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HKMEx Gold Trading Surpasses 10,000 Contracts
June 4, 2012--The Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange (HKMEx), China's global marketplace, announces today that trading of its US-dollar gold futures surpassed 10,000 contracts for the first time on June 1. A total 10,389 gold contracts were traded on the day.
"The 10,000-contract mark is significant for gold because it indicates the contract has gained increased maturity and market acceptance since our trading launch in May 2011," said HKMEx Chairman Barry Cheung. "We are pleased that volumes have reached this new record. We anticipate this trend will continue as we further enhance distribution and connectivity with our broking and clearing members, laying the foundations for the imminent launch of our renminbi product suite."
HKMEx's gold and silver futures contracts are traded in 32 troy ounces (1 kilo) and 1,000 troy ounces sizes respectively. Both have physical delivery in Hong Kong. Going forward, the Exchange plans to launch gold and copper contracts denominated in renminbi, followed by other products in precious and base metals, as well as energy, agriculture, and commodity indices.
Source: Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange (HKMEx)
IMF Thailand: Staff Report for the 2012 Article IV Consultation
June 1, 2012--KEY ISSUES
Context. Thailand is recovering from historic floods that inundated a large portion of the country, cost lives, destroyed physical capital, and halted production in the last quarter of 2011. Despite uncertainty about the evolution of the global economy, the
Thai economy is expected to rebound sharply.
The key challenge now is to rebuild the
country, while maintaining macroeconomic stability and sowing the seeds for stronger and more wide-spread growth.
Outlook and risks. As reconstruction picks up and investment recovers, staff projects a V-shaped recovery with GDP growing by 5.5 percent in 2012 and 7.5 percent in 2013.
Downside risks to the outlook are significant. The Thai economy remains vulnerable to weak growth in its trading partners. Domestically, political tensions and underperformance of government spending on reconstruction could adversely affect private investment.
The policy mix of monetary easing and fiscal stimulus will provide welcome support to domestic demand in the near term, but a gradual unwinding is called for over the medium term. The effectiveness and cost of fiscal measures should be carefully monitored to ensure that their income redistribution objectives are achieved in an efficient manner. Revenue-enhancing measures might be necessary to achieve these objectives while maintaining fiscal sustainability.
The financial sector remains sound but the governance of Specialized Financial Institutions needs to be improved.
view the Thailand: Staff Report for the 2012 Article IV Consultation
Source: IMF
The Asia Dow Finished May Down 10.32% According To Dow Jones Indexes- The Asia Dow Component Stocks Closed May In Negative Territory
June 1, 2012--The Asia Dow, an equal-weighted, 30-stock index that measures 30 of the leading blue-chip stocks traded in the Asia/Pacific region, dropped 10.32% in May, according to data compiled by Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider.
All 30 component stocks in The Asia Dow closed the month in negative territory.
The index’s best three performers for May were Seven & I Holdings Co. Ltd. (Japan), which closed down 0.87%. Shares of Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd (Singapore) and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (Malaysia), down 2.52% and 3.44%, respectively. Sony Corp. (Japan), which fell 18.76%, was The Asia Dow’s worst-performing stock in May.
By comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended May down 6.21%. The Europe Dow fell 13.08% and The Global Dow finished down 10.17%. The Europe Dow is an equal-weighted index that measures 30 of the continent’s leading blue-chip stocks; The Global Dow measures the performance of 150 leading companies from around the world.
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Source: Mondovisione
India's economic growth dips to 9-year low of 5.3 percent
May 31, 2012--India's economic growth slumped to 5.3 percent in the January-March quarter, the slowest in nine years, dragged by contraction in the manufacturing sector due to high cost of borrowings, official data showed Thursday.
For the whole of 2011-12 financial year, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth slumped to 6.5 percent. This is the slowest pace of expansion in the country's economy since 2002-03, when it had registered a growth of just 4 percent.
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Source: MSN.com
East Asian Economies Must Cooperate to Boost Resilience to Crises
Greater interconnectivity means heightened risk and increased exposure to the impact of sudden shocks
While East Asian economies are more resilient today than before, they must continue to deepen collaboration to improve their individual and collective capacity to weather crises
Business and government, in particular, must work together to prepare for natural disasters
May 31, 2012--With risks to the global economy multiplying and increasingly interconnected, countries in East Asia must work more closely together to deepen their capacity to withstand crises, particularly unexpected shocks, a panel of business, government and civil society leaders
agreed in a session on the region’s risk resilience at the 21st World Economic Forum on East Asia.
“The lack of resilience is the most important threat to the global economy,” warned Jane Harman, Director, President and Chief Executive Officer, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, USA. Added Idris Jala, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister of Malaysia: “If you have a strong and solid economy, that is the foundation for you to have the means to deal with shocks.”
