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IMF gives ground on yuan exchange rate debate
July 28, 2010--The International Monetary Fund has chosen not to call the yuan “substantially” undervalued, a move that recognizes China’s efforts to free up its exchange rate and avoids friction with an increasingly influential shareholder.
The summary of an annual review of China’s policies omitted the contentious word, used by IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn as recently as June, which has long riled Beijing. Several members of the IMF’s 24-member executive board believed the Chinese currency was too cheap, the fund said. But others said a structural reduction in the balance of payments surplus was already unfolding thanks to past steps to boost consumption, while others took issue with an assessment by IMF staffers that the yuan was substantially undervalued
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Source: Todays Zaman
India raises interest rates, more tightening seen
July 27, 2010--India’s central bank raised interest rates more forcefully than expected on Tuesday to fight inflation that is on track to hit double digits for a sixth straight month, setting the stage for more policy tightening.
One-year overnight interest rate swap rates jumped after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) notched up its fourth rate rise this year and said it was “imperative” to normalize policy in line with the economy’s growth and inflation.
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Source: Todays Zaman
India plans tough stress tests of banks
July 27, 2010--India plans to start conducting twice-yearly stress tests on its banks, following in the footsteps of financial regulators in the US and Europe.
The Reserve Bank of India said on Tuesday that it had conducted rudimentary stress tests during the global financial crisis to check credit and interest rate risk. The bank said it would undertake more sophisticated tests in the future to build confidence in the country’s banking system
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Source: FT,com
First Domestic NASDAQ-100 Index ETF Available in Japan
NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100(R) EXCHANGE TRADED FUND Will be Listed on the Osaka Securities Exchange ETF Market
July 27, 2010--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) and the Osaka Securities Exchange Co., Ltd. (OSE), the premier Japanese derivatives and securities exchange, today announced that the first domestic exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on the NASDAQ-100 Index® will soon be available to Japanese investors. The OSE has approved the listing of the NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100® EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (OSE:1545) on OSE's exchange-traded fund market. Nomura Asset Management Co., Ltd., one of Japan's largest asset management companies and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Inc., is the sponsor of the ETF.
The NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100 EXCHANGE TRADED FUND gives investors in Japan, which has the world's second largest economy, the ability to invest in 100 of the largest and most innovative global non-financial securities listed on NASDAQ – including Apple, Intel, Google and Microsoft.
"We are honored to have the NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100 EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, linked to one of the world's largest growth indexes, to be listed on OSE's market," said Michio Yoneda, President and CEO of OSE.
"The introduction of the NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100 EXCHANGE TRADED FUND gives retail and institutional investors in Japan access for the first time to a domestic product that tracks 100 of the world's most dynamic large-capitalization growth companies," said NASDAQ OMX Executive Vice President John Jacobs. "We look forward to continuing to work with the OSE and Nomura Asset Management as we explore other opportunities to serve investors in Japan."
NASDAQ OMX and OSE signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to form a strategic partnership in February 2009. The partnership facilitates cooperation and potential growth opportunities among both exchanges in various areas. As a result of this partnership, both exchanges introduced the NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100® EXCHANGE TRADED FUND in Japan.
The listing ceremony will be held at JASDAQ Plaza in Tokyo on the day of the listing, August 16th.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
DB Index Research -- Weekly ETF Market Review -- Asia-Pacific
July 26, 2010--Market Overview
There are 226 equity based ETFs in the Asia Pacific region with 318 listings across 12 countries and 15 exchanges. Japan has the largest market share by AUM accounting for 39.31% of the whole market, whilst Hong Kong has the largest market share by turnover with 33.78%.
Blackrock listed two sector ETFs tracking the Chinese A-Share Market Consumer Staples and Consumer Discretionary sectors. Both funds are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Turnover
Monthly average daily turnover rose 5.2% in the last week. Turnover for the previous week was USD 823m. The largest ETF by turnover was the iShares Asia Trust - iShares FTSE/Xinhua A50 China Tracker issued by BlackRock with USD 189m accounting for 23.0% of total turnover.
Assets Under Management
AUM rose 2.7% in the previous week. AUM as of July 23rd was USD 65.2bn. The largest ETF by AUM is the iShares Asia Trust - iShares FTSE/Xinhua A50 China Tracker managed by BlackRock with AUM of USD 7.4bn.
To request a copy of the report
Source: DB Index Research
Release of the “Discussion Paper Regarding the Extension of Trading Hours”
July 26, 2010--Today, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (TSE) released the “Discussion Paper Regarding the Extension of Trading Hours”.
TSE is engaged in initiatives to improve the convenience and reliability of the market, in order to better support the wealth-building of all people according to their varying life plans and become a vibrant destination for international investment assets (risk money).
Recently, remarkable changes have been occurring in the environment surrounding the securities market. The needs market users have of our exchange market are also constantly evolving. Under such circumstances TSE has received comments from users requesting an extension of trading hours.
Regarding this extension, there are comments citing the benefits of increased trading opportunities from the perspective of market user convenience. Meanwhile, there are also opinions that, depending on methods of expansion, current market practices, etc. would need to be greatly altered, thus increasing costs overall and possibly decreasing efficiency. TSE believes that this should be pursued while maintaining an awareness of market users' opinions and comparing the costs and needs of the market overall.
view Discussion Paper regarding the Extension of Trading Hours-English
Japanese Version
Source: Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE)
SGX proposes new rules and measures for short selling
July 23, 2010--The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has proposed new rules and measures to provide more information on short selling activities.
This includes the requirement to mark all sell orders, either as a normal sell order or a short sell order. With the collated data, SGX intends to report the short sales volume and value by counter for each trading day.
To facilitate the marking of sell orders, SGX requires its Trading Members to put in place procedures to ensure that customers indicate their sell orders.
The dealer or remisier cannot transmit a sell order to SGX if the customer has not made his or her order indication.
SGX said the move is to facilitate greater market transparency as timely short selling information, will provides greater disclosure and contributes to enhanced accountability.
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Source: Today Online
Shanghai to Introduce Foreign ETFs Before International Board, Liu Says
July 21, 2010--The Shanghai Stock Exchange will introduce foreign exchange-traded funds before setting up an international board.
James Liu, executive chairman of the city’s bourse, said at a financial forum.
Liu declined to give a specific timetable.
Source: Bloomberg
Robust first day for A-share ETFs
July 21, 2010--Two CSI 300-linked exchange-traded funds launched by iShares rose by up to 2 percent yesterday on their debuts, outperforming the Hang Seng Index.
One of them, iShares CSI A-Share Consumer Discretionary Index ETF (3001), closed at HK$17.42 - up 2.11 percent on its opening at HK$17.06, with 6.95 million shares changing hands.
The other product - iShares CSI A-Share Consumer Staples Index ETF (2841) - closed at HK$17.30, gaining 1.88 percent from its opening of HK$16.98 on a turnover of 6.82 million shares.
Nick Good, managing director of BlackRock unit iShares Asia-Pacific, said the new products were "accessible and easy to buy" for most investors.
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Source: The Standard
China rating agency condemns rivals
July 21, 2010--The head of China’s largest credit rating agency has slammed his western counterparts for causing the global financial crisis and said that as the world’s largest creditor nation China should have a bigger say in how governments and their debt are rated.
“The western rating agencies are politicised and highly ideological and they do not adhere to objective standards,” Guan Jianzhong, chairman of Dagong Global Credit Rating, told the Financial Times in an interview. “China is the biggest creditor nation in the world and with the rise and national rejuvenation of China we should have our say in how the credit risks of states are judged.”
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Source: FT.com
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