Global ETF News Older than One Year
BlueStar Israel Equity Update-October 2014
November 5, 2014--With few exceptions, the Israeli Global companies that reported earnings in the last week of October, and as of this writing, so far this month, have exceeded market forecasts.
While not immune to global macroeconomic trends and equity market volatility and uncertainty, fundamentals of many Israeli Global companies remain strong and we expect fundamentals to drive shares prices higher...
Source: BlueStar Indexes
Bank of China targets US investors with Basel III bond
November 5, 2014--Bank of China is set to become the first mainland Chinese lender to sell US dollar bonds directly to US investors, as it begins marketing Basel III-compliant debt to global fund managers.
BoC's bond sale, from which it is planning to raise around $3bn, will meet regulatory requirements for US investors, known as "144a".
Source: FT.com
New Global Financial Disruptors Equity Index launches in advance of Lending Club's imminent IPO
November 3, 2014--Liberum and AltFi Data have launched the first equity index tracking the world's leading financial services' disruptors-the Index is called the Liberum AltFi Financial Disruptors Index (LAFDI).
"With the imminent blockbuster IPO of Lending Club,the leading Peer-to-peer lender ",says Rupert Taylor,CEO of AltFi Data,“we believe it is important that equity investors have access to an index that comprehensively tracks the world's leading financial services disruptors listed on the main exchanges of the developed world.
Source: AltFi.com
ETFS Precious Metals Weekly-US Dollar Strength Pressures Precious Metals
November 3, 2014-Gold hits sell stops below US$1,200/oz. The strengthening US dollar on the back of stronger than expected US Q3 GDP, the announcement by the FOMC of the culmination of QE in the US and surprise announcement of additional stimulus from the Bank of Japan
pressured precious metals last week.
Year-to-date, gold ended the week with a loss of 3.3%. Accentuating the increase in currency volatility, gold in Euro terms ended the week up 6.2% YTD while the US dollar index has gained 8.6% in 2014 (+9.4% since early May). Defensive assets suffer as cyclical equities regain vigour. Defensive assets like gold and closely correlated silver, suffered as US stock prices extended new highs. However, with the most precious metals trading below their all-in costs, further decline in price has to be limited without triggering a cut-back in production.
Source: ETF Securities
China Awards $4.9 Billion RQFII Quota to Qatar, Signs Swap Pact
November 3, 2014--China gave a 30 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) quota to Qatar under the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor program, the first such award of access to its domestic capital markets for a Middle Eastern country.
China's central bank also signed a 35 billion yuan currency swap arrangement with Qatar, the People's Bank of China said in a statement yesterday. The three-year deal can be expanded on agreement by the two sides, it said.
Source: Bloomberg
2014 Legatum Prosperity Index(TM)
November 3, 2014--Now in its eighth year, the Legatum Prosperity Index(TM) is a unique and robust assessment of global wealth and wellbeing, which benchmarks 142 countries around the world in eight distinct sub-indices: Economy; Education; Entrepreneurship & Opportunity; Governance; Health; Personal Freedom; Safety & Security; and Social Capital.
The latest Legatum Prosperity Index(TM) reveals that Norway is the most prosperous country in the world, closely followed by Switzerland and New Zealand. Meanwhile, the least prosperous countries are predominantly found in sub-Saharan Africa, with the Central African Republic bottom of the rankings, followed by Chad and Congo (DR).
Other findings from the 2014 Index include:
New Zealand is the highest climber at 3rd on the Prosperity Index. The resurgence of the economy has seen it rise on the Economy sub-index, from 27th in 2012 to its highest ever rank-15th-in 2014. However, New Zealand's success is also driven by strong personal freedom and social capital. New Zealand is number one on the Personal Freedom sub-index.
view the 2014 Legatum Prosperity Index November 2014 report
Source: Legatum Institute
BATS Global Markets Sets U.S. Equities, Options October Market Share Records; Europe Has Best Month of 2014
21.4% U.S. Equities Market Share; 6.5% U.S. Options Market Share; 22.3% European Equities Market Share
November 3, 2014--BATS Global Markets (BATS) today reported October highlights including new monthly market share records of 21.4% in U.S. equities and 6.5% in U.S. options.
The previous record for U.S. equities was 20.7% in April 2014 and the previous options record was 5.8% in September 2014. October marked the third consecutive month of record market share for BATS Options.
In Europe, BATS reported 22.3% market share, its strongest month in 2014. Notably, total average daily notional value traded was 45.4% higher than in October 2013. Separately, more than €368.0bn was reported to BXTR, the exchange's trade reporting facility.
Source: BATS
Average daily volume of 9.9 million contracts at Eurex Group in October
Volatility and dividend derivatives segments with new monthly volume records
November 3, 2014--In October 2014, the international derivatives markets of Eurex Group recorded an average daily volume of 9.9 million contracts (October 2013: 7.9 million). Of those, 6.6 million were Eurex Exchange contracts (October 2013: 5.1 million), and 3.3 million contracts (October 2013: 2.8 million) were traded at the U.S.-based International Securities Exchange (ISE). In total, 152.7 million contracts were traded at Eurex Exchange and 80.0 million at ISE.
At Eurex Exchange, the equity index derivatives segment totaled 86.4 million contracts (October 2013: 52.9 million). The future on the EURO STOXX 50 Index recorded 34.7 million contracts, the options on this blue chip index totaled 32.4 million contracts. Futures on the DAX index recorded 3.5 million contracts while the DAX options reached another 5.8 million contracts. The Eurex KOSPI Product totaled around 2.6 million contracts.
Source: Eurex
SPDR Weekly Market Report
October 31, 2014--ECONOMIES: The Fed ends asset purchases while the Bank of Japan accelerates them. GDP rises solidly in the US but slips in Canada.
Housing cools in the UK. Inflation may be stabilizing in the Eurozone. Industrial production jumps in Japan. Credit growth accelerates
in Australia.
MARKETS: Risk appetites continue to revive. Equities are broadly higher. G7 government bonds are mixed. USD is generally stronger.
JPY weakens on BoJ easing. Oil and gold prices fall.
NEXT WEEK PREVIEWED
SPOTLIGHT: The Reserve Bank of Australia and the Bank of England should leave administered rates unchanged. The European Central
Bank likely stays the course with its policy accommodation. Employment is expected to rise solidly in the US
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
US
While the ending of asset purchases was entirely as anticipated, the new policy statement of the FEDERAL RESERVE'S
FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE was generally regarded as
more hawkish than its predecessor, leading to a (slight) sell-off
in stocks and bonds and rally in the dollar.
Source: SSgA
DECPG Weekly Economic Brief--Oct. 31, 2014
October 31, 2014--As of October 27, 2014 the total number of Ebola cases was 13,703, with 4,922 deaths. Beyond the terrible toll in human lives, the Ebola outbreak is already having a measurable economic impact on the entire West Africa region.
The number of new cases has been increasing exponentially and current efforts might not yet be sufficient to slow the spread of the epidemic.
A total of 13,703 Ebola cases have been reported in the six affected countries (Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Spain and the U.S.) and previously affected countries (Senegal and Nigeria) up to October 27, 2014.
Source: World Bank
