STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 29 March 2012

[Demeter]

51. BRICS to eye joint bank, stock exchange tie-up at summit

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/28/india-brics-idUSL3E8ES5Z020120328



...BRICS leaders held their first summit in 2009 and have sought to increase their global influence to reflect their growing economic clout. But with radically different economies and systems of government, and competing priorities, the countries from four different continents have often struggled to find common cause.

A significant announcement at this week's meeting is likely to be the plan for a joint development bank in the mould of the World Bank. Such an initiative would allow the countries to pool resources for infrastructure improvements and could eventually serve as a vehicle for lending during global financial crises such as the one in Europe, officials say. Brazilian Trade Minister Fernando Pimentel told reporters in Brasilia last week that the countries would sign a deal at the summit to study the creation of the bank. Sudhir Vyas, a senior Indian foreign ministry official, told reporters on Monday that the BRICS would have to determine how the bank would be structured and capitalised. Such an ambitious project would take time, he said.

"We don't set up a bank every ordinary day," he said. THANK GODDESS FOR THAT!

The leaders are also expected to sign agreements allowing their individual development banks to extend credit to other members in their local currencies, a step towards replacing the dollar as the main unit of trade between them.

FIVE NATION STOCK INDEX

Benchmark equity index derivatives allowing investors in one BRICS country to bet on the performance of stock markets in the other four members without currency risk will be cross-listed on their stock exchanges from Friday, the exchanges said earlier this month...


...The exchange rate of China's currency has sparked protests, including from Brazilian manufacturers, for being undervalued. Most member countries also face a slowdown in their economies....