Market commentary: International markets rally as China opens market for international investors

International markets rally as China opens its market for international investors. The best performing market so far this year has been the Shanghai market which is up 17% year-to-date. Chinese shares surged to an almost three-year high and the yuan strengthened as regulators said a stock-trading link between Hong Kong and Shanghai will start next week.

The Hong Kong and Shanghai bourses will allow trading on each other’s venues giving foreign investors unprecedented access to China’s $4.2 trillion equity market. International money managers will now be able to purchase a net $2.1 billion a day of Chinese shares, while also providing a route for mainland investors to buy Hong Kong equities.

China’s exports rose 11.6% from a year earlier in October, more than the 10.6% growth forecast by the market.  Imports climbed 4.6%, leaving a trade surplus of $45.4 billion, close to August’s record $49.85 billion.

In Russia, the ruble, which has lost more versus the dollar than any other emerging-market currency this year, strengthened 2.5% today. President Vladimir Putin said Russia won’t implement capital controls. Due to the current turmoil in the country, Russia’s central bank cut its base-case economic forecast for next year to show no growth, assuming sanctions remain in place and oil averages $95 a barrel.

The regulator also pushed back its medium-term inflation target of 4% to 2017 from 2016, according to a revised monetary policy plan for 2015-17 released today. The base-case scenario sees sanctions lasting through the end of 2017.

In Europe, Spain’s 10-year bonds were little changed after more than two million Catalans voted overwhelmingly in favour of leaving the country yesterday in a ballot ruled illegal by the Constitutional Court. Eighty-one percent of voters, about 1.6 million people, backed independence, regional vice president Joana Ortega said early today, with 88% of polling stations counted.

In the USA, short. U.S. employers added 214,000 workers to payrolls in October, trailing the 235,000 increase forecast by economists as the jobless rate fell to a six-year low. A survey shows that analysts are expecting the Fed to start increasing rates in October 2015.

In corporate news, Carlsberg A/S, Russia’s biggest brewer, said its market share improved in the country as the maker of Tuborg sponsored a hockey league and organized music festivals to bolster the visibility of its brands.

The Copenhagen-based company’s Russian volume share improved to 37.9 percent in the third quarter from 36.5% in the preceding period, Carlsberg said in a statement today, as the beer maker reported earnings that met analysts’ estimates.

Vodacom Group Ltd, the wireless operator with the most subscribers in South Africa, reduced its earnings forecast as cuts to mobile termination rates and weak consumer spending in its home market curb growth. The shares fell the most in more than nine months.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will increase by a mid-single digit percentage over three years, compared with a previous forecast of mid-to-high single digits. Profit by that measure fell by 1.7% to $1.16 billion in the six months through September.

This article was issued by Calamatta Cuschieri, visit www.cc.com.mt for more information.

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