Markets: Asian shares slipped and the dollar inched higher in early Asian trade on Wednesday, as concerns about a possible U.S. government shutdown and uncertainty about the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy outlook made investors hesitant to take aggressive positions. (Reuters) (Bloomberg)
Obama and Rouhani revive nuclear diplomacy: The US president told the UN that there was "the basis for a meaningful agreement" with Iran. (Financial Times) Although "Rouhani's decision against meeting Mr. Obama—or even exchanging a handshake—at the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday soured what American and European officials had hoped would mark an advancement in efforts to wind down tensions." (WSJ)
JPMorgan Chase is in talks to pay over $4bn in a "pay for peace" deal with US authorities to settle a host of allegations of wrongdoing in the mortgage securities market. Besides a disagreement over the size of the penalty, JPM is also arguing over the extent of its admissions. (Financial Times)
ICAP staff face Libor charges: The US Department of Justice is expected to file criminal charges as early as Wednesday. No criminal charges will be filed against the company, although the investigation is continuing. (Financial Times)
SAC is said to negotiate settlement of charges: "Settlement discussions are at an early stage, and the two sides are far from any agreement, these people said. The government is seeking a guilty plea from SAC and a financial penalty of as much as $2 billion, they said." (NYT) (WSJ)
Labour leader Ed Miliband promises to freeze gas and electricity bills for 20 months if he wins the next election. (Financial Times)
Fed probes for leaks ahead of policy news: "The US Federal Reserve is contacting news organisations to check they followed its procedures after claims that some traders obtained early access to this month's decision on monetary policy." (Financial Times)
Applied Materials sees share boost after $10bn Tokyo Electron deal: "Applied Materials, the US maker of equipment used to manufacture semiconductors, has sought to extend its lead in one of the world's most technically challenging and capital intensive industries by acquiring Japanese rival Tokyo Electron for stock valued at nearly $10bn." (Financial Times)
Currency manipulation should be part of trade talks, Senators say: "A bipartisan majority of the US Senate demanded that US President Barack Obama address "currency manipulation" in trade negotiations with 12 Pacific nations, throwing up a potential roadblock as the talks approach their final stages." (Financial Times)
South Korea will restart an $8bn tender for a new fleet of fighter jets after a three-way race between Boeing, Lockheed Martin and the Eurofighter consortium failed to produce a winner. (Financial Times)
"China's BOC Aviation has ordered 25 A320 jets from Airbus, a source with knowledge of the deal told Reuters on Wednesday." (Reuters)
"China took a 12.5% stake in Russia's Uralkali, moving to secure supplies of potash and casting doubt on whether a global pricing cartel for the fertilizer ingredient could be revived." (WSJ)
COMMENTS AND CURIOS
Germany's strange parallel universe (Financial Times - Wolf)
America's fiscal sanity and Ted Cruz, the Robespierre of his generation (Financial Times editorial)
The embarrassment of Senator Ted Cruz (NYT editorial)
Bank of England hits back at critics of forward guidance (Financial Times)
'Massive fraud' at center of trial against BofA over U.S. mortgages (Reuters)
Party will pay the price for China's rebalancing - Pettis (Bloomberg)
Amway embraces China using Harvard guanxi (Bloomberg)
ICBC makes the bull case for China's banks (Financial Times)
Violent clashes in Bangladesh between garment workers and police (Financial Times)
Reluctant SPD to extract high price for coalition (Spiegel) and some more on the muddiness (Financial Times)
Paulson goes long Puerto Rico (Financial Times)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 down -43.64 (-0.30%) at 14,689
Topix down -4.33 (-0.36%) at 1,211
Hang Seng up +31.20 (+0.13%) at 23,210
US markets
S&P 500 down -4.42 (-0.26%) at 1,697
DJIA down -66.79 (-0.43%) at 15,335
Nasdaq up +2.97 (+0.08%) at 3,768
European markets
Eurofirst 300 up +2.07 (+0.16%) at 1,258
FTSE100 up +14.09 (+0.21%) at 6,571
CAC 40 up +23.53 (+0.56%) at 4,196
Dax up +29.31 (+0.34%) at 8,665
Currencies
€/$ 1.35 (1.35)
$/¥ 98.70 (98.70)
£/$ 1.60 (1.60)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.16 at 108.80
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.24 at 103.37
100 Oz Gold (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 1,316
Copper (Comex) up +0.01 at 3.27
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.66%
UK 2.83%
Germany 1.84%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe -0.18bps at 87.06bp
Markit iTraxx Europe -2.72bps at 97.54bp
Markit iTraxx Xover -12.35bps at 388.26bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
