Leading index provider Standard & Poor's on Thursday announced the launch of currency indices - Indian Rupee index and Chinese Renminbi index - which will provide global investors an exposure to the two emerging economic giants.
Standard and Poor's has launched the two indices, the first in a series of real-time currency indices to be launched in 2008, a company release said.
"China and India are both important markets in global trade, but currently lack a liquid and accessible currency futures market," Standard & Poor's MD and Chairman of the Index Committee David Blitzer said.
Launch of the two new indices would provide investors with access to the currencies of the two emerging economic superpowers, while also serving as a reliable and relative benchmark for currency performance, Blitzer added.
The S&P Indian Rupee index and Chinese Renminbi index are designed to replicate the performance of the Chinese Renminbi and the Indian Rupee versus the US Dollar.
The indices represent the performance of a rolling investment in three-month, non-deliverable, forward currency contracts. The two indices are rebalanced every three months on the valuation date of the previous three-month contract.
The indices have an excess return version, which reflect changes in forward prices, as well as a total return version that adds a risk-free rate to the excess return index.
