Good morning New York,
FT ALPHAVILLE
Apparently if you want more babies you just have to let people have them: End the 'one-child policy', get some 9.5m extra people. Nice policy if you want to give your population a bit more control and if you have one eye on a declining working age population... even if the effects mightn't be quite as dramatic or linear as sometimes made out.
Australia and the curious case of the highly politicised interest rates: Politics has definitely been an element in the discussions around who will replace Ben Bernanke at the Fed. That's probably putting it mildly. But Kate suspects even the US doesn't have quite the partisan obsession Australia boasts.
NEWS
Crédit Agricole appeared to post Q2 results early – and they beat, apparently: "According to a presentation published on Monday ahead of the scheduled results announcement on Tuesday, Crédit Agricole made €1bn of pre-tax profit in the second quarter. Analysts has estimated about €778m, according to a poll from Bloomberg." Shares in the bank had risen 2.5% on Monday, but it was not clear when the presentation was published or whether investors had been able to trade on the information. Calls to executives in NY and Paris were not immediately returned. (Financial Times)
HSBC acknowledges US mortgage payout could cost $1.6bn, much higher than expected: "HSBC made the disclosure in a filing alongside its quarterly results and said discovery was "proceeding apace" in the case against it from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the government regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac." The amount is higher than forecast — for example, Credit Suisse analysts had estimated the settlement costs at about $900m. "If applied to some of the defendants with the biggest exposure, such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Royal Bank of Scotland, their final bill would be more than $7bn each." (Financial Times)
Sony rejected Daniel Loeb's proposal to sell part of its entertainment business through a public offering, saying in a letter released today that holding full ownership of its movies and music divisions are fundamental to the company's future. Loeb had no immediate comment. (Wall Street Journal)
Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered took a $1 billion hit on the value of its Korean business on Tuesday, dragging first-half profit down by 16 percent. (Reuters)
The Reserve Bank of Australia has cut its official rate to a record low and said it was willing to ease policy further to support growth as the country's resource investment boom comes to an end. The central bank on Tuesday lowered its benchmark cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.50 per cent in an effort to stimulate activity in non-mining parts of the economy. (Financial Times) (Statement)
UK manufacturing bounces back: Output from UK factories rose at a far faster pace than expected between May and June, in another strong sign that manufacturers are beginning to capitalise on the pick-up in demand. The Office for National Statistics on Tuesday reported a 1.9 per cent rise in manufacturing output and a 1.1 per cent rise in its broader production output measure. Both figures beat analysts' expectations. (Financial Times)
"Private-equity firms are adding debt to companies they own to fund payouts to themselves at a record pace, as fears mount that the window for these deals will close if interest rates rise." (Wall Street Journal)
"China National Offshore Oil Corp., the parent of the nation's biggest offshore energy explorer, is considering raising as much as $3 billion in a sale of dollar-denominated bonds, two people with knowledge of the matter said." (Bloomberg)
The Indian rupee sank to a fresh record low against the U.S. dollar in early morning trade Tuesday, weighed by weak local and regional shares. (Wall Street Journal)
BP denied allegations it manipulated US natural gas prices in the aftermath of a 2008 hurricane. Regulator the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission made the accusations in an order recommending that the company pay $28.8m to resolve the case. (Financial Times)
Neiman Marcus hired banks to work on an initial public offering, said people familiar with the matter, after the luxury retailer spent the summer exploring a sale to a sovereign wealth fund. Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, and BAML will be lead underwriters, the sources said. (Wall Street Journal)
Markets: There is a cautious tone to markets as the recent equity rally struggles to maintain momentum. Industrial commodities are softer, the dollar firmer, as the FTSE Eurofirst 300 opens flat and the FTSE Asia-Pacific index is barely changed. US index futures suggest the S&P 500 will drop 1 point to 1,706. Bulls will consider themselves excused a pause for breath. Wall Street's S&P 500 is up nearly 20 per cent in 2013, touching a record high at the end of last week writes the FT's Global Markets dark matter Jamie Chisholm.
