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Renminbi’s rise fuels talk of China policy shift
August 11, 2011--A sharp appreciation in the renminbi against the dollar in recent days – at a time when most other emerging market currencies have been falling – has prompted traders to ask whether Beijing has adopted an aggressive new stance on its currency.
Over the past four days the renminbi strengthened 0.7 per cent against the dollar – a small move by the standards of most currencies but a large one for the Chinese currency, which is tightly controlled by the government.
China inflation rises to 6.5% in July
August 9, 2011--Chinese inflation accelerated in July as consumer prices rose 6.5 per cent from a year earlier, up from 6.4 per cent in June and the fastest increase since June 2008.
The price rise was driven mostly by volatile and politically sensitive food prices, which soared 14.8 per cent in July from a year earlier, up from a 14.4 per cent annual increase in June, according to data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.
Asia stock sell-off deepens
August 9, 2011--Fear gripped Asian markets following a rout in the United States stock market overnight, sending equities and currencies tumbling as investors grew increasingly pessimistic about the outlook for the global economy.
The FTSE All World Asia Pacific excluding Japan index was down 5.2 per cent by mid-morning in Hong Kong, entering bear market territory having now dropped more than 20 per cent since its peak in May.
The Hang Seng was the biggest decliner among Asia's top stock indices, down 7.2 per cent - taking its lead from the sharpest fall in US stocks since the panic that followed the Lehman collapse in 2008.
Mr Kevin Lee, head of Korea at Newedge, said: "When the fear in 2008 was a degree of 10, we feel now it is 8. It is a major tumble."
Australian stocks in stunning turnaround
August 9, 2011--Australian stocks staged a stunning turnaround on Tuesday, bouncing back from a more than 5.5% slump to end in the black on hopes the US Federal Reserve may outline plans for a new stimulus package.
The market plunged sharply at the open in reaction to carnage in New York and Europe linked to the US debt downgrade by Standard & Poor's, and continued to fall as fear took hold, hitting new two-year lows.
TOCOM Gold Price Hit Record High Since Its Launch
August 9, 2011--Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc, announced that its June 2012 Gold futures contract (back contract month) temporarily reached 4,399 yen/gram during today's session. This is the highest price seen since the listing of gold futures contract at TOCOM on March 23, 1982.
On August 9, trading volume of Gold futures (standard) totaled 144,475 contracts, including 113,047 contracts traded for June 2012 contract.
Launch of first gold bullion MINI on ASX
August 8, 201-- BetaShares today announced the launch of a leveraged trading tool on the BetaShares Gold Bullion ETF (A$ Hedged).
The Macquarie QAU Mini Long (ASX Code: QAUKMA) allows investors to access leveraged exposure to gold without margin calls. For a fraction of the outlay of buying the ETF outright, investors can now access pure gold bullion exposure that is unaffected by currency movements, leveraged at 65% at inception.
DB - Equity Research - Asia Pacific ETF Weekly Review: $5bn washed away from ETP AUM on market downturn
August 8, 2011--Market Review
Asia-Pacific market tumbled last week on the concerns over weakening global economic recovery. From north to south, Japan (Nikkei 225) dropped by 5.42%, Korea (KOSPI2) sank by 9.1%, China (CSI 300) decreased by 2.51%, Hong Kong (HSI) lost 6.66%, Singapore (FSSTI) declined by 6.10% and Australia (S&P/ASX 200) plunged by 7.21%.
New Launch Review
In terms of new product launch activity, the Asia-Pacific market remained quiet in the last week and no new product was listed in any of the exchanges in the region.
Turnover Review: Floor activity soars
Declining markets triggered a sell-off in the last week and turnover activity was up by 73.1% on a week-over-week basis totaling $8bn as equity market volatility continued to trend higher. South Korea topped the turnover ranking with a record $3.1bn (up 135.8%) followed by Hong Kong ($2bn, up 68.8%), Japan ($1.2bn, up 84.8%), China ($809m, down 13.4%), and Taiwan ($454.9m, up 176.4%). Among Equity ETPs, Emerging Country and Asia Pac Developed Country ETPs experienced $1.3bn (62.4%) and $994m (100%) rise in turnover over the previous week. On the Commodities section Gold ETPs activity also increased by 45.4% totaling $230m for the last week.
Assets Under Management Review
Amid sinking global markets, Asia-Pacific ETP AUM lost $5bn and ended at $90.3bn last week. However, on a year to date basis, Asia-Pacific ETF market is still $6.1bn or 7.3% above last year's closing.
Republic of Korea: Selected Issues
August 4, 2011--I. FORMALIZING FINANCIAL STABILITY CONSIDERATIONS IN THE CONDUCT OF MONETARY
POLICY IN KOREA
The recent global financial crisis has exposed the limitations of a conventional inflation
targeting (IT) framework in insulating an economy from all shocks it may face, and demonstrated that its rigid application may aggravate the effect of shocks on output and
inflation.
Accordingly, we investigate possible refinements to the inflation targeting framework in Korea by taking into account developments in the financial sector. The findings indicate that
incorporating financial stability considerations can help smooth business cycle fluctuations, by mitigating the buildup of factors that lead to subsequently large fluctuations in output and inflation.
