort the development of the internet to protect people's interest," Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily said in a front page commentary, echoing similar calls carried in state media over the past week.
"Only that way can our internet be healthier, more cultured and safer."
Many users say the restrictions are clearly aimed at further muzzling the often scathing, raucous - and perhaps most significantly, anonymous - online chatter in a country where the Internet offers a rare opportunity for open debate.
It could also prevent people from exposing corruption online if they fear retribution from officials, said some users.
It was unclear how the rules would be different from existing regulations as state media has provided only vague details and in practice customers have long had to present identity papers when signing contracts with internet providers.
Earlier this year, the government began forcing users of Sina Corp's wildly successful Weibo microblogging platform to register their real names.
The government says such a system is needed to prevent people making malicious and anonymous accusations online and that many other countries already have such rules.
"It would also be the biggest step backwards since 1989," wrote one indignant Weibo user, in apparent reference to the 1989 pro-democracy protests bloodily suppressed by the army.
Chinese internet users have long had to cope with extensive censorship, especially over politically sensitive topics like human rights, and popular foreign sites Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube are blocked.
Despite periodic calls for political reform, the ruling Communist Party has shown no sign of loosening its grip on power and brooks no dissent to its authority.

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Tajikistan blocks scores of websites as election looms

 Tajikistan blocked access to more than 100 websites on Tuesday, in what a government source said was a dress rehearsal for a crackdown on online dissent before next year's election when President Imomali Rakhmon will again run for office.
Rakhmon, a 60-year-old former head of a Soviet cotton farm, has ruled the impoverished Central Asian nation of 7.5 million for 20 years. He has overseen constitutional amendments that allow him to seek a new seven-year term in November 2013.
The Internet remains the main platform where Tajiks can air grievances and criticize government policies at a time when the circulation of local newspapers is tiny and television is tightly controlled by the state.
Tajikistan's state communications service blocked 131 local and foreign Internet sites "for technical and maintenance works".
"Most probably, these works will be over in a week," Tatyana Kholmurodova, deputy head of the service, told Reuters. She declined to give the reason for the work, which cover even some sites with servers located abroad.
The blocked resources included Russia's popular social networking sites www.my.mail.ru and VKontakte (www.vk.com), as well as Tajik news site TJKnews.com and several local blogs.
"The government has ordered the communications service to test their ability to block dozens of sites at once, should such a need arise," a senior government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
"It is all about November 2013," he said, in a clear reference to the presidential election.
Other blocked websites included a Ukrainian soccer site, a Tajik rap music site, several local video-sharing sites and a pornography site.
VOLATILE NATION
Predominantly Muslim Tajikistan, which lies on a major transit route for Afghan drugs to Europe and Russia, remains volatile after a 1992-97 civil war in which Rakhmon's Moscow-backed secular government clashed with Islamist guerrillas.
Rakhmon justifies his authoritarian methods by saying he wants to oppose radical Islam. But some of his critics argue repression and poverty push many young Tajiks to embrace it.
Tighter Internet controls echo measures taken by other former Soviet republics of Central Asia, where authoritarian rulers are wary of the role social media played in revolutions in the Arab world and mass protests in Russia.
The government this year set up a volunteer-run body to monitor Internet use and reprimand those who openly criticize Rakhmon and other officials.
In November, Tajikistan blocked access to Facebook, saying it was spreading "mud and slander" about its veteran leader.
The authorities unblocked Facebook after concern was expressed by the United States and European Union, the main providers of humanitarian aid for Tajikistan, where almost a half of the population lives in abject poverty.
Asomiddin Asoyev, head of Tajikistan's association of Internet providers, said authorities were trying to create an illusion that there were no problems in Tajik society by silencing online criticism.
"This is self-deception," he told Reuters. "The best way of resolving a problem is its open discussion with civil society."
Moscow-based Central Asia expert Arkady Dubnov told Reuters that Rakhmon's authoritarian measures could lead to a backlash against the president in the election. "Trying to position itself as the main guarantor of stability through repression against Islamist activists, the Dushanbe government is actually achieving the reverse - people's trust in it is falling," he said.

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