The company, to be called HSBC Middle East Securities, will offer UAE domestic market brokerage services to both institutional and retail investors. The company is expected to begin trading for institutions by the end of 2007, and to offer retail brokerage services in 2008. Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA), the regulator for the UAE's securities markets, recently granted HSBC authorisation to establish the brokerage company. The authorisation is subject to the various legal and infrastructural requirements meeting the approval of ESCA, as well ADSM and DFM. With this approval, HSBC is poised to become the first global bank on the UAE's exchanges. HSBC already buys and sells UAE shares on behalf of Western institutions through third party brokers. In addition, HSBC is a sub-custodian on both ADSM and DFM, and this service will continue to be provided by the bank's specialist sub-custody operation.

Wall Street advances sharply

Gold futures hit a record, briefly venturing above $913 an ounce as the dollar tumbled against other major currencies. The euro reached a new high above $1.49.Other commodities were higher, too. Crude oil rose $1.51 to settle at $94.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Peter Dunay, investment strategist at Leeb Capital Management, believes the run in commodities prices will continue as Wall Street eyes what the Federal Reserve will do at its Jan. 29-30 meeting. Chairman Ben Bernanke has convinced investors the central bank will cut rates, and the expectation of cheaper money also bolstered sentiment Monday``We're expecting inflation to be a problem, and believe the commodity demand is going to continue,'' Dunay said. ``We think the Fed is going to throw as much money as they can to keep us out of recession, or keep the recession mild, so commodities will be higher.''Stocks sold off sharply last week after a chorus of Wall Street economists predicted the U.S.

New Zealand Stock Exchange Selects TCS BANCS Market Infrastructure ...

MUMBAI, India, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- TCS Financial Solutions, the strategic business unit of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: TCS.BO) dedicated to providing business application solutions to the banking, insurance and capital markets industries, today announced that its TCS BANCS Market Infrastructure solution has been chosen by the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX).

TCS BANCS Market Infrastructure provides multientity, multilingual support to Depository and Clearing institutions with comprehensive functionality across Equity, Fixed Income, Commodities and Derivatives asset classes. This product offers complete functional coverage across technology platforms and delivery channels. TCS BANCS Market Infrastructure is fully compliant with international standards from the G30 and the Bank of International Settlements.

MCX to support Microsoft's rural technology training programme

MUMBAI: Multi Commodity Exchange of India on Thursday announced its support to an ongoing computer literacy programme of Microsoft and Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals in rural Maharashtra.

This marks the launch of MCX's Corporate Social Responsibility initiative aimed at empowering the youth and women of rural areas of the state with technology skills.

Till now over 15,500 people have been trained and more than 24,000 people are using this service across 16 districts by the means of understanding the futures markets prices of the area specific commodities.

MCX's support will help in increasing deployment of laptop and desktop computers and thereby strengthen the ongoing technology training and adoption efforts through the project.

Barclays Launches Eight Commodity Sub-Sector iPath(R) Exchange Traded ...

NEW YORK, Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Barclays Bank PLC announced today the launch of eight new iPath(R) Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs) on the NYSE Arca stock exchange. The iPath ETNs are the first Exchange Traded Notes designed to offer exposure to sub-indexes of the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index(SM). They are linked to agriculture, copper, energy, grains, industrial metals, livestock, natural gas, and nickel.

"The new iPath ETNs demonstrate Barclays continued commitment to providing investors with innovative investment solutions to the commodity markets," added Benoit de Vitry, Head of Commodities, Emerging Markets Rates and Quantitative Analytics at Barclays Capital.

India gold futures fall, may test Rs 11,000

MUMBAI: Gold futures fell on Friday, after having seen a record high earlier this week, as overseas investors sold gold to cover margin calls in stocks and softer crude oil added bearish pressure, analysts said.

"Overall it is in a selling mode again," said an analyst at IL&FS Investsmart Commodities Ltd. "But it may bounce back again after testing its supports."

Another analyst, K N Rahaman, senior analyst at Way 2 Wealth Securities Ltd, said the benchmark February gold on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) could test Rs 11,000 per 10 grams.

"But I am not bearish, slowly it can recover," Rahaman added.

The factors that backed gold's rally -- chances of a rate cut in the US and the growing clout of the commodities asset class -- are likely to continue supporting gold, the analysts said.