IMF-Chart of the Week: Japan's Robots
June 12, 2018--As Japan's population ages and the birth rate is too low to sustain growth, the country is no stranger to coping with a limited number of working age people.
As shown in our Chart of the Week, which we also feature in the latest issue of Finance and Development, Japan is still a leader in robot production and industrial use. The country exported some $1.6 billion worth of industrial robots in 2016-more than the next five biggest exporters (Germany, France, Italy, United States, South Korea) combined. Japan is also one of the most robot-integrated economies in the world in terms of "robot density"-measured as the number of robots relative to humans in manufacturing and industry.
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Source: IMF
Bitcoin crashed after hacker attack in South Korea
June 11, 2018--A cryptocurrency exchange hack in South Korea jolted holders of digital assets, fuelling a $46 billion sell-off and extending this year's Bitcoin slump to more than 50 per cent.
Over the weekend. crypto exchange Coinrail tweeted that it was hacked. and noted that lesser-known cryptocurrencies such as Pundi X were among those affected. according to Google Translate. The Pundi X-bitcoin pair is the most-traded on Coinrail, CoinMarketCap data showed.
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Source: marketplus.ch
The World's Biggest Pension Fund Struggles With Sustainability
June 10, 2018--Making environmental issues a priority has proved elusive to its active managers.
Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund has nearly $1.5 trillion in assets and a legion of external asset managers running its portfolio.
The GPIF sees itself as a "super-long-term investor" with the goal of a century or more of sustainable investment and outflows. Managing money for that long is a matter of stewardship, not just picking assets-and in the past few years, the GPIF has included environmental, social and governance factors as part of its stewardship responsibilities
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Source: Bloomberg
Thailand's Economic Outlook in Six Charts
June 8, 2018--Thailand's economic outlook is improving. Growth is estimated at 3.9 percent in 2017-the fastest pace on an annual basis since 2013-but it has yet to become broad-based.
To secure growth that benefits everyone, the country will need to implement key reforms to raise domestic demand and prepare for the impact of an aging population, said the IMF in its latest annual assessment.
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Source: IMF
SGX reports market statistics for May 2018
June 7, 2018--Securities daily average value (SDAV) on 31 May 2018 was the highest single day SDAV at S$3.53 billion since 31 May 2013, ahead of changes from MSCI's May 2018 semi-annual review of its equity indexes
Open interest in SGX FTSE China A50 Index futures grew 25% month-on-month, as investors geared up for MSCI's A-Shares inclusion
Securities
Total Securities market turnover value was at S$28.2 billion, up 6% month-on-month (m-o-m) and up 6% year-on-year (y-o-y), over 21 trading days.
There were 21 trading days in April 2018 and 21 in May 2017.
Securities daily average value (SDAV) was S$1.34 billion, up 6% m-o-m and up 6% y-o-y.
Market turnover value of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) was S$236 million, up 18% m-o-m and down 8% y-o-y.
Market turnover value of structured warrants and Daily Leveraged Certificates (DLCs) was S$1.40 billion, down 18% m-o-m and up 23% y-o-y*.
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Source: SGX
Solactive releases Australian Investment Grade Corporate Bond Select TR Index underlying BetaShares Australian Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF
June 7, 2018--Solactive is pleased to announce the launch of the Solactive Australian Investment Grade Corporate Bond Select TR Index used as the basis for BetaShares Australian Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF ("CRED"). The index seeks to replicate the performance of a portfolio of investment grade, senior corporate bonds denominated in Australian dollars (AUD).
The index methodology will favor securities offering superior expected excess returns over Australian government bonds. By selecting bonds based upon expected returns rather than debt outstanding, the index methodology seeks to avoid shortcomings of traditional debt-weighted indices and provide relatively higher returns.
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Sourec: Solactive
World Gold Council-Market Update: China's jewellery market-quietly improving
June 7, 2018--Fuelled by an expanding economy and rising wealth, China's gold jewellery demand has boomed since the early 2000s. Despite this, it has endured some challenging years: jewellery market research shows demand shrank by one-third between 2013 and 2016. But 2017 saw modest growth, following a period of reinvention.
Jewellers' efforts to modernise their product mix, improve design, and seamlessly blend customers' online and offline experiences are starting to bear fruit. It is our view that China's jewellery market has turned a corner. We believe a more consumer-focused industry, combined with China's rising wealth, will support global gold demand and gold's long-term performance.
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Source: World Gold Council (WGC)
ASX Investment Products Monthly Update-May 2018
June 7, 2018--May 2018 saw continued growth in Assets under Management in LICs (up 1.2%), Infrastructure Funds (up 1.4%) and ETPs (up 1.4%) on a month on month basis.
Total Assets under Management of all Investment Products decreased by 0.9% over the month of May 2018 due to decreases in AREITs (down 3.4%).
ASX welcomed five new Investment Products in the month of May:
AREIT (Australian Real Estate Investment Trust)
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) admitted on 31 May 2018
LIC (Listed Investment Companies)
Gryphon Capital Income Trust (GCI) admitted on 25 May 2018
Evans & Partners Asia Fund (EAF) admitted on 17 May 2018
ETF (Exchange Traded Funds)
Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200) admitted on 8 May 2018
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Source: ASX
Cryptocurrency Exchange Huobi Wants to Become Decentralized
June 6, 2018--Huobi, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, wants to walk the talk.
The Singapore-based platform plans to invest $100 million toward building Huobi Chain.
Once the project is complete, Huobi plans to migrate its operations onto this blockchain, according to a statement by the company.
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Source: Bloomberg
India raises key rate for first time since 2014, retains 'neutral' stance
June 6, 2018--Growing inflation concerns prompted the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to raise its policy rate for the first time in over four years on Wednesday, but it surprised some economists by keeping its stance "neutral" instead of changing to "tighten".
The central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) lifted the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent-the first rate change since a 25 basis point cut in August 2017.
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Source: Reuters
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