Taiwan begins trade talks with Singapore
August 5, 2010--Taiwan achieved a big breakthrough in its attempts at formal integration into the international economy on Thursday as it announced the start of trade negotiations with Singapore.
The joint announcement with Singapore, which comes just two months after Taiwan signed a historic trade pact with China amid warming relations, signals a change in Beijing's policy towards Taiwan’s international presence. However, Beijing still claims sovereignty over the island and has not ruled out the use of force should Taiwan formally declare independence.
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Source: FT.com
Belarus Lists Its First International Bond On Luxembourg Stock Exchange
August 5, 2010--Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Thursday launched its first initiatives to enhance the listing, trading and distribution of fixed income products to build a more vibrant bond market in Asia.
These initiatives include drawing more Singapore-listed companies and other organizations to issue bonds for listing and trading on SGX, an SGX statement said.
The listing and trading of fixed income securities
such as preference shares and convertible bonds will also be encouraged. SGX also plans to halve the time taken to approve bond listings by streamlining the processes involved.
By the first quarter of next year, SGX expects to offer an on- exchange secondary market for individual and institutional investors to trade Singapore Government Securities (SGS).
A total 1,229 bonds are currently listed on SGX. In fiscal year 2010, 200 bonds were listed involving programs to raise over 100 billion Singapore dollars (73.93 billion U.S. dollars).
Source: Singapore Exchange (SGX)
Nikko AM Launches Nikko Bull & Bear Select
August 3, 2010-Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd. (Nikko AM) (Timothy F. McCarthy, Chairman & CEO) announced
today that it launched seven investment trusts, Nikko Bull & Bear Select and began their management on
August 2. Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. started marketing the funds on the same day.
Nikko Bull & Bear Select consists of a total of seven courses: three Double Bull Course (Monthly
Dividend Type) funds, three Bear Course funds and one Money Pool Course fund.
Nikko Bull & Bear Select BRL Double Bull Course (Monthly Dividend Type)
Nikko Bull & Bear Select AUD Double Bull Course (Monthly Dividend Type)
Nikko Bull & Bear Select USD Double Bull Course (Monthly Dividend Type)
Nikko Bull & Bear Select BRL Bear Course
Nikko Bull & Bear Select AUD Bear Course
Nikko Bull & Bear Select USD Bear Course
Nikko Bull & Bear Select Money Pool Course
?The Double Bull Course (Monthly Dividend Type) funds are monthly dividend payment type funds
managed with the aim of achieving investment returns with a daily percentage change of the NAV around
double that of the respective course’s currency against the yen.*1
Three course options are available:
Brazilian real, Australian dollar and US dollar courses.*2The Double Bull Course (Monthly Dividend Type) funds can be used as a tool for aggressively seeking returns during periods of foreign exchange
appreciation against the yen.*3
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Source: Nikko AM
Taiwan to allow investments in Chinese markets
August 4, 2010--Taiwan's government is set to allow its insurers to invest in Chinese financial instruments for the first time, a sign of how improving cross-strait relations are yielding economic benefits for businesses.
The Financial Supervisory Commission, Taiwan's financial regulator, said in a statement late on Tuesday that it planned to allow qualified insurers to invest up to 10 per cent of their overseas investment limit in Chinese stocks and up to 5 per cent of the limit in bonds. Insurers will also be allowed to invest in host of other Chinese financial instruments including Treasury bills and exchange-traded funds
The relaxation is a boon for Taiwan's insurers, who have had a tough time generating meaningful returns in the past because the local market is relatively mature and intense competition has sparked price competition that has eroded profitability.
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Source: FT.com
SGX commodities and derivatives activity grows in July
August 3, 2010--Singapore Exchange (SGX) said today that derivative and commodities trading grew in July.
Securities Market
Securities daily average trading value picked up into the new financial year, up 16% in July from a month earlier. Exchange traded funds were active, with trading value up 86% from a year earlier.
The total number of listed securities as at end-July was 767 from 755 a year ago.
Derivatives and Commodities Market Futures and Options average daily trading volume rose 8% from a year earlier as options volume increased 71%. S&P CNX Nifty futures volume was up 35%.
