Good morning New York,
FT ALPHAVILLE
Consume my tax, Japan: Be it Abe's fourth arrow or simply a part of the fiscal one, the plan to hike Japan's consumption tax to 8 per cent by April next year, and then 10 per cent by October 2015, represents a cheery contradiction. Abe et al are keen on ending deflation — but they are going to hinder that push with a fiscal tightening. No tension there, then.
A GKP spoof: Paul assumes someone must have breached the RNS statement submission security system to do this, but nevertheless there's a joke release doing the rounds suggesting that Gulf Keystone Petroleum has appointed Simon Murray as chairman. It's quite a professional job.
It started as a joke… and ended in a reverse ferret: The journey of a comedian cruelly stuck in central banking continued with the Reserve Bank of Australia's deputy governor doing his best to explain his boss's side-splitting gag which shot down the Aussie on Frida. Neil has more on this tragic reverse ferret.
China, Australia and a very hard landing: Kevin Rudd 2.0 has been quick to highlight the dangers posed by slowing Chinese growth since he was returned as Australia's prime minister. But just how dangerous is a Chinese slowdown? Neil has a few answers. (Spoiler: very)
NEWS
Senior judge Adli Mansour to be sworn in as Egypt president: The head of Egypt's constitutional court is to be sworn in as the country's interim president after the military ousted the first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, plunging the Arab world's biggest country into a new phase of uncertainty. Adli Mansour will oversee a technocratic government that will prepare for new elections but no timetable has been given for the process. (Financial Times)
US reacts cautiously to Morsi's ouster: A carefully-written statement issued by the White House on Wednesday evening about the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi carefully avoided using the word "coup" or putting any label on the events. (Financial Times)
Peripheral bond yields jumped as investors grew nervous about the prospects of an early election in Portugal and another showdown between Greece and its creditors. In Portugal, Pedro Passos Coelho is struggling to hold his coalition together as political upheaval may undermine the country's efforts to exit its €78bn aid programme on schedule. A eurozone official said it was possible European finance ministers may decide on Monday to delay Greece's next aid instalment by three months, but added such a decision was unlikely. (Financial Times) (Reuters)
China is considering a dramatic relaxation of its capital controls over the next few years as part of an accelerated push to make its currency freely tradable, despite international advisers warning against hasty implementation of reform. (Financial Times)
Chinese money rates return to normal levels: The seven-day bond repurchase rate – a key gauge of short-term liquidity in China – fell to 3.98 per cent on Thursday. It marked the seventh consecutive daily decline since rates hit double digits two weeks ago. It was also the first time since late May that the repo rate fell below 4 per cent, a level that usually marks the high end of its trading range. (Financial Times)
Rupert Murdoch has dismissed investigations into phone hacking and other press abuses as "the biggest inquiry ever over next to nothing" in secretly recorded comments to Sun journalists that were broadcast on Channel 4. (Financial Times)
Zynga chief lured from Microsoft with $50m pay package: Zynga handed new chief executive officer Don Mattrick a pay package worth nearly $50m to lure him away from his former job as head of Microsoft's Xbox business, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. (Financial Times)
NTT DoCoMo weighs overseas acquisitions: Kaoru Kato, DoCoMo's president and CEO, told the FT the group would consider buying assets outside Japan "if a good opportunity arose". (Financial Times)
Sprint Nextel-Softbank deal said to meet FCC approval: "U.S. regulators on Wednesday collected the final vote to approve the merger of Sprint Nextel and SoftBank, sources familiar with the situation said, clearing the last hurdle in the Japanese company's drawn-out battle to take control of the No. 3 U.S. wireless provider." (Reuters)
"The U.S. Justice Department is investigating a plan by ConAgra Foods Cargill Inc. and CHS Inc. to combine their North American flour-milling businesses into a new joint venture that would form the industry's biggest player. "The Department of Justice's Antitrust Division is investigating a proposed joint venture between ConAgra Foods, Cargill and CHS Inc. that would combine the flour milling operations of ConAgra Mills and Horizon Milling," Gina Talamona, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said Wednesday." (Wall Street Journal)
Russian oil shipments to Europe have slumped to a 10-year low, forcing refineries across the continent to pay more for scarce supplies. (Financial Times)
Markets: Global stocks were firmer, buoyed by Wall Street's reversal of initial losses in the previous session, which came on the back of promising US jobs data. Sentiment was also being bolstered by hopes for reduced political tensions in Egypt and a calming of eurozone debt angst.However, trading is likely to be thin on Thursday, because US markets are closed for Independence Day celebrations and dealers may be reluctant to take bold positions ahead of Friday's US non-farm payrolls numbers. The FTSE All-World equity index was up 0.4 per cent as the FTSE Eurofirst 300 saw a gain of 1 per cent and after the Asia-Pacific region added 0.4 per cent. Brent crude was down 23 cents to $105.53 a barrel, its recent upward momentum – and that of the US-based WTI contract – stalled by optimism among some investors that the region's oil supply is threatened less by the Egyptian army's removal of the country's president. Copper was retreating 0.3 per cent to $3.17 a pound, reflecting lingering wariness about the pace of global economic growth. Gold was up $2 to $1,253 an ounce writes the FT's Global Markets wallah Jamie Chisholm.
