Prospect of merger fails to spark surge in stocks

A possible merger between the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Osaka Securities Exchange did little to lift Japanese stock markets amid euro-zone gloom yesterday.

The privately held Tokyo exchange confirmed plans to acquire up to 66 per cent of the Osaka exchange, which has a market capitalisation of 105.7 billion yen (HK$10.52 billion), according to Nikkei.

Osaka exchange stock gained more than 7 per cent to close at 391.5 million yen on a day the Nikkei-225 Index slid 0.39 per cent as Asian stocks broadly edged down amid persisting uncertainty in the euro zone.

The MSCI Asia Apex 50 dropped almost 1 per cent, as did the Hang Seng Index and the Shanghai Composite Index.

Investment bank Nomura, in a recent report, slashed the weighting of Japanese equities in its global asset portfolio from 14 per cent to 7 per cent despite its forecast that by the end of the year the Nikkei could increase to 9,200 points, from 8,767 now, because of the economic stimulus package and stabilisation in the financial markets.

The report said the rest of Asia and emerging markets presented more attractive investment opportunities. It has raised the equities weighting in Asia, and also for emerging markets from 9 to 15 per cent.

David Lee, the managing director of the investment banking division of Seoul-based Daewoo Securities, said the Tokyo Stock Exchange's possible acquisition of the Osaka Securities Exchange, which mainly caters to local companies, was unlikely to have an impact on stock exchanges in the rest of the region.

Lee said Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai should continue to be the popular listing destinations for international and mainland companies.

He expected more small and medium-sized Chinese firms to list on the mainland and in Hong Kong.

10%

The weighting of Asian equities that investment bank Nomura looks at for its global asset portfolio