Asian stocks rose, copper gained and the Australian dollar on positive Chinese manufacturing survey data. The Nikkei was up 1.5% and the Hang Seng rose 1.9%. Crude fell as prospects of an imminent strike on Syria faded. (Bloomberg)
Today: UK and Eurozone manufacturing PMIs.
Verizon and Vodafone have agreed to a dealfor the UK company's stake in their US joint venture, Verizon Wireless. Vodafone will announce the deal today after its board met on Sunday to approve the $130bn deal. Verizon's board will meet on Monday morning for final approval. Barring any last-minute hitches, Verizon and Vodafone will lay out the terms of the deal in separate announcements later today. A centrepiece of the deal will be a substantial return of capital to Vodafone shareholders -- and as the telecoms group is one of the most widely held stocks in the UK, it would help the British economic recovery in what has been labelled a "massive quantitative easing injection". (Financial Times)
More expansionary Chinese manufacturing PMIs. The official PMI for August was 51, a 16-month high. HSBC Markit's PMI was confirmed at 50.1, up from 47.7 the previous month. (Bloomberg)
India's growth is at its slowest rate since 2009. GDP rose 4.4% in the June quarter from a year earlier, compared to 4.8% in the previous quarter and a consensus forecast of 4.7%. (Bloomberg)
Microsoft to appoint activist to board: "[J]ust ahead of the Labor Day weekend, Microsoft said it would appoint a director from ValueAct Capital Management LP early next year. It would be the first time the company had ever appointed a director not solely at its discretion." (Wall Street Journal)
China has detained the country's chief regulator of state-owned companies, the highest-ranking official to be placed under investigation by the country's new leaders. Jiang Jiemin, head of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and a former PetroChina executive, is under investigation for alleged "serious disciplinary violations," the Ministry of Supervision said yesterday. (Financial Times)(Bloomberg)(Wall Street Journal)
Four new radiation hotspots discovered at Fukushima. Tepco said it was investigating the cause of the high readings. The disclosure is likely to intensify fears that the company is not up to the task of safely decommissioning the tsunami-hit site. The discovery capped the plant's worst month since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused reactors to meltdown. (Financial Times)(Bloomberg)
Chinese brokerage Everbright Securities has been fined Rmb523m ($85m) and lost two executives after a fat finger trade in August. Its shares fell 10% in Shanghai, the daily limit, on the news. Shares have lost nearly a fifth of their value since an erroneous trade on August 16. (FastFT)
ON FT ALPHAVILLE:
The EMpire strikes back.
The portable Summers.
Where hypothetical scenarios meet reality, there you shall find regulation.
COMMENT AND CURIOS:
- Gavyn Davies: India needs to end fiscal dominance over its central bank. (Financial Times)
- Asia turns bullish on convertible bonds - 2012 issuance almost reached already. (Financial Times)
- Asian companies are struggling to repay loans in foreign currencies. (Wall Street Journal)
- Australia looks to fill mining investment hole as election looms. (Financial Times)
- The top 20 health and wellbeing apps are passing on user data to insurance and pharmaceutical companies. (Financial Times)
- Gold bulls increase bets to highest level since January. (Bloomberg)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS: UP
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 up +201.95 (+1.51%) at 13,591
Topix up +12.40 (+1.12%) at 1,118
Hang Seng up +410.35 (+1.89%) at 22,142
US markets
S&P 500 down -5.20 (-0.32%) at 1,633
DJIA down -30.64 (-0.21%) at 14,810
Nasdaq down -30.43 (-0.84%) at 3,590
European markets
Eurofirst 300 down -12.04 (-1.00%) at 1,195
FTSE100 down -70.12 (-1.08%) at 6,413
CAC 40 down -52.57 (-1.32%) at 3,934
Dax down -91.40 (-1.12%) at 8,103
Currencies
€/$ 1.32 (1.32)
$/¥ 98.60 (98.13)
£/$ 1.56 (1.55)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) down -1.12 at 112.89
Light Crude (Nymex) down -1.54 at 106.11
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -5.00 at 1,391
Copper (Comex) up +0.07 at 3.30
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.79%
UK 2.85%
Germany 1.86%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe +0.57bps at 89.99bp
Markit iTraxx Europe +2.1bps at 107.13bp
Markit iTraxx Xover +9.77bps at 434.04bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