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Source: World Economic Forum
Japan sets record with ETF purchases in May
May 30, 2012--The Bank of Japan said it bought Y39.7 billion in exchange-traded funds Wednesday under its asset-purchase program, bringing the central bank's total ETF buying in May to a new monthly record of Y198.5 billion.
The previous record was Y173.2 billion in August 2011.
The BoJ has made the asset-purchase program the cornerstone of its monetary policy with interest rates already near zero, and has been buying a variety of instruments from JGBs to REITs. At its policy-setting meeting at the end of April, the BOJ decided to expand its purchases of ETFs by Y200 billion.
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Source: Financial Post
DB-Equity Research-Asia-Pac-ETF Market Weekly Review: ETP AUM added $1.3bn amid bearish equity markets
May 29, 2012--Market Review
Last week, all the markets in the Asia-Pacific region were in negative territory except for Korea. From north to south, Japan (Nikkei 225) lost 0.36%, Korea (KOSPI2) gained 2.44%, China (CSI 300) slid by 0.03%,
Hong Kong (HSI) decreased by 1.26%, Singapore (FSSTI) was down by 0.23%, and Australia (S&P/ASX 200) declined by 0.43% over the previous week.
New Launch Review
There was no new listing during last week in the Asia-Pacific region.
Turnover Review
Asia-Pacific ETP turnover totaled $4.8bn for last week, 30% down from the previous week’s total. South Korea continued to be on top of the turnover ranking, with $2.2bn, followed by China ($1bn), Hong Kong ($0.8bn), Japan ($0.6bn), and Taiwan ($0.1bn). Among Equity ETFs, Emerging Country, Leveraged Strategy, Asia Pac Developed Country, and Short Strategy ETFs had total turnover of $1.9bn, $1bn, $0.9bn, and $0.7bn respectively. Under the Commodity asset class, turnover in Gold ETPs totaled $65m for the last week.
Assets Under Management Review
Last week, Asia-Pacific ETP AUM increased by $1.3bn and ended at $97.9bn. On a year-to-date basis, Asia-Pacific ETP market is up by $6.4bn or 7% above last year’s closing.
to request report
Source: Deutsche Bank - Equity Research - Asia Pacific
TSE has published the index value of TSE Home Price Index for March
May 29, 2012--TSE has published the index value of TSE Home Price Index for March on May 29, 2012.
The index value of TSE Home Price Index (Used Condominium, Composite of Tokyo Metro Area) is 78.82 points.
The index value of TSE Home Price Index (Used Condominium, Tokyo) is 82.47
points. The index value of TSE Home Price Index (Used Condominium, Kanagawa) is 78.88 points.
The index value of TSE Home Price Index (Used Condominium, Chiba) is 69.38. The index value of
TSE Home Price Index (Used Condominium, Saitama) is 67.49 points.
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Source: TSE
CME Group Hires Dr. Izumi Kazuhara as Executive Director, Head of Japan
OSE Launches Dow Jones Industrial Average futures; CME Group to launch E-mini Nikkei 225 futures
May 28, 2012--CME Group, the world's leading and most
diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that Dr. Izumi Kazuhara will
join the company as Executive Director, Head of Japan in June.
Based in Tokyo, Dr. Kazuhara will be responsible for developing growth opportunities and customer relationships for CME Group throughout Japan.
Julien Le Noble, CME Group Managing Director, Head of Asia Pacific, said: "Dr. Kazuhara's joins our team in Asia, bringing with him unparalleled experience and insight to our growing presence in the Japanese market. We will continue to work with Japan's financial community to leverage our global risk management benchmark products and help our clients achieve their risk management goals in the country, as well as develop new benchmark products and services needed in the region."
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Source: CME Group
MAS Reviews Regulatory Requirements for Unlisted Margined Derivatives Offered to Retail Investors
May 28, 2012--The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued a consultation paper on proposed enhancements to the regulatory requirements for unlisted margined derivatives.
2. The proposals aim to address the specific risks posed by unlisted margined derivatives such as contracts for differences (CFDs) and leveraged foreign exchange products (LFX), which are currently available to retail investors. Retail investors who trade in CFDs and LFX are exposed to considerable risks, given the leveraging effect of margin trading on potential losses. The unlisted nature of such products further subjects investors to counterparty risks since they do not trade through an exchange which has a central clearing house to guarantee the settlement obligations to investors. Instead, investors are exposed to the creditworthiness and operational risks of the derivative product dealer. In the event of a default, they may not have recourse to transfer their positions or recover their moneys in their trading accounts.
3.The proposed regulatory enhancements seek to afford better protection to retail investors who participate in the CFDs and LFX markets by addressing specific risks. The proposed measures aim to:
i) Enhance credit risk management by derivative product dealers and mitigate the risk of over-leveraging by retail investors;
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Source: The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
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