Foreign exchange

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  Julius Baer CIO pinpoints three key topics

  11 Mar 2010 Stock & exchange, Interviews, Commodities, Foreign exchange, Private banking
  Van Anantha-Nageswaran, Bank Julius Baer's CIO, is advising clients to target Asian currency appreciation, agricultural commodities and Thai equities in 2010. He explains his thinking in an interview with asiamoney.com.

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  Goldman co-head of regional sales trading quits

  11 Mar 2010 Stock & exchange, Foreign exchange, Market move
  Jesse Lentchner has resigned as managing director and co-head of sales trading for Asia ex-Japan at Goldman Sachs. He is expected to join trading firm BTIG as a Hong Kong-based regional chief executive.

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  UBS captures FICC chief in Taiwan: sources

  09 Mar 2010 Structured products, Investment banking, Commodities, Bonds, Foreign exchange, Market move
  The Swiss bank is understood to have hired Frank Suen from Citi to be head of fixed income, currencies and commodities for Taiwan. It would be the second veteran Citi banker that UBS has hired in recent weeks.

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  Greek stability seen to boost Asian currencies

  04 Mar 2010 Nations & economies, Bonds, Foreign exchange
  Markets have responded positively as Greek borrowing costs dropped to their lowest level since mid-February. This positive news is likely to move Asian currencies higher, notes Mitul Kotecha of Credit Agricole CIB.

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  UBS hires FICC co-heads for Asia, say sources

  02 Mar 2010 Investment banking, Bonds, Foreign exchange, Market move
  The bank is believed to have hired Thomas Siegmund from Nomura and Shahryar Mahbub from Citi to co-head fixed income, currencies and commodities for Asia ex-Japan. It is seen as part of a build out to catch up rivals.

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  Nomura appoints senior banking duo in India

  02 Mar 2010 Investment banking, Bonds, Loans, Foreign exchange, Market move
  The firm named Nipun Goel head of investment banking for India and Nitin Jain co-head of fixed income for India. Goel joins from BoA-ML in India, while Jain was most recently CEO of the primary dealership at ICICI Securities.

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  Strong US dollar in sight, says senior trader

  26 Feb 2010 Nations & economies, Foreign exchange
  Choppy trading in FX markets over the past few weeks likely signals the start of a new trend of further strengthening in the US dollar, notes Robert Reilly of Société Générale. But he is bullish on the medium-term outlook for Asian currencies.

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  Steps outlined as renminbi creeps towards convertibility

  25 Feb 2010 Nations & economies, Foreign exchange
  China has liberalised its currency cautiously in recent years, but as its economy grows, pressure to allow the renminbi to become fully convertible will rise quickly. Chris Wright reports.

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  BarCap explains 2010 outlook for Asian currencies

  23 Feb 2010 Foreign exchange, Research report
  Peter Redward, BarCap head of emerging Asia research, says he prefers to position long Asian currencies and favours FX options to improve risk/reward and to hedge directional US dollar/Asia exposure opportunistically.

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  Asian FX intervention forecast to continue

  22 Feb 2010 Nations & economies, Foreign exchange, Research report
  Mitul Kotecha, head of global foreign exchange strategy for Calyon, says the US dollar will come under pressure in the first half of this year, suggesting that FX intervention will continue, although a lot depends on China's FX policy.

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  Asian currency winners identified in 2010

  19 Feb 2010 Foreign exchange, Research report
  Mirza Baig, Deutsche Bank's head of Asia foreign exchange strategy, considers which currencies stand to benefit from a continued decline of the US dollar this year.

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  Bearish response to US rate hike ‘uncalled for’

  19 Feb 2010 Stock & exchange, Nations & economies, Foreign exchange
  Mitul Kotecha, head of global FX strategy at Credit Agricole, says the market reaction to the Fed’s discount rate hike is overdone and will have no immediate implication for Asian monetary policy or growth profile.

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  Expert picks 2010 Asian currency outperformers

  18 Feb 2010 Foreign exchange, Research report
  UBS foreign exchange strategist Nizam Idris considers how Asian currencies are likely to perform against the US dollar this year given the pace of global recovery and the possihle threat of rising inflationary pressure.

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  Impact of EU fiscal crisis on Asia downplayed

  17 Feb 2010 Nations & economies, Bonds, Foreign exchange
  Regional equity and currency markets are forecast to rebound despite fears over the potential debt default of several European countries. Analysts say Asia’s economic fundamentals are strong, which should support demand for regional assets.

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  Renminbi's rise will be slower than expected: HSBC

  10 Feb 2010 Foreign exchange
  The renminbi should appreciate in the second quarter, but its rise could be slower than most what market observers expect. Beijing is unlikely to conduct a one-off currency gain.

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  Won, rupee, New Taiwan dollar set for rebound

  09 Feb 2010 Foreign exchange
  Risk aversion should subside in the next few weeks and the three Asian currencies are set to be key beneficiaries for revaluation, believes a senior Asia strategist.

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  Fund manager promotes high-yield debt, currencies

  06 Feb 2010 Bonds, Foreign exchange, Asset management
  Rajeev De Mello of Western Asset Management believes companies will take advantage of the fact that absolute yield levels in the high-yield debt market are very low. He also highlights opportunities with some Asian currencies.

