Standard & Poor's launches rupee, renminbi indices

Mumbai: Rating agency Standard & Poor's has announced the launch of currency indices in  Indian rupee and the Chinese renminbi that will provide global investors an exposure to the two emerging major economies.

The two indices are the first in a series of real-time currency indices to be launched in 2008, Standard and Poor's said in a release.

"China and India are both important markets in global trade, but currently lack a liquid and accessible currency futures market," David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee, Standard & Poor's, said, adding, the two new indices would provide investors with access to the currencies of the two emerging economic superpowers, while also serving as a reliable benchmark for currency performance.

The S&P Indian Rupee index and Chinese Renminbi index are designed to replicate the performance of the two currencies vis-à-vis the US dollar.

The indices represent the performance of a rolling investment in three-month, non-deliverable, forward currency contracts. The indices are rebalanced every three months on the valuation date of the previous three-month contract.