HKEx, Thomson Reuters launch series of renminbi indexes

HONG KONG, June 23 (Reuters) - The Hong Kong Exchanges and
Clearing Limited (HKEx) 0388.HK and Thomson Reuters TRI.N on
Thursday launched a series of renminbi indexes which measure the
intraday performance of the yuan CNY=CFXS against a basket of
currencies.
The index series provides market participants with
benchmarks that reflect the development of the yuan's effective
exchange rate against other major currencies and is designed to
be transparent and tradeable.
The primary index measures the performance of the offshore
yuan (CNH) against a basket of 14 key currencies, including the
U.S. dollar (22.82 percent), euro (18.93 percent) and Japanese
yen (12.79 percent).
The weight of each currency is determined by calculating the
volume of trade between its issuer and mainland China, in
accordance with publicly available data from UN Comtrade and the
Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department.
"As Chinese capital goes global over the next 30 years and
more international equities and commodities are priced in RMB,
our RMB indices will become a useful basis for products to help
investors manage currency risk," said Charles Li, chief
executive of the Hong Kong bourse.
All indexes are calculated hourly using WM/Reuters rates, a
leading foreign exchange (FX) reference for indexes and
financial contracts worldwide.
While there has been bigger demand to hedge currency risk as
the yuan is increasingly used in global trade, confusion over
China's exchange rate policy and slowdown in the world's
second-largest economy have also dampened investor appetite to
use or hold the renminbi in recent months.
China's central bank orchestrated a sharp depreciation of
its currency on Aug. 11 last year, which caught market players
off guard and saw the yuan lose more than 5.5 percent against
the dollar since then.