Global ETF News Older than One Year
BlackRock to Buy Swiss Re Infrastructure-Investments Unit
July 3, 2012--BlackRock Inc. (BLK), the world's largest asset manager, will buy Swiss Re Ltd. (SREN)'s Private Equity Partners AG for an undisclosed amount to extend its investments into infrastructure.
Swiss Re’s $7.5 billion European private equity and infrastructure fund of funds unit will be integrated with BlackRock’s existing business, the New York-based firm said today in an e-mailed statement. Those funds include a “significant” commitment from Swiss Re.
Source: Bloomberg
Statistics : OECD annual inflation rate slows to 2.1% in May 2012
July 3, 2012--Annual inflation in the OECD area slowed to 2.1% in the year to May 2012, compared with 2.5% in the year to April 2012
the lowest rate since January 2011. This slowdown in the annual rate of inflation mainly reflected developments in energy prices (where inflation slowed to 2.0% in May, compared with 4.8% in April) and food prices (2.6%, compared with 3.1%). Excluding food and energy, the OECD annual inflation rate slowed to 1.9% in May, compared with 2.0% in April.
Source: OECD
ETFS Precious Metals Weekly: Precious Metals Surge On EU Summit Breakthrough
July 2, 2012--Precious metals surge after EU policymakers make breakthrough on Eurozone crisis measures. Gold rallied nearly 3% and silver surged over
4% on Friday after a breakthrough agreement between Eurozone leaders to
allow the direct funding of banking sector bailouts and to remove European
governments preferred status on repayment of Spanish bank debt.
Germany appears to be finally bowing to concerted pressure to ease the conditions under which help will be provided to troubled Eurozone nations and their ailing banking systems. Eurozone leaders have agreed to allow the EFSF/ESM to directly recapitalise troubled banks once a single supervisory institution is formed. The seniority of Eurozone government claims on Spanish bank loans has also been relinquished, reducing private investors' disincentives to buying Spanish government bonds.
However, few details on the timing and the mechanics for providing bank and sovereign debt funding were provided. Therefore, while the buoyant market mood may persist in the near-term, follow-through on implementation will be critical for positive momentum to be maintained.
Gold buying by emerging market central banks remains strong in May. Russia led the way, with its central bank accumulating another 15.5 tonnes in May bringing its reserves past the 900 tonne level. The central banks of Turkey, the Ukraine and Kasakhstan also purchased bullion, adding 5.7 tonnes, 2.1 tonnes and 1.8 tonnes respectively. Central banks have been strong net buyers of gold over the past year, with their net purchases averaging up to 20% of total annual gold supply.
CPM Group forecasts platinum headed for deficit, palladium for surplus in 2012. Commodities research firm CPM group has bucked the general consensus in its latest research report, forecasting that the platinum market will be in deficit, while a surplus will prevail for palladium in 2012, albeit narrower than 2011. CPM noted that strong fabrication demand as a result of falling prices and robust Japanese auto market would underpin platinum demand in 2012. While CPM expects a palladium surplus in 2012, it is predicted to be smaller than in 2011.
visit www.etfsecurities.com for more info
Source: ETF Securities
Monitoring intraday liquidity management - consultative document issued by the Basel Committee
July 2, 2012--The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision today issued for consultation Monitoring indicators for intraday liquidity management.
Intraday liquidity can be defined as funds that are accessible during the business day, usually to enable financial institutions to make payments in real time. The proposed indicators published today will allow banking supervisors to monitor a bank's intraday liquidity risk management and its ability to promptly meet payment and settlement obligations, both in normal times and in stressed scenarios. Over time, the indicators will also help supervisors gain a better understanding of banks' payment and settlement behaviour and their management of intraday liquidity risk.
A proposed monitoring framework is set out in the consultative paper and includes:
the detailed design of the monitoring indicators for a bank's intraday liquidity risk;
stress scenarios;
key application issues;
and
the reporting regime.
view the BIS-Monitoring indicators for intraday liquidity management
Source: BIS
BATS Global Markets Reports June U.S. Equities Market Share Of 11.5%; European Record Market Share In Germany, Sweden And
BATS Records 11.5% U.S. Equities Market Share in June, Up From 11.0% One Year
Ago; U.S. Options Market Share Increases Sequentially; BATS Chi-X Europe Remains Largest European Equities Market Operator
July 2, 2012--BATS Global Markets (BATS), a leading operator of securities markets in the U.S. and Europe, today
reported strong U.S. equities market share of 11.5% in June, up from 11.0% one year ago.
BATS Options saw a strong month-over-month jump to 3.5% matched market share, up from 3.0% in May.
Source: Bloomberg
OCC Announces Cleared Contract Volume Declined 6% in the First Half of 2012 while Securities Lending Volume Rose 15%
July 2, 2012--OCC announced that cleared contract volume reached 329,891,797 in June, representing a 12 percent decrease from the June 2011 volume of 376,877,261 contracts.
