Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. (KEPCO)

2nd Annual Smart Grid China Summit 2011 will be held on June 9-10 in Beijing, China. It will leverage on advanced technologies and equipments in tapping the burgeoning smart grid market. The 1st annual event in 2010 was a great success and attracted more than 150 delegates from the smart grid industry, 10% of which are from grid operators and power distributors, 27% from primary and secondary equipment suppliers, 24% from IT technology & service providers, 18% from R&D institutes and 14% from consultants and investors.

Last week Asian markets mostly experienced a significantly losing week and will continue to be weighed by the negative lead from US and European markets on Monday. Asian stocks Friday stumbled on disappointing company forecasts and Toyota's recall of millions of cars. For the month, China's Shanghai Composite lost 8.8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 8%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 6.2% and South Korea's Kospi slid 4.8% to 1602.43.

Asian shares could be lifted after US and European markets rallied overnight on optimistic outlook of 2010. Yesterday Asian markets mostly kicked off the new year with gains. Japan's Nikkei surged 1 per cent on yen's weakness and a financial lifeline to Japan Airlines. The global markets also cheered for the strong manufacturing data from China and India. However, China's Shanghai Composite fell 1 per cent on Monday over fears on inflation.

On Friday Asian markets closed mixed in a volatile trading session. Japan's Nikkei 225 Average climbed 1.5%, while South Korea's Kospi rose 0.8%. China's Shanghai Composite was down 1.8% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.7%. Tokyo stocks slid more than 3 percent on Monday after the news that U.S. government will take a large stake in Citigroup. South Korean stocks also made a weak start today, weighed down by the deepening financial jitters and the weakening local currency.