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FSA extends temporary measures regarding restrictions on short selling and purchase of own stocks by listed companies
April 20, 2012--1. The following regulatory measures on short selling are currently in place, with regard to all listed stocks in Japan:
1) An "uptick rule requirement" which prohibits, in principle, short selling at the same as or prices lower than the latest market price
2) Requirements for traders to verify and flag whether or not the transactions in question are short selling; and
3) Request the exchanges to make daily announcements on their aggregate price of short selling regarding all securities and aggregate price of short selling by sector (The announcements have been made sequentially since October 14, 2008). (See the FSA press release on October 14, 2008.)
In addition, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) has put in force the following measures, as temporary measures effective until April 30,2012 (See the FSA press release on October 24, 2011.):
1) Naked short selling (short selling in which stocks are not borrowed at the time of selling) is prohibited (effective since October 30, 2008); and
HKEx: Changes Of Designated Securities For Short Selling
April 20, 2012--The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx), announces that with effect from 27 April 2012 (Friday), 30 additional securities will be eligible for short selling and 21 existing designated securities will be removed from the list.
The total number of designated securities for short selling will be 646after the revision.
HKEx to offer renminbi futures
April 19, 2012--The internationalisation of the renminbi is gathering pace, with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing to begin trading futures on the currency.
The exchange will launch a US dollar-renminbi contract in the third quarter to give investors a hedge against their exposure to the Chinese currency.
Yen falls on monetary easing pledge
April 19, 2012--The yen fell hard on Thursday after Japan stepped up levels of verbal intervention ahead of the central bank's monetary policy decision next week and the country recorded a record trade deficit in fiscal 2011.
The yen fell 0.4 per cent to Y81.58 against the dollar, 0.5 per cent against the euro to Y107.15 and 0.6 per cent against sterling to Y130.96
SET to launch index ETFs
April 18, 2012--The Stock Exchange of Thailand will launch foreign index exchange-traded funds in the second half of the year.
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on Hong Kong's Hang Seng index or Korea's Kospi index are among the stronger candidates for the launch, according to Kesara Manchusree, the SET's group head for products and business development.
Mirae-Macro Matters- A slippery slope
April 17, 2012--In an issue of Macro Matters that we published at the beginning of the year we presented a non-technical framework to explain our expectations for the near-term course of Asian asset prices.
This framework which we subsequently coined LSE (liquidity, surprises and events) was designed to cut through the multitude of market noise given the avalanche of information (both high frequency data and the mind-numbing flow of detailed discussions involving unresolved policy issues) hitting the market daily. There is such a thing as too much information and over-analysis that result in late or weak conclusions. Our conclusion is to sell and reduce beta into this rally and come back when the contours of China’s slowdown and the policy response become more certain.
India Inc welcomes RBI's move to cut key lending rates
April 17, 2012--The Indian industry Tuesday welcomed the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) move to cut some key lending rates by 50 basis points, saying it would boost investments and sentiments of the economy.
The RBI in its annual monetary policy for 2012-13 has cut some key rates by 50 basis points in an effort to push industrial growth and stimulate economy -- a move that may also see interest rates fall in housing, automobile and commercial loans.
IMF Working paper-An End To China's Imbalances?
April 17, 2012--Summary: Global imbalances have been a central theme of the international economic policy debate for much of the last decade, prompted by large and sustained current account deficits in the U.S. and counterpart surpluses in China, Germany, and among many of the oil producers.
This paper focuses on the current state of the external imbalance in China, examining the factors underlying the post-2008 drop in China’s current account surplus and analyzing the prospects for the external surplus going forward. The paper finds that China’s current account surplus should remain modest in the coming years. However, despite the fact that China’s medium-term current account is likely to stay below its pre-crisis range, it is too early to conclude that "rebalancing" has been truly achieved in China. While imbalances do not currently seem to be manifesting themselves as a feature of China’s external accounts, the evidence increasingly points to a rising domestic imbalance as growth becomes increasingly dependent on very high levels of investment.
view the IMF Working paper-An End To China's Imbalances?
DB-Equity Research-Asia-Pac-ETF Market Weekly Review : ETP AUM added $1.9bn amid mixed markets
April 16, 2012--Market Review
The Asia-Pacific region had mixed markets last week. In all, Japan (Nikkei 225) lost 0.52%, Korea (KOSPI2) sank by 1.15%, China (CSI 300) advanced by 2.41%, Hong Kong (HSI) increased by 0.52%, Singapore (FSSTI) grew by 0.05%, and Australia (S&P/ASX 200) gained 0.08% over the previous week.
New Launch Review
Last week, three new products were launched in the Asia-Pacific ETP market. Nomura Asset Management listed two ETFs on the Osaka Securities Exchange tracking Nikkei 225 Leveraged Index and Nikkei 225 Inverse Index, respectively. In addition, new entrant, Thanachart Fund Management listed one Gold ETF on The Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Turnover Review
Asia-Pacific ETP turnover totaled $5.2bn for the last week, 20.7% up from the previous week’s total. South Korea continues to be on top of the turnover ranking with $1.8bn, followed by China ($1.3bn), Hong Kong ($1bn), Japan ($0.8bn), and Taiwan ($0.1bn). Among Equity ETFs, Emerging Country, Asia Pac Developed Country, Leveraged Strategy, and Short Strategy ETFs had total turnover of $2.5bn, $1.1bn, $0.9bn and $0.4bn respectively. Under the Commodity asset class, turnover in Gold ETPs totaled $74m for the last week.
Assets Under Management Review
Last week, Asia-Pacific ETP AUM added $1.9bn and ended at $99.8bn. On a yearto-date basis, Asia-Pacific ETP market is up by $8.3bn or 9.1% above last year’s closing.
U.S. Fund Companies Struggle in India
Overnight and without warning, Indian regulators banned sales loads. Try that in the U.S.
April 14, 2012-- With a population of 1.2 billion and a vast emerging middle class, India is nirvana for manufacturers of everything from motorcycles to shampoo.
But for some of America's biggest mutual-fund companies, India has been a miserable disappointment, causing Fidelity International to exit the country last month and reportedly pitting T. Rowe Price against regulators.
The landscape of the mutual-fund industry in India is fascinating, and the challenges facing fund firms aren't small. Sudden regulatory changes have frustrated efforts to gather assets; there's stiff competition from local players; retail investors have been slow to adopt mutual funds; and India's stock market performed worse than any other in Asia last year.
