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Renminbi under pressure as China slows
December 7, 2011--The renminbi has fallen to the bottom of its official trading band for six straight days against the dollar, an unprecedented indication of the Chinese currency’s potential weakness as the economy slows.
Beijing has so far acted to keep the renminbi largely stable against the dollar by supporting its value and selling some of the country’s massive pile of foreign exchange reserves. But the intervention is prompting growing discussion in China about whether the renminbi could depreciate or at least become considerably more volatile.
ETFs gaining traction in Asia
Asia has seen a significant increase in assets held by ETPs this year, growing approximately 20% in the Asia-Pacific as of Sept 30, 2011
November 30, 2011--SINCE the global financial crisis in 2008, challenging market conditions and unprecedented volatility have caused a significant shift in investors’ appetite for risk. This has ultimately
led to a stronger desire for liquidity.
During this time, exchange traded products (ETPs), including
exchange traded funds (ETFs), exchange traded currencies (ETCs), exchange traded commodities (similarly
abbreviated to ETCs) and exchange traded notes (ETNs), have allowed investors to invest in the markets
through a fund structure that provides increased transparency,
intra-day price and performance and greater liquidity.
Since State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) introduced the world’s first ETF/ETP in 1993 under the SPDR® ETF
brand, ETF providers have responded by expanding product lines to encompass a wider range of asset classes, including
fixed income, emerging market equities and bonds, commodities among others.
China cuts bank reserves to lift economy
November 30, 2011-- China's central bank cut reserve requirements for commercial lenders on Wednesday for the first time in three years, a policy shift to ease credit strains and shore up an economy running at its weakest pace since 2009.
China's policy change came just hours before coordinated action by major central banks, including the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB), to ease credit strains in world markets buffeted by the eurozone debt crisis.
Economic growth slips to 6.9 per cent
November 30, 2011--The aftershocks of the “policy paralysis” in the UPA II government were clearly visible on Wednesday as economic growth slipped to a disappointing 6.9 per cent in the second quarter of this fiscal, the lowest in the last nine quarters. This prompted the government to lower its full-year growth projection to 7.3 per cent against 8.5 last fiscal.
The continued debt crisis in the Eurozone and the economic slowdown in the U.S. also impacted the economic parameters of labour-intensive industries as manufacturing took a big hit. Growth during the July-September period of 2011-12 fell mainly due to poor manufacturing performance and declining output of the mining industry. There was also a moderation in agriculture growth.
Appetite for Dim Sum Bonds Wanes
November 30, 2011--For most of the year, Hong Kong’s “dim sum” bond market appeared invulnerable. Even as other asset classes suffered, renminbi-denominated bonds remained in strong demand from international investors.
In recent months, however, enthusiasm has waned. Dim sum bond prices have declined substantially since September, when investors started to question the widely-held belief that the renminbi will only appreciate against the US dollar.
“The game has changed,” says one fund manager. “There’s less excitement around appreciation and there are fears of a Chinese hard landing.”
Slowing domestic demand hits rupee
November 30, 2011--India’s struggling currency is set to endure its worst month since the Asian financial crisis, driven down by a mixture of slowing domestic demand and concerns over the crisis in the eurozone.
The rupee has declined by more than 6 per cent in the past month, reaching an all-time low last week of R52.73 against the dollar. The fall is the currency’s sharpest decline since November 1997. It fell again on Wednesday, dropping 0.3 per cent, to R52.16.
Nikkei 225 hits lowest level since April 2009
November 23, 2011--The Nikkei average fell more than 1 percent to its lowest level since April 2009 on Thursday, hurt by a worrying German bond sale and expectations that mounting European debt concerns will continue to push overseas equities markets lower.
But strategists say that Tokyo's fall is being tempered by expectations of buying by public pension funds, as well as the Bank of Japan's exchange-traded fund purchases which are part of the central bank's liquidity-boosting program.
"There are no reasons to be optimistic, but there is reason to expect the BOJ and public pension fund buying, so the downside is supported for now," said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley.
Tokyo Exchange Enters $30 Billion Merger Wave With Bid for Rival in Osaka
November 23, 2011--Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc.’s takeover of Osaka Securities Exchange Co. marks its entry into a global wave of mergers that has seen $30 billion in proposed acquisitions over the last 13 months.
TSE offered 480,000 yen a share for its smaller rival, a 14 percent premium to Osaka’s close the previous day and 23 percent above its average price since the talks were announced March 10, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Osaka Securities, whose derivatives platform hosts Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures, rose 4.6 percent to 440,500 yen. The offer implies the bourse is worth 129.6 billion yen ($1.68 billion).
China Property Dip Sparks Bank Fears
November 21, 2011--The number of property transactions in China’s largest cities has fallen to dangerously low levels, according to regulatory documents obtained by the Financial Times.
According to the documents, the China Banking Regulatory Commission earlier this year ordered domestic banks to weigh the impact of a 30 per cent decline in housing transactions in “stress tests” aimed at determining the health of the Chinese financial system.
TSE launches New Tdex+ System
A New Dawn for the TSE Derivatives Market
November 21, 2011--Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. ("TSE") is pleased to announce today the successful launch of "New Tdex+ System", a new trading platform for derivative products.
The New Tdex+ System is an advanced electronic trading system based on the LIFFE CONNECT® system used by NYSE Liffe in London, the largest European derivatives exchange. LIFFE CONNECT® is highly regarded for its superb performance and state-of-art functionality by investors worldwide. Options trading has been conducted on the existing Tdex+ System since October 2009, but this migration of futures to New Tdex+ System will integrate both trading platforms of the TSE derivatives market and greatly increase system efficiency.
With the introduction of the system, order processing performance is dramatically improved to an average order response of 5 milliseconds* and 36 thousand* orders processed per second. In addition to this, user convenience is greatly enhanced through advances such as the introduction of strategy trading.