OCC's year-to-date total contract volume is down 6 percent with 2,100,988,040 contracts in 2012.
Options: Exchange-listed options trading volume reached 325,813,094 contracts in June, a 13 percent decrease from June 2011. Average daily options trading volume for the month of June was 15,514,909 contracts, 8 percent lower than the 16,951,314 contracts in June of last year. Year-to-date options trading volume is down 6 percent from 2011 with 2,084,102,906 contracts.
Futures: Futures cleared by OCC reached 4,078,703 contracts in June, up 3 percent from 2011. Equity futures reached 868,512 contracts this month, up 121 percent from 2011. Index and other futures volume came in at 3,210,137 contracts in June, down 10 percent from June 2011. OCC is averaging 135,081 cleared futures contracts per day in 2012.
Source: OCC
Average daily volume of 11.0 million contracts at Eurex Group in June
Eurex Exchange: equity index derivatives segment with best monthly result in 2012/ Eurex Repo: new peaks in GC Pooling Market and Euro Repo Market
July 2, 2012--In June 2012, the international derivatives markets of Eurex Group recorded an average daily volume of 11,0 million contracts (June 2011: 11.4 million). Of those, 8.5 million were Eurex Exchange contracts (June 2011: 8.6 million), and 2.5 million contracts (June 2011: 2.8 million) were traded at the U.S.-based International Securities Exchange (ISE).
In total, 178.9 million contracts were traded at Eurex Exchange and 52.2 million at ISE.
At Eurex Exchange, the equity index derivatives segment grew by 5 percent and totaled 86.6 million contracts (June 2011: 82.3 million) – the best monthly volume in 2012. The single largest contract was the future on the EURO STOXX 50® Index with 41.2 million contracts. The option on this blue chip index totaled 25.8 million contracts. Futures on the DAX index recorded 4.2 million contracts while the DAX options reached another 4.8 million contracts. The Eurex KOSPI Product achieved strong growth and recorded 4.4 million contracts (June 2011: 572,000).
The equity derivatives (equity options and single stock futures) segment at Eurex Exchange reached 38.7 million contracts (June 2011: 33.9 million). Thereof, equity options totaled 16.8 million contracts (June 2011: 22.0 million) and single stock futures equaled 21.9 million contracts (June 2011: 11.9 million).
Source: Eurex
STOXX Monthly Index Report -June 2012 In Review
July 2, 2012--As of June 29, 2012 stock market indices in Europe, Asia, the U.S. and globally were up in June, according to global index provider STOXX Limited.
For the month of June, the Europe, Asia, global markets and U.S. markets were up 4.77%, 1.00%, 1.94% and 0.90%, respectively.
Source: STOXX
S&P Capital IQ Announces Acquisition of Credit Market Analysis Limited From CME Group
Together with Recent Acquisitions of Risk Analytics Leader R2 Financial Technologies and Low-Latency Data Provider QuantHouse, Purchase Solidifies S&P Capital IQ's Leadership Role Among Providers Of Financial Information Solutions
July 2, 2012--S&P Capital IQ, a business line of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) offering global multi-asset class data solutions, market research and portfolio risk analytics to global investors, today announced the completion of its acquisition of London-based Credit Market Analysis Limited (CMA),
a leading source of independent data in the over-the-counter markets, from CME Group.
The acquisition was part of an agreement to establish a new joint venture in the rapidly growing index business, S&P Dow Jones Indices, which also closed today. With over $6 trillion in assets benchmarked to S&P Dow Jones Indices' products, S&P Dow Jones Indices is the world's largest, global resource for index-based concepts, data and research. In addition, it is home to iconic financial market indicators, such as the S&P 500® and the Dow Jones Industrial Average®.
Source: The McGraw-Hill Companies
McGraw-Hill Companies, CME Group Announce the Launch of S&P Dow Jones Indices
New Company has the Scale & Capital to Increase Product Innovation across All Asset Classes, Fueling Greater Liquidity in the Global Markets; Alexander Matturri Named Chief Executive Officer
July 2, 2012--The McGraw-Hill Companies, one of the world's foremost financial information companies, and CME Group (NASDAQ: CME), the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, announced today the launch of S&P Dow Jones Indices-the world's largest provider of financial market indices.
S&P Dow Jones Indices calculates over 830,000 indices, publishes benchmarks that provide the basis for 575 ETFs globally with $387 billion in assets invested, and serves as the DNA for $1.5 trillion of the world's indexed assets.
With a long track record of providing investors with innovative, index-based solutions, original research and timely data, S&P Dow Jones Indices is the pioneer and home to the iconic Dow Jones Industrial Average(SM) and S&P 500®, as well as home to some of the most widely followed and trusted indices such as the S&P/Case-Shiller® Home Price Indices, S&P GSCI® and the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index(SM). According to the Futures Industry Association, 3 of the top 5 Equity Index Futures and Options contracts traded and/or cleared between January and April 2012 were based on S&P Dow Jones Indices benchmarks.
Source: The McGraw-Hill Companies
