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First-Ever Exchange-Traded Funds Based on Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Index Launch in Sweden
December 4, 2009-- STOXX Limited, the leading provider of European equity indexes, today announced that the Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Index has been licensed to XACT Fonder AB to serve as the basis for two exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This is the first time that ETFs based on a regional European index will be available to market participants in the Nordic markets.
The XACT Europe Bull 2 and XACT Europe Bear 2 ETFs -- which seek to apply positive and negative leverage of approximately 200% of the index's performance, respectively, are available on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (OMX NASDAQ) today.
"The Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Index continues to be the leading underlying for financial products that seek to offer investors exposure to blue-chip companies in the euro zone equity markets," said Ricardo Manrique, chief executive officer, STOXX Ltd. "The liquid and well-established index tracks the performance of 50 leading stocks within the euro zone and is a valuable addition for XACT Fonder as they expand their offering of leveraged ETFs."
"Our leveraged ETFs are among the most traded ETFs in Europe. It therefore makes sense to add one of Europe's most popular indices -- the Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Index -- to our Bull and Bear concept," said Henrik Noren, Managing Director, XACT Fonder.
The Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Index was launched on February 28, 1998. It represents 50 supersector leaders in the 12 euro zone countries Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. As of December 3, 2009, the index was up 17.32% for the year.
The Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Index is weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization, and each component's weight is capped at 10% of the index's total free-float market capitalization. The index captures approximately 60% of the free-float market capitalization of the Dow Jones EURO STOXX TMI Index. Daily historical data is available back to December 31, 1986.
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
DB Index Research -- Weekly ETF Reports -- Europe
December 3, 2009--Highlights
ETF Volume
Exchange based Equity ETF turnover declined by 1.6% on the previous week. Daily turnover for the previous week was E1.4bn. European fixed income ETF turnover remained at about the same level at E177m, with money market ETFs continuing to be the main focus.
In exchange based bond ETFs, iShares € Corporate Bond has the highest daily turnover of E13.97m. Among the Equity ETFs, iShares DAX (DE) has the highest daily turnover of E69.76m.
There were 16 new listings last week. All new listings were issued by Credit Suisse AM on Deutsche Borse. New listings included 8 cross listed Equity ETFs and 8 new cross listed Bond ETFs.
European Style ETFs, led by short and leveraged products, kept its position as the leading product area with total turnover of E445m accounting for 31.97% of total ETF turnover, followed by European Regional ETFs with total turnover of E372m with 26.71% of total turnover. The DAX ETFs remain the dominant country products with total average daily volume of E192m across the fourteen listed products and accounting for 13.8% of all equity ETF volume.
DJ Euro STOXX 50 ETFs accounted for 13.4% of turnover trading E186m per day with liquidity split across 16 ETFs and 43 different listings on 9 exchanges.
Market Share
The Deutsche Borse XTF platform has the largest market share with 39.0% of total turnover. The Euronext NextTrack platform has 21.5% market share. The LSE’s combined Italian Exchange and London market share is now 24.1%.
Assets under Management (AUM)
Total European Equity related AUM declined by 2.6% to E101.6bn during last week. AUM for DJ Euro STOXX 50 ETFs was E19.7bn accounting for 19.4% of total European AUM. Fixed Income ETF AUM declined by 2.5% to E33.7bn.
Overall, the largest ETF by AUM was Lyxor ETF DJ Euro STOXX 50, an Equity based ETF, with AUM of E4.9bn. The largest Fixed Income ETF by AUM was the iShares € Corporate Bond with AUM of E3.2bn.
To request a copy of the report
Source: Aram Flores and Shan Lan -DB Index Research
First estimates for the third quarter of 2009 Euro area GDP up by 0.4% and EU27
GDP up by 0.3%
-4.1% and -4.3% respectively compared with the third quarter of 2008
December 3, 2009--GDP increased by 0.4% in the euro area1 (EA16) and by 0.3% in the EU271 during the third quarter of 2009, compared with the previous quarter, according to first estimates released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In the second quarter of 2009, growth rates were -0.2% in the euro area and -0.3% in the EU27.
Compared with the third quarter of 2008, seasonally adjusted GDP declined by 4.1% in the euro area and by 4.3% in the EU27, after -4.8% and -5.0% respectively for the previous quarter.
Variation in components of GDP
During the third quarter of 2009, household2 final consumption expenditure decreased by 0.2% in both the euro area and the EU27 (after 0.0% and -0.1% respectively in the previous quarter). Investments fell by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU27 (after -1.7% and -2.5%). Exports increased by 2.9% in the euro area and by 2.4% in the EU27 (after -1.3% and -1.4%). Imports increased by 2.6% in the euro area and by 2.4% in the EU27 (after -2.9% in both zones).
US and Japanese GDP increased In the United States GDP increased by 0.7% during the third quarter of 2009, after -0.2% in the second quarter of 2009. In Japan GDP increased by 1.2% in the third quarter of 2009, after +0.7% in the previous quarter. Compared with the third quarter of 2008, GDP declined by 2.5% in the United States (after -3.8% in the previous quarter) and by 4.4% in Japan (after -7.1%)
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Source: Eurostat
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.
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Source: Eurostat
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
Source: Deutsche Börse
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.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
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.
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Siurce: Todays Zaman
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
Source: HM Treasury
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.
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Source: European Energy Exchange AG (EEX)
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".
Source: European Parliment