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Euro area unemployment rate stable at 9.8%
EU27 up to 9.3%
December 2, 2009--The euro area1 (EA16) seasonally-adjusted2 unemployment rate3 was 9.8% in October 2009, the same as in September 4.
It was 7.9% in October 2008. The EU271 unemployment rate was 9.3% in October 2009, compared with 9.2% in September 4. It was 7.3% in October 2008.
Eurostat estimates that 22.510 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 15.567 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in October 2009. Compared with September, the number of persons unemployed increased by 258 000 in the EU27 and by 134 000 in the euro area. Compared with October 2008, unemployment went up by 5.002 million in the EU27 and by 3.149 million in the euro area.
These figures are published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.
Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (3.7%) and Austria (4.7%), and the highest rates in Latvia (20.9%) and Spain (19.3%).
Compared with a year ago, all Member States recorded an increase in their unemployment rate. The smallest increases were observed in Germany (7.1% to 7.5%), Austria (4.0% to 4.7%) and Romania (5.7% to 6.4% between the second quarters of 2008 and 2009). The highest increases were registered in Latvia (9.1% to 20.9%) and Lithuania (4.8% to 13.8% between the second quarters of 2008 and 2009).
Between October 2008 and October 2009, the unemployment rate for males rose from 7.3% to 9.7% in the euro area and from 7.0% to 9.5% in the EU27. The female unemployment rate increased from 8.5% to 10.0% in the euro area and from 7.6% to 9.2% in the EU27.
Teleplan to be Included in SDAX
December 3, 2009--On Thursday, Deutsche Börse has decided on changes in its equity index SDAX® that will take effect on 21 December 2009. The share of Teleplan will replace the share of MPC in SDAX®.
The next equity index review is scheduled for 3 March 2010.
View the Cash Market: Monthly Index Ranking report
Semi-Annual Review of NASDAQ OMX Carbon Indexes
December 3, 2009--he NASDAQ OMX
Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) announced today the results of the
semi-annual review of the NASDAQ OMX Carbon Indexes (Nasdaq:NOCO),
which became effective with the market open , December 1, 2009.
There are no changes to the tradable versions of the NASDAQ OMX Carbon
indexes. The tradable indexes consist of the most liquid EUA and CER
futures traded on ECX.
The EUA future traded on EEX will be removed from the benchmark indexes. The benchmark indexes will from today consist of EUA futures traded on Nord Pool and ECX and CER futures traded on ECX.
NASDAQ OMX Carbon Indexes were launched in June 2008 as the first global carbon index family calculated by an exchange. The index family is constructed for derivatives products as well as benchmarking purposes for the global carbon market.
The NASDAQ OMX Carbon Index series is liquidity-based and is made up of six indexes; three benchmark and three tradable indexes. All indexes are calculated in both Euro and U.S. Dollar. The tradable indexes are calculated as excess return and represent the weighted return of the price development in the underlying future contracts, including the roll return.
For more information about the NASDAQ OMX Carbon Indexes, visit:
http://indexes.nasdaqomx.com.
Fitch upgrades Turkey’s sovereign rating two notches to ‘BB+’
Decembe 3, 2009--International credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has upgraded Turkey’s long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to “BB+” from “BB-”; the long-term local currency IDR to “BB+” from “BB”; and its country ceiling to “BBB-” from “BB.” It has also reaffirmed Turkey’s short-term foreign currency IDR at “B.”
The company announced the upgrade decision in a statement on Thursday. “The upgrade reflects Turkey’s relative resilience to the severe stress test of the global financial crisis and some easing in prior acute constraints related to inflation, external finances and political risk,” the statement quoted Edward Parker, the head of emerging Europe in Fitch’s Sovereigns team, as saying.
UK official holdings of International Reserves
December 3, 2009--1. The UK Government’s net reserves rose by $1,947 million in November 2009, bringing the end-November total to $34,527 million (£21,039 million1) compared with $32,580 million (£19,772 million2) at end-October 2009.
