Global ETF News Older than One Year
ETFS Precious Metals Weekly-Central Bank Stimulus in Focus as Gold Suffers Largest Fall Since May 2012 on USD Strength
March 4, 2013--Gold recorded the largest monthly fall since May 2012, as political uncertainty buoyed the USD. Political uncertainty remains the key risk for the global recovery. The surge in gold following the Italian election results is evidence that investor sentiment remains fragile.
However gold reversed course on the back of USD strength and the upbeat US economic data. The US economic rebound remains in place after a report showed the US economy reversed an initial contraction in Q4 2012, expanding by 0.1% yoy. Strengthening US manufacturing activity in February and a recovering housing market placed additional pressure on the gold price. Investors are likely to find increasing value in gold as a hedge against downside scenarios given that its price is now 17% below its September 2011 peak (in US Dollar terms). Fed Chairman Bernanke in his testimony to Congress reaffirmed the central banks' intention to maintain monetary stimulus as long as the unemployment rate remains above 6.5%. Familiar currency-debasement hedges, like precious metals should remain appealing for investors as five major central banks meet this week, likely signalling intentions for any additional stimulus.
Political manoeuvring will dominate headlines and be a key catalyst for commodity price direction as Italian election and US budget negotiations drag on. The failure to avert the automatic spending cuts that took place last Friday in the US is a cogent reminder that policy paralysis could stop the global recovery in its tracks.
Source: ETFS Securities
Mirae Asset Management- EMEA Equity Market Outlook
March 3, 2013--The EMEA region comprises disparate countries with very different dynamics. The region has a mix of heavy exposure to Europe (Central Europe) and natural resources (Russia and South Africa), both of which appear unexciting in 2013.
Hence, our outlook for much of the region is subdued for 2013. Central Europe will continue to be weighted down by the lack of growth in Europe, while the GDP growth of both Russia and South Africa will be subdued. Turkey stands out as the most attractive within the region, as it has favorable demographics and also benefits from lower commodity prices. After slowing down in 2012, Turkey should experience an acceleration of economic growth in 2013. Overall, domestic growth drivers will remain key to the region and, thus, we remain most positive on stocks exposed to domestic consumption, as well as the growing wealth and development of the consumer.
RUSSIA: Unexciting growth
Macro Outlook
Economic growth in Russia is expected to decelerate modestly in 2013 due to an uninspiring oil and commodity price outlook, rising inflation and stagnating investment. The Central Bank will likely finish its rate hiking in early 2013 to meet recently introduced inflation targets for 2014. Rising food prices caused by a poor 2012 harvest may cause inflation to remain stubbornly high, however, resulting in a bit more tightening in late 2013. As corporate profits remain weak in the first half of the year due to soft EU/China demand and flat oil prices,investment growth will continue to suffer.
Source: Mirae Asset Management
EPFR Global Fund Data News Release-Gold Funds hammered in late February while Italian voters rattle global markets
March 1, 2013--Investors struggled to regain their bearings in late February as Italy's electorate threatened to bring the Eurozone debt crisis out of hibernation.
The week ending February 27 saw EPFR Global-tracked Emerging Markets Equity Funds post outflows for the first time since early September, Bond Funds outgain Equity Funds by the biggest margin in 14 weeks as retail investors pulled money out of the latter for the first time this year and Gold Fund flows fall off a cliff.
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Source: EPFR
If in doubt, track the index
March 1, 2013--Investing can be a scary business. Open a newspaper and you'll be immediately struck by how volatile markets can be, and how intelligent people can hold contrasting views about the direction of everything from government bonds through to stocks and shares.
The key insight is to understand that the future is unknowable – even by all those star fund managers who charge royally for their investment expertise. Reflecting this, there’s a growing branch of investing that dispenses with stockpicking and market timing altogether. It’s passive investing, sometimes called index tracking, where the return you get is more or less whatever return the market delivers.
Source: FT.com
ETF Securities- Precious Metals Weekly: Gold Attractively Valued as Macro Risks Linger
February 28, 2013--Fragile investor sentiment
While the resurgence of risk appetite over the past month has seen a rotation toward more cyclical assets, investor sentiment remains fragile, as evidenced by the market plunge following the Italian election results.
Prior to the announcement of the Italian election results, net speculative longs in metals with industrial uses such as platinum, palladium, silver and copper remained either close to or at their all-time highs, while major equity markets had posted solid gains.
