Friday 21 June 2013

EM sell-off: what about the frontier? | beyondbrics

"In all the general sell-off carnage of the last few days, EM investors might be forgiven for thinking, “what about the frontier?”

Whether you look at the week, the sell-off since late May, or even year-to-date, frontier markets have outperformed emerging markets. Why?

Since May 22, when the MSCI emerging markets index hit its recent peak and began to fall, the EM index has fallen over 13 per cent. The MSCI Frontier index has fallen, but by a more modest 8 per cent."

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Russian minister expects 2013 capital outflow to be lower than last year's $54 billion | Russia Beyond The Headlines

"Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov expects that the net capital outflow from Russia in 2013 will be lower than last year, when it amounted to $54 billion.
"I think it will be less," the minister told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, adding that the Economic Development Ministry has not yet changed its forecast of $30 billion for capital outflow in 2013.
It was reported earlier that the Central Bank estimates the capital outflow from Russia totalled about $26 billion in the first quarter of 2013, while the Economic Development Ministry estimates there was an outflow of about $4 billion in April and $8 billion. Therefore, the net capital outflow in the first five months of the year is estimated at about $38 billion."

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Abu Dhabi’s second London listing is priced at lower end - London Evening Standard

"Stock-market turmoil has hit plans for the London debut next week of the biggest private healthcare firm in Abu Dhabi, with the float priced at the lower end of original hopes today.

Al Noor’s pricing of 575p — near the bottom of its initial range of between 525p and 725p — gives it a value of £672 million.

The firm, chaired by former Balfour Beatty chief executive Ian Tyler, will be the second Abu Dhabi company to seek a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange after fellow healthcare firm NMC. But the initial public offering has coincided with sliding equity markets amid worries over the US Federal Reserve wrapping up quantitative easing."

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Rosneft in 25 year $270Bln Oil Deal With China | Business | The Moscow Times

"State-controlled oil company Rosneft has committed to supply China with 365 million tons of oil over 25 years in a deal worth around $270 billion, chief executive Igor Sechin said on Friday.

Sechin said the new supplies would start in July.

Russia already supplies China with 15 million tons (300,000 barrels per day) of oil annually via an Asian pipeline."

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Turkey: on the scimitar’s edge | beyondbrics

"With Brazil taking over the running in emerging market protests, the television cameras have turned their focus away from Turkey. But investors have not: Istanbul remains firmly in their sights – as does the possibility of further markets carnage (whether or not the demonstrators return to the streets).

On Friday, the markets were calm as bankers weighed the impact of the central bank’s latest attempt to shore up the lira. But nobody’s fooled – in a world of higher borrowing costs, Turkey is vulnerable.

The central bank sold $50m on Friday, in a seventh lira-support operation, taking the total sum involved to $350m."

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Ukraine paid $389.40 per 1,000 cubic meters for gas from Europe in April; $430 for gas from Russia

"Ukraine imported 1.504 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia and Europe in April 2013, paying a total of $641.524 million, according to State Statistics Service data.

The vast majority of the imports came from Russia - 1.377 billion cubic meters worth $591.909 million. Ukraine also imported 127.426 million cubic meters of gas from Germany and Hungary worth $49.615 million.

It paid $430 per 1,000 cubic meters on average for gas from Russia and $389.40 per 1,000 cubic meters for gas from Europe."

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Dubai Holdings' EIT to sell its stake in Tunisie Telecom | Reuters

"Dubai Holdings' Emirates International Telecommunications (EIT) is selling its 35-percent stake - bought in 2006 for $2.25 billion - in state-owned Tunisie Telecom, the Tunisian government said on Friday.

EIT has complained to the government since the uprising that toppled former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011 about strike action and workers' demands for higher pay.

In February 2011, a month after Ben Ali's ousting, Tunisie Telecom said it had cancelled plans to list on the Tunis and Paris stock exchanges after consultations with trade unions. Workers had threatened industrial action if there were job losses.

Tunisia has a population of 10.5 million people and mobile penetration of 95 percent.

Tunisie Telecom has more than four million mobile phone subscribers and one million for fixed-line services."

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India’s sell-off threatens to get ugly | beyondbrics

"In March, India’s benchmark Sensex index was promising to rise above 20,000 points. In May, the Nifty index breached its own high-water mark of 6,200 points. How the mighty have fallen.

By lunchtime in Mumbai on Friday, the Sensex was at a meager 18,765 while the Nifty hovered around 5,675. But how much further will Indian markets fall?

Indian assets joined a mammoth emerging markets sell-off following news that the US Federal Reserve would soon begin to “taper” its programme of quantitative easing, sucking up liquidity."

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Kozhara asks Germany to help Ukraine in fulfillment of criteria of EU : Ukraine News by UNIAN

"L. Kozhara asks Germany to help Ukraine in fulfillment of criteria of the EU, which are necessary for signing of Agreement on association.
Foreign Minister of Ukraine Leonid Kozhara asks Germany to help Ukraine in fulfillment of the criteria of the European Union, which are necessary for signing of Agreement on Association with the EU, which Ukraine has not fulfilled yet.
According to an UNIAN correspondent, L. Kozhara said this in Kyiv during a joint news conference with Foreign Minister of Germany Guido Westerwelle."

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CU may sue Ukraine over special duties on cars - ForUm

"Russia and its partners in the Customs Union and the agreement on free trade area in the CIS can apply to the CIS court to cancel protective measures for vehicles by Ukraine, trade minister of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Andrey Slepnev told reporters.

According to him, recently the EEC trade commission has discussed the issue regarding this protective measure, which is applied with a serious violation of the WTO rules and agreements on free trade area in the CIS.

"Apparently, a legal process will be initiated to resolve this dispute. This means a court," Slepnev said. According to him, this issue is being solved, and maybe this year the court will be initiated by Russia together with its partners in the Customs Union."

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Syndicated lending back in style - The National

"With bond markets convulsing, syndicated loans - which fell out of favour because of low yields on offer from capital markets - are back in style.

But interest rates are expected to rise in 2015 following comments from the US Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, spelling an end to the central bank's quantitative easing policy.

US 10-year treasury bonds sold off sharply following the announcement, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi bond yields also rising yesterday. Bond yields move in the opposite direction from price."

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