View UK OFFICIAL HOLDINGS OF INTERNATIONAL RESERVES report
EEX trading results for Natural Gas and CO2 Emission Allowances in November – Record High on the Natural Gas Spot Market
December 3, 2009--The European Energy Exchange AG (EEX) reached a
new record level at the Spot Market for natural gas. With 936,360 MWh (market areas Gaspool and NCG) the traded volume in November 2009 was more than five times
higher than the traded volume of the same month of the previous year (168,960 MWh).
In October 2009, the volume amounted to 564,861 MWh.
The Spot Market volume includes 7,320 MWh traded in the Natural Gas auction launched on 15 July 2009. The Spot Market price for the day-ahead delivery of Natural Gas ranged between EUR 8.00 per MWh and EUR 13.05 per MWh.
The volumes on the Derivatives Market for Natural Gas (Gaspool and NCG market areas) amounted to 1,593,167 MWh (November 2008: 715,900 MWh). On 30 November 2009, the open interest was 5,770,274 MWh. On 30 November 2009 Natural Gas prices for delivery in 2010 were fixed at EUR 12.04 per MWh (Gaspool) and EUR 12.38 per MWh (NCG), respectively.
Pros and cons of a financial transaction tax
December 3, 2009-- tax on financial transactions is probably not the best way to curb speculation and find extra revenue to bail out failing banks, MEPs heard on Wednesday at a public hearing held by the EP Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee.
Following the September G-20 summit in which Gordon Brown's suggestion to introduce a financial transaction tax (FTT) met with a lukewarm response from global finance ministers, the MEPs and experts from various organisations discussed the "Tobin-style" tax and the feasibility of introducing it in the EU.
Any such levy would be vigorously opposed by the financial industry, according to Xavier Rolet, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange group, as it would increase costs and have a "substantial damping effect" on transaction activity. By contrast, Sony Kapoor, managing director of think-tank Re-Define, claimed the "revenue potential is enormous".
The rate of 0.01 % would raise €287 billion worldwide, with €130 billion alone coming from the EU plus Switzerland and Norway, according to an Austrian study cited by Alexander Wiedow, the European Commission's director for taxation and customs union.
Moreover, it would be "cheap, easy to collect [...] and would be one of the simplest taxes to be implemented" as nowadays "all can be done electronically", argued Sony Kapoor in response to a question by Diogo Feio (EPP, PT), who asked about the possible cost and "simple manner" of levying this tax.
The European Commission, however, is not planning any measures at present and for the time being is just following the international debate, as "we don't know to what extent it will affect speculation, stability", said Alexander Wiedow.
According Jakob von Weizsäcker, a research fellow at the Bruegel think tank, the recent global turmoil has generated renewed interest in FTT, with some considering it to be a kind of "Swiss army knife" capable of solving all sorts of problems.
By contrast, Geoff Lloyd, senior tax advisor to the OECD, believed "we shouldn't lose sight of the crucial importance of financial sector" for growth. Pointing to the tax as a "new source of financing" he also stressed that it has to be "difficult to avoid, easy to collect and must secure public acceptance". And that, he believed, would be "very hard".
In response to a question by Udo Bullmann (S&D, DE) about the "optimal size" of such tax and a query by Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, DE) about its impact on SMEs, Xavier Rolet said "we actually don't know what the rate of the RTT would be" but it would still represent a "very significant penalty for companies".
Derk Jan Eppink (ECR, BE) condemned the tax as "a Loch Ness monster" and a "brother of Bolkestein directive. We do not need that tax," he exclaimed.
Noting the divergence of views at the hearing, Wolf Klinz (ALDE, DE) said that "at the end of the day we'll have to take a political decision". And as Arlene McCarthy (S&D, UK) pointed out, the public would like to know who will pay in the future for the crisis and therefore is "very much in favour of some form of FTT".
Europeans hold aces, even if gas crisis resurfaces
December 3, 2009-The European Union enters Friday's summit with Ukraine in a more relaxed mode thanks to solid gas stocks going into winter and a drastic fall in post-recessionary energy consumption.