Gold fundamentals remain constructive
Meanwhile, net speculative longs in COMEX gold had hit the lowest levels since December 2008, as investors seemed positioned for 'the worst is over' scenarios. How quickly sentiment can shift. The gold price came under pressure last week as some investors overreacted to the release of the January FOMC minutes, believing discussions about the timing of stimulus withdrawal would prompt a premature end to the Federal Reserve's economic support. A rebound in the gold price followed Fed Chairman Bernanke's testimony to the House Financial Services Committee with investors appearing to revise their (mis)interpretation of the FOMC minutes. Bargain hunters have since begun to emerge, giving some stability to the gold price around US$1,600oz, while trading turnover on the Shanghai Gold Exchange hit a daily record last week. While the technical picture fuelled the liquidation of gold holdings and the subsequent price decline,
Source: ETF Securities
Mirae Asset Management-2012 in Review: Emerging markets still under pressure
February 28, 2013--Global equity markets, as measured by MSCI All Country World Index, have managed a total return of 16.62% in 2012.[1] This is impressive even with concerns such as: the ongoing structural problems emanating from Europe and their residual effect on risk appetite; the synchronized global economic slowdown earlier in the year; the significant downward momentum of earnings growth estimates; and the overhang from the ongoing fiscal reform in the United States (U.S.).
Central bank policy action from both the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank has proven supportive of equity markets. Market volatility has broadly declined compared with the previous two years.
In the second half of 2012, emerging market equity performance has shown signs of a potential turn after underperformance relative to developed markets since mid-2010. Despite being the drivers of global growth with higher growth rates than in the developed world, emerging equity markets have largely remained under pressure during the period, given the downward momentum in both economic and earnings growth rates. Within the emerging market universe, however, there has been a growing disparity of equity market performance on both a country and a sector basis.
Source: Mirae Asset Management
Mirae Asset Management-2013 Global Macro Overview: Emerging markets drive global growth
February 28, 2013--The global economy is likely to start 2013 teetering between recession and sustainable growth as policy decisions remain a central focal point. While many of the key challenges to markets are likely to remain as we head into 2013, it appears that some progress is being made.
Structural issues in Europe and fiscal decisions in the U.S. involve policy actions. On these fronts, politicians have gradually become more proactive, albeit very slowly. Meanwhile, China’s GDP is likely to have bottomed in the third quarter of 2012, after downward revisions for eight consecutive quarters. This would be supportive for global growth in 2013.
The first few months of 2013 could indeed prove very difficult for markets if the debate over the fiscal reform becomes drawn out through the first quarter. The relevance of this issue, of course, is that the outcome will decide whether the U.S. grows by more than 2.0-2.5% or is instead in outright recession in 2013. We do not subscribe to a scenario of a collapse in U.S. growth as a result of a failure to negotiate the fiscal cliff. Our base case scenario is that an agreement will be reached in the U.S.
Source: Mirae Asset Management
STOXX Limited Celebrates 15 Years Of Index Innovation
Global growth of index provider is marked by the launch of the STOXX China A 50 IndexFebruary 28, 2013--STOXX Limited, the market-moving provider of innovative, tradable and
global index concepts, today celebrates its 15th anniversary.
The first pan-European, STOXX-branded indices were launched on February 26, 1998. The Board of Directors and the Management Board of STOXX Limited gathered at an official celebration ceremony in Hong Kong today to mark this occasion.
The STOXX Indices were introduced in advance of the introduction of the Euro to provide market participants with transparent and strictly rules-based indices for Europe.
The EURO STOXX 50 was the first index to measure the performance of the Euro zone. In the past 15 years, STOXX has developed from being the leading European index provider to becoming a global firm well-known for its innovative range of strategy indices. The company is part of Deutsche Boerse and SIX, and is also the marketing agent for the DAX and SMI indices.
Source: STOXX
FTSE Launches the FTSE Implied Volatility Index Series
February 27, 2013--FTSE Group (FTSE), the award winning global index provider, today announces the launch of the FTSE Implied Volatility Index Series (IVI), and end-of-day index series that measures the implied volatility of the FTSE 100 and FTSE MIB indices.
The new indices provide an estimate of the market's volatility expectations on the underlying index between now and the index options' expiration, enabling investors to make better informed risk management and trading decisions.
Source: FTSE
OECD government borrowing set to rise slightly in 2013
February 27, 2013--The gross borrowing needs of OECD governments are projected to increase slightly to around USD 10.9 trillion in 2013, up from the already high level of USD 10.8 trillion in 2012, according to a new OECD report.
OECD Sovereign Borrowing Outlook 2013 expects that ratings agencies will continue to keep the pressure on governments in 2013. Given their poor track record of sovereign risk pricing over the past twenty years, the report suggests that any downgrades should be carefully scrutinized, and not taken at face value.
The general government deficit for the OECD area as a whole is estimated to have reached 5.5% of GDP in 2012, equivalent to around USD 2.6 trillion. It is projected to decrease to 4.6% of GDP in 2013, equivalent to around USD 2.3 trillion.
Source: OECD
