Markets: Asian markets were slightly lower ahead of an interest rate decision from the European Central Bank on Thursday and some important US economic figures. The US will publish third-quarter gross domestic product numbers on Thursday, and the delayed October non-farm payrolls report on Friday. (Financial Times)
Bill de Blasio won NY mayoral election in a landslide victory on Tuesday on the back of pointed criticism of Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire businessman who has led the largest US city since 2002. (Financial Times) "Political analysts say the election... could become the biggest test yet of a recent revival of liberalism in American political life that is occurring in urban areas." (NYT)
Brussels readies billions in rate-setting fines: RBS, Deutsche and SocGen are set to pay the fines next month to settle allegations they acted in concert to manipulate either Euribor, Yen Libor or both benchmarks. JPM, HSBC and Crédit Agricole are currently holding out from signing a joint Èuribor settlement. They are likely to face formal charges that would pave the way for fines at a later stage. (Financial Times)
ECB o'clock: Speculation over a rate cut intensified on Tuesday after the European Commission shaved its forecasts for eurozone growth, sending the single currency to a near four-week low against the yen and a one-month low versus sterling. The euro slipped to as low as $1.3449 against the dollar, down from more than $1.38 in late October. (Financial Times)
AIG poised to sue banks over MBS mis-selling claims: Morgan Stanley disclosed that AIG "may file a lawsuit" over $3.7bn of securities, after opting to end an agreement that had suspended legal action to allow the two parties to work on a settlement.Apparently AIG has also held intensive discussions with "a number of other banks" and reached confidential settlements with some of them. But other discussions are outstanding and could result in lawsuits being filed before the end of the year. (Financial Times)
"BlackRock and Fidelity Investments will be studied by U.S. regulators who are in the early stages of reviewing whether asset managers pose a potential risk to the financial system, two people with knowledge of the matter said." (Bloomberg)
Microsoft "has narrowed its list of external candidates to replace Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to about five people, including Ford Motor Co chief Alan Mulally and former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, according to sources familiar with the matter. The world's largest software maker also has at least three internal candidates on its shortlist, including former Skype CEO Tony Bates, who is now responsible for Microsoft's business development, and Satya Nadella, the company's cloud and enterprise chief, the sources said." (Reuters)
Samsung Electronics' CFO has responded to growing shareholder pressure by promising a modest dividend increase this year, while ruling out a major overhaul of the company's investment-focused cash policy. (Financial Times)
The highly volatile shares of Tesla Motors dropped more than 12 per cent in after-market trading on Tuesday after the US electric car company failed to beat Wall Street's hopes for deliveries of its Model S saloon in the latest quarter. Elon Musk, chief executive, blamed a shortage of the lithium ion cells needed to power the company's battery packs for the disappointment. (Financial Times)
Cooper Tire, the US tyremaker, has stopped paying raw materials suppliers to its Chinese operations with the aim of forcing its joint venture partner to start negotiations over control of the business, a court has heard. News of Cooper's move emerged during evidence Cooper's cfo, on the first day of a legal action attempting to force India's Apollo Tyres, which agreed a $2.5bn all-cash takeover of Cooper in June, to proceed quickly with the deal. (Financial Times)
"Indians bought about half the gold they usually buy in the run up to the Diwali holiday this year, according to sellers of the precious metal." (WSJ)
Ukraine signed a deal worth up to $10bn with Chevron to exploit its shale gas reserves – one of the biggest such agreements in Europe to date – as it steps up efforts to break free from its reliance on Russian gas. (Financial Times)
"China's Shuanghui International Holdings, which bought U.S. pork producer Smithfield Foods this year, has hired six banks for a Hong Kong IPO, seeking to raise up to $6 billion in what is set to be Asia's Pacific ex-Japan's largest offering in about four years." (Reuters)
COMMENTS AND CURIOS
Fed study: rate peg off mark (WSJ)
Of debt, growth, interest rates and history (Bloomberg - Reinhart)
Germany is a weight on the world (Financial Times Wolf)
Assad is using starvation to commit his massacres (Financial Times)
Abenomics and Japan, pretty much the same issues remain (Financial Times)
Chinese reform is coming, but not the political kind (Reuters)
The Bitcoin Rush (WSJ)
Bordeaux reels after rain (WSJ)
OVERNIGHT MARKET
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 up +124.82 (+0.88%) at 14,350
Topix up +10.73 (+0.91%) at 1,193
Hang Seng up +46.38 (+0.20%) at 23,085
US markets
S&P 500 down -4.96 (-0.28%) at 1,763
DJIA down -20.90 (-0.13%) at 15,618
Nasdaq up +3.27 (+0.08%) at 3,940
European markets
Eurofirst 300 down -2.05 (-0.16%) at 1,292
FTSE100 down -16.78 (-0.25%) at 6,747
CAC 40 down -35.25 (-0.82%) at 4,253
Dax down -28.12 (-0.31%) at 9,009
Currencies
€/$ 1.35 (1.35)
$/¥ 98.62 (98.47)
£/$ 1.61 (1.60)
€/£ 0.8393 (0.8397)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.59 at 105.92
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.50 at 93.87
100 Oz Gold (Comex) up +4.50 at 1,313
Copper (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 3.26
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.66%
UK 2.74%
Germany 1.74%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe -0.25bps at 68.15bp
Markit iTraxx Europe +1.57bps at 85.01bp
Markit iTraxx Xover +6.7bps at 349.49bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
