Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1439037
Name Current Change %Change Open High Low Prev. Value Close US MARKETS NASDAQ 15,383.89 42.80 0.28 15319.16 15402.54 15303.06 15341.09 EUROPEAN MARKETS FTSE 7,303.88 6.47 0.09 7297.41 7309.41 7273.45 7297.41 CAC 7,004.01 39.02 0.56 6982.53 7009.60 6963.71 6964.99 DAX 15,509.42 61.98 0.40 15474.84 15522.97 15425.16 15447.44 ASIAN MARKETS SGX Nifty 17,065.00 87.00 0.51 16976.50 17065.00 16975.50 16978.00 Nikkei 225 28,562.21 44.62 0.16 28614.06 28673.77 28473.85 28517.59 Straits Times 3,087.51 2.43 0.08 3093.30 3098.27 3078.71 3085.08 Hang Seng 23,102.33 131.00 0.57 23221.13 23258.71 22979.76 22971.33 Taiwan Weighted 17,826.83 37.56 0.21 17805.74 17870.16 17799.72 17789.27 KOSPI 2,984.48 9.45 0.32 2993.50 3000.79 2976.65 2975.03 SET Composite 1,626.79 4.54 0.28 1628.42 1632.33 1624.77 1622.25 Jakarta Composite 6,529.59 -24.72 -0.38 6572.54 6592.17 6529.59 6554.31 Shanghai Composite 3,622.62 -2.51 -0.07 3632.68 3635.90 3616.55 3625.13 23.12.2021 7 INTERNATIONAL MARKETS International Markets Global Indices Trading Date: 22 December 2021 China's state-run news agency to launch NFT collection IN an announcement made on Wednesday, China's official Xinhua News Agency will issue its first series of nonfun- gible token (NFT) collectibles. e move is a thumbs up to blockchain technology previously shunned by the Peo- ple's Republic of China (PRC). In an official notice, Xinhua plans to publish 10,000 copies of 11 photos taken by jour- nalists in 2021. e stride into NFTs is puzzling in light of recent events in the world's second-largest economy. Following a nationwide crypto crackdown where Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) mining was banned, China has recently taken aim at NFTs and metaverses and proposed that they should be heavily monitored. Despite the anti-crypto sentiment, tech giants Tencent and Huawei were not discouraged from pursuing trademarks in the metaverse. Elsewhere, in early December, as part of a broader anti-cryp- to crackdown, some websites in Beijing, including Chain- News, went offline. Chinese crypto media kept a low profile on their websites and instead focused on growing communi- ties on Twitter and Telegram. Curiously, however, it's not the country's first move into NFTs. During the "DeFi Summer 2.0," e South China Morning Post created a series of NFTs using a new token standard called "ARTIFACT," which is designed to preserve historical assets on the blockchain. However, it's important to note that the SCMP is based in Hong Kong. As a result, the paper benefits from higher levels of autonomy as well as the executive, legislative and independent judicial power for which Hong Kong is known. Hong Kong is no stranger to blockchain technology or mint- ing NFTs. In June this year, pro-Hong Kong activists managed to archive articles from the Hong Kong pro-democracy news- paper onto the blockchain. More than 4,000 Apple Daily ar- ticles were uploaded to ARWeave, a popular blockchain stor- age platform backed by Andreessen Horowitz. Ultimately, the PRC's NFT release begs the question: Does Xinhua's issuance of NFTs signal a nod toward adopting blockchain technology? At the time of writing, Chinese NFT advocates remain restricted in their trading activities. NFTs cannot be resold once purchased, while the only currency available to NFT fans is the national currency, the renminbi. Given China's largely anti-crypto stance in 202, more evidence of the PRC's moves into the blockchain space is required. Despite central bank officials' call for heavy monitoring, Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua is launching an NFT collection