Two SGX futures contracts now tradeable in U.S.

SINGAPORE, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Singapore Exchange Ltd said investors in the United States can now directly trade two of its futures contracts from within the country.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission certified on Friday that the FTSE China A50 and MSCI Asia APEX 50 futures contracts may be offered and sold to individuals in the U.S., the Singapore bourse operator said in a statement on Monday.

The FTSE China A50 futures is the only offshore contract that provides exposure to China's domestic A-shares market, while the MSCI Asia APEX 50 is a proxy to the broader MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Index, it said.
(Reporting by Charmian Kok; Editing by Anshuman Daga)

Source: Yahoo

Holidays on Chinese / Lunar New Year

Chinese / Lunar New Year 2012 (Chun Jie / 春节 2012) is the 'Year of Dragon' and it will be celebrated starting from new year eve. Since this year Chinese new year's eve falls on Sunday (Jan. 22, 2012), therefore actual holiday will start from Monday, 23 January 2012.
Although the festival will last for 15 days (till the 6 February 2012) but the Asian countries (shown below) will be celebrated their holiday(s) differently. 

Holidays

on Chinese New Year

Stock Exchange	Holidays
China	Will be closed from Jan. 23 to 27 (Mon. to Fri.)
Hong Kong	Will be closed from Jan. 23 to 25 (Mon. to Wed.)
Indonesia	Will be closed on Jan. 23 (Mon.)
Malaysia	Will be closed from Jan. 23 to 24 (Mon. to Tues.)
Philippines	Will be closed on Jan. 23 (Mon.)
Singapore	Will be closed from Jan. 23 to 24 (Mon. to Tues.)
South Korea	Will be closed from Jan. 23 to 24 (Mon. to Tues.)
Taiwan	Will be closed from Jan. 23 to 27 (Mon. to Fri.)
Vietnam	Will be closed from Jan. 23 to 27 (Mon. to Fri.)

* Note:
Since Chinese (Lunar) New Year is not an official holiday in some Asians' countries like Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand and Thailand. Therefore, trading hours will be traded as usual on Chinese (Lunar) New Year for these countries unless this day falls on weekend.

Philippine stock exchange extends trading hours on Jan. 2, 2012

The Philippine bourse, which closed on last Friday, was Asia's best-performing market last year with about 3.72 percent gain on year-to-date (YTD).

Starting today, daily trading hours at the Philippine Stock Exchange will be extended till 3.30pm (was extended to 1.00pm on Oct.3, 2011), this is part of a two-phase programme by the bourse as it prepares to link up with other Southeast Asian markets.

Trading will now run up to 3:30 p.m. [GMT+8] in the local bourse. Previously, the stock market was open from 9:30 a.m. to 01:00pm, excluding a 10-minute run off period.

Trading hours will be stretched further from today with trading to run up to 3:30 p.m. , the market open remains at 9:30 a.m. with a lunch break from 12pm to 1:30 p.m.

Cross-border trading among Southeast Asian markets is set to be launched in March 2012. The Thai bourse , Singapore Exchange , Bursa Malaysia and the PSE are currently working to set up a regional trading network.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plans to transform itself into a unified trading bloc with free flow of capital by 2015.

The region also includes Indonesia, Cambodia, Brunei Darussalam, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Source: Yahoo