Michele Leung
Former Director, Fixed Income Indices, S&P Dow Jones Indices
Asian Fixed Income: Mega 30 in China Versus U.S.
Despite the lackluster performance of Chinese bonds in 2017, the market value tracked by the S&P China Bond Index continued to expand and reached CNY 56.9 trillion (USD 9 trillion) as of Feb. 26, 2018. While it is the world’s third-largest bond market and remains far from the giant U.S. bond market (valued at USD…
Asian Fixed Income: China and the Global Bond Market
In a previous piece, we discussed that China’s lackluster performance had made it the worst-performing country in the Pan Asian bond market in 2017, and that it was the only country that closed the year in negative territory. The one-year total return of the S&P China Bond Index fell 0.29% last year (see Exhibit 1),…
Sukuk Market in 2017: Year in Review
In 2017, the USD sukuk market expanded at its quickest pace in the past five years. As tracked by the Dow Jones Sukuk Total Return Index (ex-Reinvestment), which seeks to track U.S. dollar-denominated, investment-grade sukuk, the market added 13 new sukuk with a total par amount of USD 20.75 billion. According to the index, sovereign…
- Categories Fixed Income
- Tags country exposure, dow jones sukuk index, GCC, issuance, sovereign, Sukuk, USD sukuk
- Categories
- Fixed Income
Asian Fixed Income: 2017 Pan Asia Report Card
The S&P Pan Asia Bond Index, which seeks to track local currency bonds in 10 countries and is calculated in USD, reversed its loss in 2016 and delivered a total return of 7.86% in 2017. Meanwhile, its yield-to-maturity widened 123 bps to 4.64% YTD. The S&P Pan Asia Corporate Bond Index outperformed the S&P Pan…
Investing in the U.S. Corporate Bond Market From an Asian Perspective
As Asian market participants have become more aware of the importance of portfolio diversification, they have been paying more attention to the U.S. corporate bond market. The S&P 500 Bond Index seeks to measure the broad and relatively liquid U.S. corporate bond market, and it is designed to be a corporate-bond counterpart to the iconic…
Rising Rate Implications for Japanese Investors
The Fed raised rates for the third time this year, bringing the benchmark Fed Fund Target Rate to 1.25%-1.50%, as expected. U.S. Treasuries outperformed Japanese sovereign bonds in 2017, while U.S. Treasuries’ volatility also came down to one-half of the previous level. As of Dec. 13, 2017, the S&P U.S. Treasury Bond Current 10-Year Index…
Asian Fixed Income: Indonesian Sovereign Bonds Were the Big Winners in 2017
With the growing appetite for emerging market debt and in the hunt for better yields, Indonesian sovereign bonds have been popular this year. The strong rally has continued since the first quarter (see a previous piece here). The S&P Indonesia Sovereign Bond Index, which seeks to track the local currency denominated sovereign bonds, jumped 15.24%…
Asian Fixed Income: China Was the Worst-Performing Country in the Pan Asian Bond Market
China’s lackluster performance has made it the worst-performing country in the Pan Asian bond market this year. While China has been among the top three outperforming regions in the past few years, it has significantly lagged its peers in 2017. Indonesia, as represented by the S&P Indonesia Bond Index, rose 12.6% YTD as of Nov….
U.S. Preferred Stocks Gaining Popularity in Asia
The total return of U.S. preferred stocks, represented by the S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index, gained 8.57% YTD as of Oct. 20, 2017. U.S. preferred stocks are perceived to be an attractive investment, as they have historically offered higher yields than other asset classes, especially when the global rates remain low. The indicative yield of…
- Categories Fixed Income
- Tags asian bonds, higher yields, Korea, preferred stocks, Taiwan
- Categories
- Fixed Income
Asian Fixed Income: Two Growth Segments in China’s Bond Market
China’s bond market continued to expand in 2017. The local currency bond market, as tracked by the S&P China Bond Index, grew over 19% in the past year. As of June 30, 2017, the S&P China Bond Index tracked 9,342 bonds with a market value of CNY 51 billion. Two segments that recorded robust growth…