A. Introduction
1. The recent global financial crisis has demonstrated that strong underlying economic fundamentals cannot insulate an economy from all possible shocks. The crisis, while originating in the subprime segment of the U.S. mortgage market, quickly spread through financial and real channels, and severely affected many economies, even those that did not have any major exposures to the assets at the heart of the crisis. Korea’s economy too was hit hard by the global financial crisis due to the sudden drying up of liquidity and the collapse of global trade despite having strong macroeconomic fundamentals before the outbreak of the crisis.
view th Republic of Korea: Selected Issues IMF paper
Thai bourse lists first gold-based ETF on August 8
August 4, 2011--The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) will list KTAM Gold
ETF Tracker, managed by Krung Thai Asset Management PCL (KTAM), on its main
board on August 8, under the ticker "GLD."
GLD, an open-end exchange-traded fund (ETF), is Thailand's first ETF tracking the price of gold. The fund's policy is to invest in the units of SPDR? Gold Trust, the world's largest gold ETF.
"GLD is the Thai stock exchange's first ETF based on gold, aiming at creating
returns linked to spot gold prices. Currently, gold is an asset class worth
investing in because it generates high returns and attracts both institutional
investors and the public. The SET's policy is to collaborate with asset
management firms to enhance and increase the launch of new ETFs to cope with various demands of investors and boost business opportunities for broker members and asset management firms," said SET President Charamporn Jotikasthira.
KTAM CEO Somchai Boonnamsiri said: "GLD gained much attention from investors during its IPO on July 25-29. It has raised THB 577 million and has a price per unit of THB 2.2785. We expect demand for GLD to keep rising when it lists on the stock exchange, as it gives more flexibility than other general gold funds."
Hua Seng Heng Gold Futures Co.,Ltd. is GLD's market maker, while DBS Vickers Securities (Thailand) Co.,Ltd., KGI Securities (Thailand) PCL and KT ZMICO Securities Co.,Ltd. are participating dealers. Gold traders who have LBDU (Limited Broker Dealer Underwriter) sub-broker licenses, issued by Securities Exchange and Commission, can participate in gold ETF trading.
For more information on KTAM Gold ETF Tracker, please visit Krung Thai Asset
Management PCL at www.ktam.co.th and the SET at www.set.or.th, www.settrade.com or call SET-Call-Center at +66 2229 2222
DB - Equity Research - Asia Pacific ETF Weekly Review:Strong ETP flows of $2.1bn in July amid weak markets
August 3, 2011--Market Review
U.S. legislators’ failure to reach an agreement over raising the federal debt ceiling during last week caused a sharp decline across Asia-Pacific markets, as fear levels rose on the idea that a technical default or rating downgrade could become more probable as we came closer to the Aug 2nd deadline.
From north to south, Japan (Nikkei 225) lost 2.95%, Korea (KOSPI2) decreased by 1.94%, China (CSI 300) sank by 3.13%, Hong Kong (HSI) remained almost flat at 0.02%, Singapore (FSSTI) gained 0.20% and Australia (S&P/ASX 200) dropped by 3.87%.
New ETP launches
Last week, two new products were launched in the Asia-Pacific region. Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company listed its first Equity ETF on National Stock Exchange (India) tracking the S&P CNX Nifty Index and Samsung Investment Trust Management listed one Thematic ETF on Korea Stock Exchange tracking the FnGuide Solar Energy Index. (See Figure 5 for further details)
ETP Monthly Flows: Strong flows continue
Although the Asia-Pacific markets experienced mixed results during July (Nikkei 225: +0.17%; KOSPI2: +0.71%; HSI: +0.19%; TAMSCI: -0.92%, CSI 300: -2.37%, S&P/ASX 200: -3.98%), the ETP market witnessed strong cash flows of $2.1bn during the month. This was the third month in a row when the market experienced cash flows of over $2bn. From a market perspective, ETPs in Taiwan led the inflows with $598m, followed by Korea with $525m and Hong Kong with $517m.
Total monthly flows were primarily contributed by Equity ETPs with $2bn of inflows. Within Equity products, Emerging Country ETPs and Asia Pac Developed Country ETPs each recorded $1.1bn inflows. Unlike previous months, Fixed Income ETPs gained some traction in the last two months with $115m and $83m of inflows for June and July respectively. With July’s monthly contribution, year-to-date cash flows reached $9.7bn.
Turnover Review: Slight increase in activity
Turnover activity totaled $4.6bn last week after a week-over-week gain of 8.8%. South Korea topped the turnover ranking with $1.3bn (down 12.5%), followed by Hong Kong ($1.2bn, up 32.3%), China ($935m, up 10.3%), Japan ($665m, up 42.2%) and Taiwan ($165m, down 21.8%). Among Equity ETPs, Emerging Country and Asia Pac Developed Country ETPs experienced $263m (14.3%) and $112m (12.7%) increase in turnover over the previous week.
Asset Under Management Review
Asia-Pacific ETP AUM ended at $95.3bn with a decline of 2% over the previous week. On a year to date basis, Asia-Pacific ETP market is significantly above last year's closing with $11.2bn or 13.2% increase.
