Markets:Australia's markets fell into the spotlight after the nation's government rejected a multibillion-dollar bid for Graincorp, the agricultural group, while miner Rio Tinto revealed further cost-cutting measures that heightened concerns over the health of the country's mining sector. Heavy selling of the Australian currency saw it fall 0.44 per cent against the US dollar to $90.65, its lowest level since September 3. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index slipped 0.3 per cent, while Graincorp's shares opened 26 per cent lower. (Financial Times)
China sent fighter jets into its new air defence zone on Thursday further escalating tensions in the East China Sea that have also drawn in the US. Col Shen Jinke said several fighter jets and an early-warning aircraft had been deployed as part of a routine patrol. (Financial Times) (WSJ)
Japan is winning its war on deflation with the latest consumer price inflation figures showing the highest reading since the country slipped into deflation 15 years ago. Core consumer price index inflation, which excludes fresh food but includes energy, hit 0.9 per cent in October, up from 0.7 per cent the previous month and in line with economists' expectations. Excluding both fresh food and energy, it reached 0.3 per cent, the highest reading since 1998, indicating that rising energy costs alone were not the sole factor in inflationary pressure. (Financial Times)
Thailand: "Anti-government demonstrators plan to march towards the headquarters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's ruling party on Friday, forging ahead with a campaign to overthrow her after rejecting her call for dialogue. Yingluck breezed through a parliamentary no-confidence vote on Thursday but that failed to pacify protesters who accuse her of abusing her party's majority to push through laws that strengthen the behind-the-scenes power of self-exiled brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra." (Reuters)
The EU was scrambling on Thursday night to rescue a deal to integrate Ukraine more closely with the west, as demonstrators again massed in Kiev calling on their president, Viktor Yanukovich, to sign the agreement. EU leaders flew into a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, for their first meeting with Mr Yanukovich since his government last week dramatically froze preparations for the deal and instead reopened talks on closer ties with Russia. (Financial Times)
Black Friday: Americans began their bargain shopping earlier than ever on Thursday evening as US retailers opened on Thanksgiving to kick off an intensely competitive holiday season. (Financial Times)
The Australian government has blocked Archer Daniels Midland's A$3.4bn (US$3.1bn) takeover of GrainCorp, saying the acquisition was not in the national interest. The surprise decision follows months of wrangling between members of the ruling Liberal National coalition over the deal, which would have seen Illinois-based ADM take control of the largest grain handler in eastern Australia. The decision also comes just months after newly elected prime minister Tony Abbott declared that Australia was open for business. (Financial Times) (Lex)
"Denmark's Economy Ministry said the European Banking Authority signaled it won't recommend that covered bonds be granted the highest liquidity status, in a blow to the nation's $530 billion mortgage bond market. "This is incredibly bad news and a potential disaster," Jesper Berg, head of regulatory affairs and senior vice president at Nykredit Realkredit A/S, Europe's biggest issuer of mortgage-backed covered bonds, said in an interview. " (Bloomberg)
Aurelius Capital Management, the biggest hedge fund involved in the Co-op Bank's recent debt restructuring, has sold virtually its entire interest in the lender, according to three people familiar with the process. Aurelius was instrumental in forcing the Co-operative Bank to abandon its mutual structure and list on the stock exchange. (Financial Times)
Barclays' chief exec Antony Jenkins would receive part of his fixed pay in shares next year under the bank's plan to revamp pay because of the controversial bonus cap imposed on banks by the EU. (Financial Times)
"Raoul Weil, a former UBS banker charged by U.S. authorities five years ago for allegedly helping rich Americans dodge taxes via secret Swiss bank accounts, has agreed to go to the United States to face trial after being arrested in Italy, Weil's lawyer and judicial sources told Reuters." (Reuters)
"Italian oil and gas group Eni said it may demand as much as $10 billion from Norway's Statoil in arbitration in one of the biggest cases ever over expensive long-term gas contracts. Eni started arbitration proceedings against Statoil in August. Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni said on Thursday that a recent Norwegian media report that it was demanding $10 billion was "probably true"." (Reuters)
"A preliminary commitment by banks to underwrite Monte dei Paschi's 3-billion-euro ($4 billion) capital increase expires at the end of January, the Italian bank said in a document showing why it needs to press on with the cash call. If no capital increase is launched by that date, the pre-underwriting agreement with a pool of 10 banks would come to an end and Monte dei Paschi would have to restart negotiations to form a new consortium guaranteeing the rights issue, it said." (Reuters)
Brazil's OGX seeks at least $150m in fresh capital from bondholders: After posting a nearly $1 billion third-quarter loss, OGX... wants to persuade creditors to put up more money as the Brazilian oil and natural-gas company strives to avoid outright failure." (WSJ)
COMMENTS & CURIOS
Testing Tony Abbott... perhaps a touch late (WSJ)
Beijing has now turned control of the air space around the Senkaku into a litmus test of the US security commitment to east Asia (Financial Times)
Not all Iranians want a nuclear deal (Financial Times Barber)
Germany: both big mainstream parties have become parties of the old (Financial Times)
Vladimir Putin is in denial about Russia's deadly enemy within (Financial Times)
Britain accused of going soft on rights to woo China (Financial Times)
Power outages hobble Pakistan's biggest exporters (WSJ)
Flirting with money-market madness (WSJ)
"The decision by a NY bank to close Cuba's checking account in the United States has presented an unusual diplomatic quandary" (Reuters)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 down -150.67 (-0.96%) at 15,576
Topix down -6.64 (-0.53%) at 1,254
Hang Seng up +74.99 (+0.32%) at 23,864
US markets
S&P 500 up +4.48 (+0.25%) at 1,807
DJIA up +24.53 (+0.15%) at 16,097
Nasdaq up +27.00 (+0.67%) at 4,045
European markets
Eurofirst 300 up +4.51 (+0.35%) at 1,305
FTSE100 up +5.00 (+0.08%) at 6,654
CAC 40 up +9.36 (+0.22%) at 4,302
Dax up +36.24 (+0.39%) at 9,387
Currencies
€/$ 1.36 (1.36)
$/¥ 102.35 (102.29)
£/$ 1.64 (1.63)
€/£ 0.8318 (0.8323)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) unchanged 0.00 at 110.86
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.09 at 92.21
100 Oz Gold (Comex) up +4.60 at 1,242
Copper (Comex) up +0.03 at 3.23
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.75%
UK 2.74%
Germany 1.70%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe +0.17bps at 63.09bp
Markit iTraxx Europe +0.4bps at 77.52bp
Markit iTraxx Xover -3.34bps at 311.91bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