While no one rules out a repeat of Russia's decision last January to turn off the gas taps that keep Europe warm and working, the rules of the game have changed somewhat even if Ukraine is in a chaotic state.
On the seventh of each month, Kiev has to sign a painfully large transfer of funds to Moscow to cover its vast internal gas consumption.
Bank of Ireland Securities Services launch Europe’s first pan-European ETF settlement product.
December 2, 2009--Bank of Ireland Securities Services (BoISS) has launched a pan-European exchange traded fund (ETF) settlement platform for ETF issuers, called “BoISS ETP Direct”. The new product is designed to permit ETFs to settle delivery against payment directly in multiple jurisdictions across the EU.
The catalyst for the new system came from the combination of market need and client demand such as Source, the specialist provider of Exchange Traded Products which launched earlier this year.
As Source prepared to enter the market, it knew that if it was successful it would have to handle daily transaction flows significantly larger than any current provider. Current activity levels from the Deutsche Borse indicate that this is occurring with Source representing 59% of total turnover of €4.2BN in European sector ETFs in October alone.
ETP Direct is expected to have a number of benefits for the ETF community. Commenting on the launch Fearghal Woods Director of Business Development said “As the leading service provider to ETFs in Europe, we are delighted to be launching this new offering for our client base. The product is designed to provide a more transparent, cost effective and efficient ETF settlement mechanism across the European depositary network.”
The platform is expected to streamline the trading activities of ETF market makers through reducing costs, minimising risks and improving timeliness of settlement.
Business Development Manager at Bank of Ireland Paul Heffernan noted that “We are witnessing significant growth in the ETF industry throughout Europe. Many of these products are listed in multiple locations and the cross border settlement systems can cause issues for many ETF traders. Through our discussions and close working relationship with many of the product providers and market makers we have identified this problem and we believe ETP Direct will alleviate many of their concerns. As with UCITS products, we are beginning to see listing and trading of European ETFs beyond the EU boundaries. We are actively enhancing ETP Direct to facilitate settlement into these frontier markets”.
A number of clients are operational on the platform and are excited about the prospects of ETP Direct for their ETF product plans.
Ted Hood, Chief Executive at Source commented: “We believe that the European ETF market has huge growth potential, but that improved business processes that leverage technology are vital to that growth. By working with BoISS and our asset manager, Assenagon, Source has been one of the catalyst’s for the creation of ETP Direct and we look forward to seeing this pioneering initiative become the market standard.”
Alan Durrant Chief Investment Officer at National Bank of Abu Dhabi noted: “We are excited about the potential for the growth of an ETF market in the Gulf region. Local investors are seeking a cost effective way to take instant and diversified exposure to markets and an ETF provides an ideal solution. Many international investors want to access the region and an ETF provides them with an internationally recognized way of doing so. Delivering efficient service solutions will be essential to the development of ETFs in this region and we at National Bank of Abu Dhabi welcome the development of ETP Direct in this regard”.
The product will be made available to ETF issuers that use Bank of Ireland as custodian. It is expected that ETF Issuers will benefit from enhanced distribution opportunities in an ever expanding ETF market.
ETF Landscape: European DJ STOXX 600 Sector ETF Net Flows, week ending 27-Nov-09
December 2, 2009--Last week saw US$5.0 Mn net outflows to DJ STOXX 600 sector ETFs. The largest sector ETF inflows last week were in Banks with US$61.5 Mn and Telecommunications with US$52.8 Mn while Basic Resources experienced net outflows of US$85.5 Mn.
Year-to-date, Basic Resources has been the most popular sector with US$456.3 Mn net new assets, followed by Telecommunications with US$364.4 Mn net inflows. Travel & Leisure sector ETFs have been the least popular with US$16.8 Mn net outflows YTD.
The assets invested in the ETFs are greater than the open interest in the corresponding futures contract in 18 out of the 19 sectors. The data required to produce the flow analysis is available by Tuesday evening which means the earliest this publication can be distributed is on Wednesday
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