Asian stocks continued to fall today after Fed minutes showed broad support for tapering this year. Emerging markets again bore the brunt of selling, although the Shanghai Composite rose on manufacturing PMI data beat. The MSCI Asia Pacific fell 1.1% and has erased all this year's gains. (Bloomberg)(Reuters)
Today: Jackson Hole central bankers' meeting begins. Leaked agenda (WSJ). Who's *not* going, aside from Bernanke (FT Money Supply).
Flash China PMIs move above 50: The preliminary HSBC/Markit survey rose to 50.1 for August, compared for July's 47.7. It is the strongest result in four months.The number beat forecasts from all 16 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. However export orders declined at a faster rate and employment growth continued to slow. (Reuters)(Bloomberg)
SEC works through the night on Goldman trade failure: "US regulators and enforcement officials are scrutinising the systems malfunction at Goldman Sachs as part of a broad response to the latest high-profile trading failure to damage investor confidence, say people familiar with the matter." (Financial Times) A preliminary victory by Goldman to limit losses from the wave of erroneous trades may hit numerous counterparties. (Wall Street Journal)
China Resources says it may bid with Tesco for Li's ParknShop: "China Resources Enterprise Ltd., the state-backed retail and beer conglomerate, said it may partner with Tesco Plc to bid for billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hong Kong supermarket chain... ParknShop attracted eight offers from suitors including China Resources, people with knowledge of the process said this month. "We will consider to bid with Tesco; it's one of the discussions we have with them," [China Resources CFO Frank] Lai said." (Bloomberg)
Bo Xilai trial 'opens': "(T)he most anticipated political trial in China in decades, opened on Thursday in a court in the eastern Chinese city of Jinan amid tight security and sporadic protests from supporters and ordinary citizens trying to draw attention to their own grievances... Although the government declared this would be an "open" trial, no independent or international media have been allowed anywhere near the proceedings and reporters in the city have been closely monitored and followed by police and state security agents." (Financial Times)
HP abandons revenue growth target: The company abandoned forecast to return to revenue growth next year as the US technology conglomerate stumbled in some of its core markets in the latest quarter. (Financial Times)
BofA interns declined to end their placements early, after the bank made an offer to do so following the death of a 21-year-old intern. (Financial Times)
ON FT ALPHAVILLE:
Repo markets and the supplemental leverage ratio.
FOMC minutes.
Goldman Gratuity Rankles Hoyt Scolding Newspersons: Compliance.
UUID RVWS GO
Shale forecast curves, hyperbolic or exponential?
COMMENT AND CURIOS:
- Jon Hilsenrath: Fed leaves investors on tenterhooks about timing and scale of tapering. (Wall Street Journal)
- Adam Posen: Why has the Fed given up on America's unemployed, when the cost is so high? (Financial Times)
- Editorial: Schäuble's comments on Greek bailout aren't inconsistent, but are good news for Greece. (Financial Times)
- Why didn't the weaker pound spur more UK exports? (Financial Times)
- Stray dogs take over in abandoned streets and homes of Detroit. (Bloomberg)
- FT/Starmine analyst awards results. (Financial Times)
- Mohamed El-Erian: Don't wait until autumn to reposition portfolios. (Financial Times)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS: DOWN
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 down -65.41 (-0.49%) at 13,359
Topix down -0.72 (-0.06%) at 1,121
Hang Seng down -147.85 (-0.68%) at 21,670
US markets
S&P 500 down -9.55 (-0.58%) at 1,643
DJIA down -105.44 (-0.70%) at 14,898
Nasdaq down -13.80 (-0.38%) at 3,600
European markets
Eurofirst 300 down -7.07 (-0.58%) at 1,208
FTSE100 down -62.62 (-0.97%) at 6,391
CAC 40 down -13.84 (-0.34%) at 4,015
Dax down -14.62 (-0.18%) at 8,285
Currencies
€/$ 1.33 (1.34)
$/¥ 98.10 (97.66)
£/$ 1.56 (1.57)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.27 at 109.54
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.11 at 103.74
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -6.70 at 1,364
Copper (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 3.31
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.91%
UK 2.71%
Germany 1.87%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx Europe +3.27bps at 105.95bp
Markit iTraxx Xover +9.11bps at 432.34bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
