Tokyo stock exchange may list gold ETF

From Reuters
Sunday, August 26, 2007

http://www.reuters.com/article/fundsFundsNews/idUST27783020070827

TOKYO -- The Tokyo Stock Exchange plans to list a gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will be backed by bullion in spring 2008, Japanese financial daily Nikkei said on Monday.

The Tokyo bourse is considering listing a gold ETF offered by U.S.-based financial service company State Street Corp on the New York Stock Exchange, Nikkei reported without citing a source.

State Street's StreetTRACKS gold shares fund (GLD) in New York holds about 515 tonnes of gold on behalf of investors, the biggest bullion-backed ETF listed in the world.

Gold ETFs, which are also listed in exchanges such as London and Singapore, have helped to widen the bullion market by luring retail and institutional investors who used to be reluctant to trade in commodities.

The Osaka Securities Exchange Co Ltd already listed an ETF earlier this month, launched by Nomura Asset Management, the asset management arm of Nomura Holdings Inc, which tracks a yen-denominated gold price index, but the Osaka exchange's ETF is not backed by bullion.

ETFs, which are listed and traded like individual stocks, can give investors exposure to a sector, an entire market, or even property indices and commodities such as gold and silver, without the holder having to own the underlying assets.

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