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  Industry figures take bearish view on US dollar

  04 Feb 2010 Nations & economies, Foreign exchange
  While panelists at this month’s Euromoney Asia Forex Forum in Singapore were divided over the greenback’s short-term prospects, almost all take a bleak long-term view, noting ‘65% of the Federal Reserve’s assets are toxic’.

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  Method of renminbi appreciation divides panelists

  03 Feb 2010 Foreign exchange
  Participants at the Euromoney Asia Forex Forum debated the pros and cons of one-off revaluation against gradual appreciation. While the latter ends near-term speculative inflows, the former offers a longer-term approach.

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  Deutsche sees 2010 corrections as buying opportunities

  02 Feb 2010 Stock & exchange, Energy, Bonds, Foreign exchange, Asset management, Private banking
  The bank’s wealth management team is advising clients to be dynamic in asset allocation. It believes the global economy is strong enough to withstand a withdrawal of government stimuli, and urges investors to seize on market dips.

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  Experts debate risks of huge central bank reserves

  02 Feb 2010 Nations & economies, Foreign exchange
  Participants at the Euromoney Asia Forex Forum have questioned the need for Asian central banks to hoard excessive amounts of foreign exchange reserves, suggesting it could pose problems for global markets.

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  Little upside left in Indian rupee, says HSBC

  29 Jan 2010 Nations & economies, Foreign exchange
  The bank notes that the rupee is now the fourth most expensive Asian currency against the US dollar. HSBC is tipping the Korean won, the New Taiwan dollar and Indonesia’s rupiah to appreciate more strongly.

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  Citi strategists see the value of health care

  26 Jan 2010 Stock & exchange, Nations & economies, Commodities, Foreign exchange
  The US bank is advising clients to seize on opportunities in the health-care sector on the back of structural changes and long-term underperformance. It likes global real estate too, but points to potential risks in recovery.

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  BoA-ML makes senior rates and currencies hire

  25 Jan 2010 Foreign exchange, Market move
  The US bank has taken on Vinit Sahni from Goldman Sachs as regional head of flow rates and currencies sales. He will also be global head of hedge fund and central bank sales for rates and currencies.

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  Executive outlines trends in currencies, commodities

  24 Jan 2010 Stock & exchange, Commodities, Foreign exchange
  Johann Santer of Superfund Financial expects stronger trends to emerge in currencies and commodities, helping managed futures strategies in 2010. He is bullish on countries that stand to gain from rising commodity prices.

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  Barclays Wealth sees value in likely M&A trend

  21 Jan 2010 M&A, Stock & exchange, Commodities, Foreign exchange
  The wealth manager says the environment is ripe for M&A since firms with strong balance sheets can borrow at record low rates. It also sees value in non-cyclical equities, renminbi appreciation and shorting gold.

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  Eleven quit RBS in Australia to join BoA-ML

  20 Jan 2010 Commodities, Bonds, Foreign exchange, Market move
  RBS saw 10 fixed income traders, sales staff and a personal assistant quit its Sydney office today (January 20). Led by managing director Chris Thomas, all are set to join BoA-ML in May, asiamoney.com can reveal.

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  LGT urges equity investors to wait for Fed action

  14 Jan 2010 Stock & exchange, Commodities, Bonds, Foreign exchange, Private banking
  The wealth manager advises clients to stay fully invested in equities as governments and central banks will do whatever is necessary to avoid a deflationary or double-dip scenario. It doesn't expect the Fed to tighten in 2010.

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  SG names head of foreign exchange sales in Tokyo

  14 Jan 2010 Foreign exchange
  Société Générale announced it had hired Toshiyuki Tomita as head of flow foreign exchange sales in its Tokyo branch. He will be tasked with building a stronger partnership with Japanese financial institution clients.

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  China’s reserve ratio hike to hit banking stocks

  13 Jan 2010 Stock & exchange, Nations & economies, Loans, Foreign exchange
  Beijing’s decision to raise banks’ reserve requirement ratio 50 basis points to 16% is likely to have a negative impact on Chinese equities, note analysts. It also raises expectations about interest rate hikes and adds to speculation that Beijing will relax the dollar peg.

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  China shows it’s serious about reining in lending

  13 Jan 2010 Stock & exchange, Nations & economies, Bonds, Loans, Foreign exchange
  By increasing the reserve requirement ratio, the People’s Bank of China has sent out a strong message, and further hikes are expected. Some believe it was motivated to rein in credit growth and to suck liquidity out of the system, with billions in PBoC bills set to mature.

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  Strong foreign equity flows forecast for Asia

  12 Jan 2010 Nations & economies, Foreign exchange
  Foreign investors will continue to focus on growth prospects and currency appreciation, notes Calyon. China is expected to resume renminbi appreciation soon, which could spur other Asian nations to follow suit.

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  Stay invested during quiet first quarter, urges HSBC

  06 Jan 2010 Stock & exchange, Commodities, Energy, Bonds, Foreign exchange, Private banking
  Arjuna Mahendran, Asia head of investment strategy for HSBC Private Bank, sees 2010 as a year of three halves: a quiet first quarter followed by a potential bull-run and then renewed tightening by central banks at the end.

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  SocGen names new head of global markets for China

  04 Jan 2010 Commodities, Bonds, Foreign exchange, Market move
  Société Générale appoints Yang Duan to replace Gilbert Tse, who recently moved to Lyxor Asset Management. Yang joins from Standard Chartered, where he was head of China sales and fixed income.