Asian stocks fell ahead of a speech by BoJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda, and US data and central bank meetings in the US and Europe this week. The Nikkei and Topix both fell more than 2%. The yen held gains versus the dollar, while most metals and natural gas declined. (Bloomberg)(FastFT)
Today: BoJ's Kuroda is speaking about QQE (PDF). Japan retail sales. UK M4 money supply, mortgage approvals, consumer credit. US pending home sales.
Publicis and Omnicom's $35bn tie-up will create the world's largest advertising and marketing services group by revenues, and is a bold bet that size matters in a new media world that is increasingly controlled by technology. (Financial Times) Big data is making Madison Ave more like Wall St. (Wall Street Journal)
European demand for oil is on the rise for the first time in two years in a sign of increased economic activity across the continent. (Financial Times)
The SFO is set to receive around £2m in special "blockbuster" funding from the Treasury to back its investigation into Barclays' emergency fundraising five years ago, the FT has learnt. (Financial Times)
Siemens is preparing to remove CEO Peter Loescher, following a series of profit warnings and operational mishaps. The company said on Saturday its supervisory board would on Wednesday "decide on the early departure of the President and CEO". Two people close to the company said Joe Kaeser, chief financial officer, was set to be nominated as the new chief executive. (Financial Times)
China will freeze investigations into European wine and polysilicon exports as part of a landmark settlement with Brussels to defuse a dispute over solar panels. The decision adds another element to the EU-China solar panels deal announced on Saturday. (Financial Times)
Rio sells copper mine stake for $820m: Rio Tinto has sold its controlling stake in the Northparkes copper-gold mine in New South Wales to China Molybdenum for $820m as part of efforts to reduce debt. The purchase is one of the biggest this year by a Chinese company of a mining asset. (Financial Times)
Grant Thornton accused of misleading SFO: The accountancy firm has been accused of maliciously misleading the UK anti-fraud prosecutor, and potentially perverting the course of justice in explosive court documents filed as part of a high-profile damages claim brought by Vincent Tchenguiz against the Serious Fraud Office. (Financial Times)
FT ALPHAVILLE CATCH-UP:
- Alphachat: MF Global nostalgia edition, with Izzy, David and repo specialist Scott Skyrm.
- LTRO payback, Eonia tightening edition.
- No, the Comex is not going to default.
COMMENT AND CURIOS:
- Hilsenrath & Peterson: Fed doves have a better record of predicting US economy. (Wall Street Journal)
- Parking lots, utilities, animals : Detroit considers grim economics of a garage sale. (Financial Times)
- Barclays' 3% Chinese growth scenario: copper -60%, zinc -50%, oil at $70. (Bloomberg)
- Twitter introduces 'report abuse' button after vicious threats over £10 note. (Financial Times)
- A friendly reminder that Draghi's 'whatever it takes' statement remains untested. (Financial Times)(Reuters)
- Changes to recognise R&D, copyright and pension deficits are expected to add 3% to Q2 US GDP this week. (Financial Times)
- China's Li Keqiang is sticking with 'easy' reforms, with an eye on near-term growth. (Reuters)
- Hedge funds' performance problem. (Financial Times)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS: DOWN
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 down -305.72 (-2.16%) at 13,824
Topix down -27.80 (-2.38%) at 1,139
Hang Seng down -125.35 (-0.57%) at 21,844
US markets
S&P 500 up +1.40 (+0.08%) at 1,692
DJIA up +3.22 (+0.02%) at 15,559
Nasdaq up +7.97 (+0.22%) at 3,613
European markets
Eurofirst 300 down -3.92 (-0.32%) at 1,205
FTSE100 down -33.16 (-0.50%) at 6,555
CAC 40 up +12.82 (+0.32%) at 3,969
Dax down -54.07 (-0.65%) at 8,245
Currencies
€/$ 1.33 (1.33)
$/¥ 97.86 (98.24)
£/$ 1.54 (1.54)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.13 at 107.04
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.36 at 104.34
100 Oz Gold (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 1,322
Copper (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 3.11
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.56%
UK 2.34%
Germany 1.67%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe +0.47bps at 92.64bp
Markit iTraxx Europe -0.9bps at 102.5bp
Markit iTraxx Xover -3.18bps at 413.07bp
Markit CDX IG +1.12bps at 86.56bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
