AlphaFlash to expand availability

Deutsche Börse – Market Data & Analytics is making its algorithmic news feed “AlphaFlash” available in two data centers in Singapore and adding macroeconomic data from China, Japan and Australia. The total number of indicators will increase to 240. Deutsche Börse has been preparing the expansion of AlphaFlash to the Asia-Pacific region since launch of the feed in April 2010. Data centers in Sydney and Tokyo were connected in November.

In Singapore, AlphaFlash will be hosted in the Kim Chuan and Comcentre III data centers, both operated by SingTel Group. The data feed can easily be accessed by all financial companies and trading firms.

Starting 3 January 2011, AlphaFlash will deliver economic events from China, Japan and Australia. The new data content covers indicators such as CPI, industrial output, FX reserves, money supply, employment figures and GDP. Data sources are the respective country’s central banks, the national statistics offices and government institutions.

“There are two driving forces behind the Asia-Pacific expansion of AlphaFlash: the increasing importance of algorithmic trading based there as well as the region’s economic impact on the rest of the world. The Asian data centers allow our clients to integrate AlphaFlash directly into their local trading applications. On the other hand, algo traders all over the world are looking for ultra-fast access to economic data from Asia, as important releases from the region impact major markets across the globe,” said Georg Gross, Head of Front Office Data & Analytics at Deutsche Boerse.

AlphaFlash subscribers can choose between several different regional data packages, e.g. U.S., Canada, Europe or Asia-Pacific and do not have to subscribe to all data packages simultaneously. In addition, clients are offered a wide range of connectivity options. AlphaFlash is now available in the following 11 data centers: Chicago, Secaucus (New Jersey), Washington D.C., Frankfurt, London (3), Sydney, Tokyo and Singapore (2). Further expansion is planned for 2011.

Launched in April 2010, AlphaFlash delivers low latency, machine-readable economic indicators from North America, Europe and starting in January 2011 from the Asia-Pacific region. Data content includes central bank interest rate decisions, employment numbers, housing statistics and gross domestic product figures.

The AlphaFlash product range was built by Deutsche Boerse’s Market Data & Analytics segment using resources from its subsidiaries Need to Know News (NTKN) and Market News International (MNI). As fully accredited news agencies, NTKN and MNI have direct access to government lock-up rooms as well as embargoed news releases. As a result, economic events are processed so they become available with minimum latency to speed-sensitive algo and professional traders after the embargo has been lifted.