S. Korea’s economic growth slows down
January 26, 2011--South Korea’s economy grew at its fastest pace in eight years in 2010 even as the expansion slowed in the final quarter amid weakness in capital spending, manufacturing and construction.
Gross domestic product advanced 6.1 percent last year, the Bank of Korea announced Wednesday, marking the best performance since a 7.2 percent surge in 2002. South Korea grew a meager 0.2 percent in 2009 amid the global economic slowdown that followed the worldwide financial meltdown of late 2008. The robust result for 2010 was achieved “owing to the buoyancy of exports and the ensuing pick-up in manufacturing and facilities investment,” the central bank said in a release.
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Source: Todays Zaman
India hikes rates to contain inflation
January 25, 2011--India’s central bank raised key interest rates Tuesday for the seventh time in little over a year as it attempts to contain inflation.
Inflation is clearly the dominant concern,” the Reserve Bank of India said in its latest review of monetary policy. India’s inflation rate jumped to 8.4 percent in December as prices climbed for fruit, vegetables, manufactured goods and fuel.
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Source: Todays Zaman
Long-term Funding Secured for Proposed ASX-SGX combination
January 24, 2011--Commitments for long-term financing facilities for the proposed ASX-SGX combination announced on 25 October 2010 have been secured.
The proposed combination brings together complementary businesses of two successful exchanges in the Asian time zone to create the premier international exchange in Asia Pacific.
The funding comprises term loans of S$3.8 billion and A$750 million to be made available by well-established banks - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., Singapore Branch, DBS Bank Ltd., Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited, United Overseas Bank Limited and National Australia Bank Limited. Australia and NewZealand Banking Group Limited has been appointed as the co-ordinator in relation to these term loans.
Said Mr Magnus Bocker, CEO of Singapore Exchange, "We thank the six banks for their confidence in the proposed combination and their support towards creating the leading Asia Pacific exchange. This transaction has attracted significant interest from the loans market and we are pleased to have achieved competitive pricing consistent with our good credit standing."
The term loans are in tranches with tenors of three years and five years. The interest payable for the S$ term loan will be based on Singapore dollar swap offer rate plus a margin of 0.55% per annum for the 3-year tranche and 0.72% per annum for the 5-year tranche. The interest for the A$ term loan is based on the relevant Australian bank bill swap bid rate plus a margin of 0.75% per annum for the 3-year tranche and 1.01% per annum for the 5-year tranche.
Source: Singapore Exchange (SGX)
Japan's Financial Services Agency Extends Temporary Measures Regarding Restrictions On Short Selling And Purchase Of Own Stocks By Listed Companies
January 21, 2011--1.The following regulatory measures on short selling are currently in place, with regard to all listed stocks in Japan:
1) An "uptick rule requirement" which prohibits, in principle, short selling at prices no higher than the latest market price;
2) Requirements for traders to verify and flag whether or not the transactions in question are short selling; and
3) Request the exchanges to make daily announcements on their aggregate price of short selling regarding all securities and aggregate price of short selling by sector (The announcements have been made sequentially since October 14, 2008).
In addition, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) has put in force the following measures, as temporary measures effective until April 30, 2010
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Source: FSA.go.jp
BNY Mellon Aims to Start 6 to 7 Japan Retail Funds This Year
January 21, 2011--BNY Mellon Asset Management Japan Ltd. said it plans to start six to seven funds for Japanese retail investors this year, including those that will invest in emerging market stocks with high dividends.
The Japanese asset management unit of the world’s biggest custody bank also aims to ally with about 10 regional banks over the next one to three years to sell the funds, Shizu Kishimoto, managing director and head of retail sales and marketing at BNY Mellon Asset, said at a press gathering in Tokyo today.
Source: Bloomberg
China's economy records 10.3% growth
January 19, 2011--China recorded 10.3% economic growth last year while inflation held at about 5% in December, Hong Kong broadcaster Phoenix Television reported Wednesday.
t said the figures came from a report leaked ahead of the government's planned release of its annual economic data Thursday.
The growth figure is higher than a World Bank forecast of 9.5% and compares with 9.2% growth in 2009.
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Source: FIN24
BSE refutes reports of legal action against SGX
January 19, 2011--Stressing that both the bourses share a strong and long-standing relationship, the Bombay Stock Exchange today called reports of it planning legal action against the Singapore Exchange (SGX) as "inaccurate".
The two bourses in a joint statement said news reports published today about BSE planning to take legal actions against SGX were inaccurate and without basis.
The clarification comes amid reports that BSE could sue SGX for launching Nifty options, breaching terms of an agreement through which the Singapore bourse acquired a five per cent stake in the former in 2007.
Further, the statement noted that the investment agreement in 2007 "clearly contemplates the launch of Nifty- related products, including Nifty options, by SGX".
"SGX has a strong and long-standing relationship with the BSE... Both the exchanges are in dialogue on various business areas, exploring opportunities that are mutually beneficial to both markets," it said.
Source: Online News
Tokyo Stock Exchange To Begin Calculating And Publishing “Currency Hedge Indices”
January 19 2011--The Tokyo Stock Exchange begins calculating and publishing the TOPIX Total Return Euro Hedged Index to satisfy the market demands of capturing the return of currency-hedged indices.
TOPIX Total Return Euro Hedged Index is calculated by hedging beginning-of-period balances using rolling one-month EUR-JPY currency forward contracts.
This calculation method is based on methodology of S&P Indices (Standard&Poor's) and this index uses a hedge ratio of 100%.
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Source: Tokyo Stock Exchange
FSA publishes the exposures of Japanese deposit-taking institutions to subprime-related products and securitized products based on the leading practices summarized in the FSF report
January 18, 2011-- The Financial Services Agency (FSA) publishes the exposures of Japanese deposit-taking institutions (excluding agricultural cooperatives) to the subprime-related products and the securitized products based on the leading practices summarized in the FSF report. These figures are at the end-September 2010.
These figures at the end of September 2010 are available at:
Exposures of Japanese deposit-taking institutions to subprime-related products
Exposures of Japanese deposit-taking institutions to securitized products based on the leading practices summarized in the FSF report
Source: FSA Japan
Thai bourse’s index soars 41% over 2010, second highest in Asia
January 18, 2011--The overview performance of the Thai capital market in 2010 improved year-on-year, whether in terms of indices, market capitalization, or trading value. The Stock Exchange of Thailand’s SET Index closed 2010 at 1,032.76, up 40.60% from end-2009 and the second biggest rise in Asia. Total market capitalization from both SET and Market for Alternative Investment (mai) as of November 8, 2010 hit an all-time high at THB8.56 trillion (approx. USD280.20 billion).
The year 2010 saw a new record high in daily average trading value of SET and mai combined of THB29.06 billion (approx. USD 950.49 million), a year-on-year increase of 59.47%. Other all-time highs include internet-based trading reaching 24.56% of total trading by value, and daily average derivatives trading volume reaching 18,676 contracts.
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Source: Tivarti.com
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