Asian stocks outside Japan rose after better than expected private sector US jobs data. Japanese stocks were slightly lower. The MSCI Asia Pacific was 0.2% higher in subdued trading ahead of today's July 4 holiday in the US. (Bloomberg)(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)
Interviews for new RBS chief begin: "Sir Philip Hampton, chairman, has drawn up a list of four or five names and aims to finalise the process by the time of the bank's second-quarter results in a month's time, said people close to the exercise." (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)
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)
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)
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)
COMMENT AND CURIOS:
- Global fund managers are pulling money out of Chinese stocks in the largest outflow since 2008. (Wall Street Journal)
- David Pilling: Japan is not ready for Abe's fourth arrow of consumption tax increase. (Financial Times)
- Portugal's woes shine light on the rest of the eurozone periphery. (Reuters)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS: MIXED
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 down -21.60 (-0.15%) at 14,034
Topix down -4.05 (-0.35%) at 1,170
Hang Seng up +353.88 (+1.76%) at 20,501
US markets
S&P 500 up +1.33 (+0.08%) at 1,615
DJIA up +56.14 (+0.38%) at 14,989
Nasdaq up +10.27 (+0.30%) at 3,444
European markets
Eurofirst 300 down -7.87 (-0.68%) at 1,151
FTSE100 down -74.07 (-1.17%) at 6,230
CAC 40 down -40.56 (-1.08%) at 3,702
Dax down -81.45 (-1.03%) at 7,829
Currencies
€/$ 1.30 (1.30)
$/¥ 99.82 (99.87)
£/$ 1.53 (1.53)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.25 at 105.51
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.01 at 101.25
100 Oz Gold (Comex) up +2.00 at 1,254
Copper (Comex) down -0.01 at 3.16
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.50%
UK 2.42%
Germany 1.66%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe +3.93bps at 98.6bp
Markit iTraxx Europe +2.68bps at 116.55bp
Markit iTraxx Xover +9.96bps at 464.66bp
Markit CDX IG -0.51bps at 85.44bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
