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Korean stocks outshine lacklustre Asia-Pacific
April 14, 2011--Seoul bucked the flat-to-lower trend across much of the Asia-Pacific region, taking the Kospi Composite index of South Korean stocks to a fresh closing high.
The Kospi index rose 0.9 per cent to 2,141.06, in spite of suffering an early sell-off related to options expiries. Its performance helped lift the FTSE Asia Pacific index by 0.2 per cent to 263.81.
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Source: FT.com
China's foreign reserves soar
April 14, 2011--China's foreign reserves have surged past $3 trillion, driven by currency controls that Washington and other governments complain are distorting trade and hampering a global recovery.
Chinese reserves, by far the world's biggest, soared 24.4% over a year ago to $3.04 trillion at the end of March, the central bank reported Thursday.
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Source: FIN24
Tokyo Stock Exchange: Two New ETFs To Be Listed
April 14, 2011--Today, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (TSE) approved the listing of the following two ETFs managed by Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd.
| Code | 1554 (ISIN JP3047330000) | 1555 (ISIN JP3047340009) |
| Name | Listed Index Fund World Equity (MSCI ACWI) ex Japan | Listed Index Fund Australian REIT (S&P/ASX200 A-REIT) |
| Listing Date | March 8, 2011 | March 9, 2011 |
| Trading Unit | 10 units | 10 units |
| Underlying Index | MSCI ACWI ex Japan | S&P/ASX200 A-REIT |
With these listings, there will be a total of 99 ETFs listed on the Tokyo market, bringing us closer to the goal of 100 listed ETFs by the end of fiscal year 2010, as laid out in the Medium-Term Management Plan. TSE will continue working to diversify the ETF market and improve the convenience of our market for all investors.
Source: Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (TSE)
China willing to buy more Spanish debt: Wen
April 13, 2011--Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told Spain's visiting prime minister Tuesday that Beijing is ready to buy more Spanish public debt, voicing confidence in Europe's recovery.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who will also visit Singapore, is seeking new investments to shore up Spain's economy as it tries to avoid a crisis in refinancing and raising new debt.
The European Union and the International Monetary Fund bailed out Ireland and Greece last year and have now offered to help Portugal. Spain's economy is as large as that of Ireland, Greece and Portugal combined.
"China is willing to continue to buy the national debt of Spain," Wen said in comments released by the foreign ministry
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Source: EUbusiness
New FTSE Value-Stocks Japan Index extends Value Partners unique investment approach to Japan
April 12, 2011--FTSE Group (FTSE), the award-winning global index provider and Value Partners Index Services Limited (Value Partners), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Value Partners Group, today launched the FTSE Value-Stocks Japan Index. The customised index builds on the success of previous indices for China, China A-Shares, Taiwan and Korea, offering a new and unique approach to investment opportunities in Japan.
The new index is based on Value Partners’ distinct value-investing methodology, and is calculated and maintained by FTSE’s dedicated custom index solutions team. The index captures the performance of liquid value stocks selected from the investable universe of companies listed on the Tokyo and Osaka stock exchanges. Value Partners’ proprietary value-based screening approach seeks to extract superior performance within a range of market conditions, relative to a traditional market-cap weighted index.
The FTSE Value-Stocks Japan Index is the latest in a growing family of proprietary value-based indices. To date, the index series covers the Taiwan, Korea and China A-Share markets.
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Source: FTSE
ETFs pick up pace in Asia
April 11, 2011-- Asia's appetite for exchange traded funds (ETFs) is growing, according to BlackRock.
The US fund manager said it is seeing more interest from Asian investors as product knowledge about ETFs become more accessible.
Asian investors, it seems, are becoming more familiar with ETFs as an investment tool.
Excluding Japan, Asia's share of assets under management (AUM ) in ETFs globally has more than quadrupled at 4.6 times since 2001.
AUM in ETFs in Asia grew by 38.4 per cent in 2010 to US$$53.3 billion, outpacing global ETF growth rates at 26.5 per cent to US$1.31 trillion.
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Source: ChanelnewsAsia
Australia confirms rejection of SGX-ASX deal
April 8, 2011--Canberra formally rejected Singapore Exchange's A$8.4bn (US$8.8bn) bid for its Australian rival, ruling that the takeover could undermine Australia’s position as a financial centre as well as jeopardise the stability of the country’s financial system.
In a forthright repudiation of the deal’s merits, Wayne Swan, the country’s treasurer, on Friday told reporters it was a “no brainer” that SGX’s bid was not in Australia’s national interest, and highlighted the “critically important” clearing and settlement functions operated by the Australian Securities Exchange.
Source: FT.com
HSBC launches new China ETF in Europe
April 8, 2011--HSBC has ushered in the Chinese New Year with the launch of the HSBC MSCI China ETF in Europe.
The fund is listed on the London Stock Exchange in sterling and US dollar trading currencies, while further registrations and cross-listings across Europe are planned. The fund has a total expense ration (TER) of 0.6 per cent.
The HSBC MSCI China ETF will aim to mirror the MSCI China Index through ‘physical replication’, which is designed to offer exposure to leading companies in China.
The fund will aim to invest in securities in generally the same proportions as in the index, but may not take exposure to all.
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Source: Money Observer
China’s copper stockpiles weigh on industry
April 7, 2011--Is Chinese copper demand faltering? For the hundreds of miners, smelters, fabricators, bankers and hedge fund managers gathered this week for the industry’s big annual conference in Santiago, that is a market-moving question.
After an impressive bull run that has taken copper to all-time highs of more than $10,000 a tonne, inventories of the red metal are piling up in Chinese warehouses.
Prices have fallen 5 per cent from their peak in February
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Source: FT.com
Bombay Stock Exchange and Osaka Securities Exchange Sign Memorandum of Understanding
April 7, 2011--Osaka Securities Exchange Co., Ltd. (OSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) announced today, April 7th, that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to create a cooperative relationship for the development of financial markets in India and Japan. As part of the MOU, both exchanges will seek to develop opportunities which include cross-licensing of indices and other potential areas of co-operation.
We believe the signing of the MOU with BSE, which is the Indian largest stock exchange and has the well-known benchmark index SENSEX, will be a significant step towards mutual cooperation of two exchanges,” said Michio Yoneda, President & CEO of OSE. “In a globalized financial market, investment activities have also become increasingly globalized. We hope this MOU will lead to further development of financial markets both in India and Japan and create new benefits for investors in Asia and all over the world.”
Signing the MOU Madhu Kannan, MD & CEO of the Bombay Stock Exchange said, “The signing of the MOU with Osaka Securities Exchange will help create a platform to facilitate wider investor access to world-class investment products from both exchanges, a move which will be mutually beneficial to the exchanges and investors alike.”
Source: Osaka Stock Exchange