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Source: The Edge
DB Index Research -- Asia-Pacific Weekly ETP Market Review
August 2, 2010--Overview
There are 227 equity based ETFs in the Asia Pacific region with 320 listings across 12 countries and 15 exchanges. Japan has the largest market share by AUM accounting for 38.03% of the whole market, whilst Hong Kong has the largest market share by turnover with 34.59%.
There were two new listings last week. Nikko AM listed one new ETF and Woori AM listed one new Money Market ETF.
Turnover
Monthly average daily turnover rose 2.4%in the last week. Turnover for the previous week was USD 843m. The largest ETF by turnover was the iShares Asia Trust - iShares FTSE/Xinhua A50 China Tracker issued by BlackRock with USD 196m accounting for 23.3% of total turnover.
Assets Under Management
AUM rose 4.7% in the previous week. AUM as of July 30th was USD 68.3bn. The largest ETF by AUM is the iShares Asia Trust - iShares FTSE/Xinhua A50 China Tracker managed by BlackRock with AUM of USD 7.5bn.
To request a copy of the report
Source: DB Index Research
China closer to becoming second-largest economy
July 30, 2010--A senior Beijing official’s reference to China as the “world’s second-largest economy” has sparked excited speculation that Asia’s new powerhouse may have already reached a long-looming milestone by surpassing Japan.
China’s rapid recent growth has made it increasingly likely that its gross domestic product, in US dollar terms, will be larger this year than Japan’s. However, the vagaries of international currency movements mean such a result is far from assured.
Observers eagerly awaiting what will be a symbol of shifting global economic power on Friday seized on a remark by Yi Gang, director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, about China’s growth prospects.
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Source: FT.com
Post-Crisis, China Faces Challenges of Success
Double-digit growth predicted for China
Revaluation of China currency important for rebalancing, says IMF
Warnings against rising housing and asset prices
July 29, 2010--China’s skillful response to the global financial crisis has blunted the worst of the downturn, but IMF economists say trade and current account surpluses must be prevented from reasserting themselves as the global economy recovers and China’s stimulus is withdrawn.
In its regular assessment of one of the world’s leading economies, the IMF said China’s “quick, determined, and effective policy response” meant it was now spearheading the global recovery.
In an interview with IMF Survey online, the Fund’s lead economist on China, Nigel Chalk, said that despite the global slump, the country’s economy had posted an impressive performance.
IMF Survey online: China’s future economic outlook is fairly rosy, according to the IMF, and the Fund is now calling for a gradual withdrawal of stimulus measures. Can you explain how you have come to that conclusion?
view the IMF’s China report
Source: IMF
Fitch downgrades Vietnam’s credit rating
July 29, 2010--Fitch, the credit rating agency, yesterday downgraded Vietnam’s sovereign debt, sparking rare criticism from the Asian Development Bank and other analysts who said the country’s economy was looking up
The rating was downgraded from BB- to B+, which is four steps below investment grade, with a stable outlook. Moody’s Investors Services and Standard & Poor’s have left their ratings unchanged with a negative outlook.
“Vietnam’s sovereign creditworthiness has deteriorated on the back of weaker external finances and rising external financing requirements amid an inconsistent macroeconomic policy framework, a highly dollarised economy and a weak banking system,” said Ai Ling Ngiam, director at Fitch’s Asia sovereign team.
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Source: FT.com
KRX to list Mini Gold Futures on September 13, 2010
July 28, 2010--Taking into consideration the time required for the member companies to develop or upgrade their system, the Korea Exchange (“KRX”) decided to launch the trading of Mini Gold Futures, the first mini-sized futures contract in Korea, on September 13, 2010.
Trading unit of Mini Gold Futures is 100g of refined gold with purity of 99.99%. Trading hours is 09:00~15:15 from Monday to Friday and the same hours applies on the last trading day.
Last trading day is the third Wednesday of each settlement month and T+2 settlement scheme applies. Final settlement is made by cash and final settlement price is determined by converting the London Gold AM Fixing Price into price per gram and UK Pound into Korean Won. Position limit of 3,000 contracts is set to prevent the risks of settlement default and unfair trading.
KRX expects that Mini Gold Futures provides effective risk management tool to small-scale gold wholesalers and retailers, manufacturers and retail gold investors. It is also expected that it would lure the demand for overseas gold futures by Korean investors into Korea and the publication of real-time price of Mini Gold Futures would enhance the transparency of local gold market. (KRX)
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Source: Korea Exchange (KRX)
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