Global ETF News Older than One Year
Covered bonds hit record $356bn
December 29, 2010-Banks have sold a record amount of covered bonds this year, as jittery investors backed the ultra-safe forms of debt, in a trend expected to continue in 2011.
Worldwide issuance of the bonds has reached $356.5bn this year – up nearly 20 per cent from 2009, according to data from Dealogic.
Source: FT.com
Morgan Stanley-Exchange-Traded Funds International Equity: EM Allocation Update
December 27, 2010--Morgan Stanley & Co.’s Global Emerging Market
(EM) Strategy team, led by Jonathan Garner, maintains an EM-based country allocation model. The model is adjusted monthly and seeks to outperform
the MSCI EM Index on a six- to 12-month time horizon.
The team made three relative changes to the model this month. Brazil is upgraded from equal-weight to overweight (90 bps) and South Africa moved from underweight (-50 bps) to equal-weight. Meanwhile, Chile was downgraded from equal-weight to underweight (-85 bps). Garner extended his overweight to Malaysia by 40 bps, while scaling back overweight positions in China, Russia, Korea and Czech Republic. Additionally, Garner extended his underweight positions in Philippines and Thailand by 20 bps and 50 bps, respectively, and decreased underweight positions in Mexico and Turkey.
Source: ETF Research-Morgan Stanley
WEF-Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011
Switzerland tops the overall rankings
December 27, 2010-The United States falls two places to fourth position, overtaken by Sweden (2nd) and Singapore (3rd). The Nordic countries continue to be well positioned in the ranking, with Sweden, Finland (7th) and Denmark (9th) among the top 10, and with Norway at 14th.
Sweden overtakes the US and Singapore this year to be placed 2nd overall. The United Kingdom, after falling in the rankings over recent years, moves back up by one place to 12th position.
The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum together with its network of Partner Institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the countries covered by the Report.
view the Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011
Source: World Economic Forum
Oil stays above $91 as OPEC signals no output hike
December 27, 2010--Oil prices hovered above $91 a barrel Monday in Asia as some OPEC ministers signaled the group doesn't plan to boost output to cool the recent jump in crude.
Benchmark oil for February delivery fell 17 cents to $91.34 a barrel midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
On Thursday, the contract rose $1.03 to settle at $91.51, the highest level since October 2008. Global oil markets were closed Friday for the Christmas holiday.
Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said at a meeting in Cairo over the weekend that the full group would likely not meet until June to discuss production quota policy. OPEC, which accounts for about 40 percent of global crude output, left quotas unchanged at a meeting earlier this month.
Source: Todays Zaman
FEAS Newsletter December 2010
December 24, 2010--The FEAS Newsleter for December 2010 is now available.
Source: FEAS
Arab OPEC ministers to meet in Cairo as oil price tops $90
December 23, 2010-- Core OPEC ministers began arriving in Cairo on Thursday ahead of talks expected to broach how high an oil price the world economy can stand as the market hovers near two-year peaks above $90 a barrel
A full conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries earlier this month elected to make no change to an output policy it has stuck to since December 2008. Since then oil has maintained a more than 30 percent rally from this year’s low struck in May and this week scaled a high of $90.80, the steepest in two years. The Organization of Arab Exporting Countries (OAPEC) brings together the Arab members of OPEC, including top exporter Saudi Arabia, which has traditionally been viewed as a price moderate. Ministers began arriving on Thursday in time for Saturday’s meeting when they will not take any formal decision on output, but can still discuss production and price.
Source: Todays Zaman
Dow Jones Insights Quarterly Newsletter
December 22, 2010--The Dow Jones Insights Quarterly Newsletter is now available.
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
BATS and Chi-X Europe in exclusive talks
December 22, 2010--BATS Global Markets, operator of the third largest stock exchange in the US, is in exclusive talks with a group of banks to combine its business with Chi-X Europe and create the largest share trading venue in Europe by volume, two people familiar with the matter said.
The move signals the biggest shake-up in share trading in the region since competition was allowed against established national exchanges four years ago.
Source: FT.com
Dwindling US supplies keep oil above $90
December 22, 2010--Oil rose to a fresh 26-month high on reports that crude stocks shrank and the economy accelerated in the US, the world’s largest petroleum consumer.
Nymex February West Texas Intermediate crude rose 66 cents to $90.48 a barrel, trading above $90 for the third time this year. ICE February Brent rose 45 cents to $93.65.
Source: FT.com
December 2010 “Islamic Market’s Measure” Preliminary Report - Monthly Report On The Performance Of The Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes
December 22, 2010--Based on the close of trading on December 21, the global Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 Index, which measures the performance of 100 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks globally, gained 6.74% month-to-date, closing at 2230.89. In comparison, the Dow Jones Global Titans 50 Index, which measures the 50 biggest companies worldwide, posted a gain of 6.78%, closing at 176.02.
The Dow Jones Islamic Market Asia/Pacific Titans 25 Index, which measures the performance of 25 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks in the Asia/Pacific region, increased 7.02%, closing at 15.69. The Dow Jones Asian Titans 50 Index, in comparison, posted a gain of 6.25%, closing at 143.05.
Measuring Europe, the Dow Jones Islamic Market Europe Titans 25 Index, which measures the performance of the 25 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks in Europe, closed at 2163.73, a gain of 8.72%, while the conventional Dow Jones Europe Index gained 8.38%, closing at 269.33.
Measuring the performance of 50 of the largest Shari’ah compliant U.S. stocks, the Dow Jones Islamic Market U.S. Titans 50 Index increased, closing at 2259.48. It represents a gain of 5.92%. The U.S. blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 4.79%, closing at 11533.16.
Source: Mondovisione
