Asian stocks rose on comments from China's premier, an upgrade to Japan's outlook, and after a fall in US existing house sales boosted confidence of continuing Fed accomodation. The Hang Seng rose more than 2% and the Shanghai composite was 2.1% higher. (Financial Times)(Bloomberg)
Today: Richmond Fed manufacturing index. US Senate committee hearing on banks and commodities. Apple earnings. Eurozone consumer confidence.
Chinese premier Li Keqiang said growth below 7% wouldn't be tolerated, Chinese news outlets reported. (Bloomberg)
Japan's government upgraded its view on the economy, saying deflation was easing and growth was picking up due to its policies of aggressive monetary stimulus and generous state spending. (Reuters)
Help to Buy scheme sparks £1.3bn in house sales: Nearly 7,000 new-build homes have been reserved through the scheme since its launch in April. Assuming an average purchase price of £187,543 indicates the scheme has subsidised an estimated £1.3bn-worth of house purchases in that time, and commits the government to an estimated £260m in lending, according to calculations by the FT. George Osborne today meets lenders and house builders to flesh out how the scheme will work when it comes into force in January. (Financial Times)(Reuters)
Netflix shares fell sharply on Monday on investor concerns about the pace of subscriber growth at the film and TV streaming service. (Financial Times)
Foreign capital is again leaving China: The net outflow of foreign capital in June was the first since November. The PBoC and financial institutions sold a net Rmb41.2bn ($6.71bn) worth of foreign currency in June compared with net purchases of Rmb66.86 in May, according to WSJ calculations based on PBoC data. (Wall Street Journal)
CFTC probe of banks' metal storage activities looks likely: The CFTC has sent letters to metals warehouse owners demanding they preserve records, people familiar with the matter said, in a sign of a looming regulatory probe of their storage practices. Today, a Senate committee will open hearings on how Wall Street's physical commodities activities. (Financial Times)(New York Times)
Portugal's prime minister says he's determined to restore investor confidence in the troubled economy and to keep the country's controversial €78bn bailout programme on track, as he sought to draw a line under weeks of political uncertainty. Bond yields fell to 6.29% after Pedro Passos Coelho's comments, but deep divisions remain over the pace of unpopular budget cuts. (Financial Times)(Wall Street Journal)
SAC Capital told its staff that evidence shows Steve Cohen "did not even read" the email at the heart of allegations he failed to take proper steps to prevent insider trading at his hedge-fund firm. A white paper prepared by Cohen's lawyers responded to the SEC's civil action against him. (Wall Street Journal)
South Korea is launching a spot gold market in Seoul in an effort to eliminate tax avoidance in illegal gold trading. (Bloomberg)
ON FT ALPHAVILLE:
- A recap of how banks profit from commodities storage.
- Software eats the world, charges for the privilege.
- A list of China bear repellents.
- A charted history of robot evolution.
- Should Michael Coscia have been fined, or medicated?
COMMENT AND CURIOS:
- US banks are now worth double the value of Brics resource groups. (Financial Times)
- Andreas Uterman: Central banks can profit from bailouts. (Financial Times)
- Emerging markets governments face collision with middle classes. (Bloomberg)
- Surprise: Low-income US workers suffer more from China import competition than high-income workers. (Wall Street Journal)
- Spare a thought for Wolfgang Schäuble. (Financial Times)
- Lex in Depth: UBS. (Financial Times)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS: UP
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 up +81.36 (+0.56%) at 14,739
Topix up +4.51 (+0.37%) at 1,221
Hang Seng up +438.24 (+2.05%) at 21,855
US markets
S&P 500 up +3.44 (+0.20%) at 1,696
DJIA up +1.81 (+0.01%) at 15,546
Nasdaq up +12.78 (+0.36%) at 3,600
European markets
Eurofirst 300 up +1.70 (+0.14%) at 1,211
FTSE100 down -7.50 (-0.11%) at 6,623
CAC 40 up +14.60 (+0.37%) at 3,940
Dax down -0.51 (-0.01%) at 8,331
Currencies
€/$ 1.32 (1.32)
$/¥ 99.54 (99.64)
£/$ 1.54 (1.54)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.10 at 108.25
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.11 at 107.05
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -0.40 at 1,336
Copper (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 3.19
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.49%
UK 2.29%
Germany 1.52%
(We're having a technical problem with CDS prices - they'll be back soon.)
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
