| * Cinda off to flying start in Hong Kong * Asia markets soften on taper trepidation * Ukraine vindicates Ashton's diplomacy * US fears Iran's 'good cop, bad cop' act * Blackstone suffers another blow in India * Peugeot agrees main terms of tie-up with China's Dongfeng * Mentor adds to Nigeria president's woes amid missing $50bn * Markets: down! Cinda off to flying start in Hong Kong
Shares in former Chinese bad bank jump more than 20% on their trading debut
http://on.ft.com/18VGoVN Asia markets soften on taper trepidation
Asian equities weakened as the heightened prospect of support for the US budget deal sparked renewed speculation that the Federal Reserve may speed up the reduction of its monetary stimulus programme, prompting investor caution towards riskier assets.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3177b9a2-62db-11e3-bba5-00144feabdc0.html Ukraine vindicates Ashton's diplomacy
Recent steps forward show what can be done if the EU gets its act together; that means vision, unity and commitment
http://on.ft.com/18VGsom US fears Iran's 'good cop, bad cop' act
Since Hassan Rouhani took over, it is harder to strike a common line on Iran, especially in the US where there is a tug-of-war over new sanctions
http://on.ft.com/18VGpc7 Blackstone suffers another blow in India
The patchy record of the US private equity group in India has been further dented by its holdings in Financial Technologies, a trading software maker
http://on.ft.com/18VGpc8 Peugeot agrees main terms of tie-up with China's Dongfeng
PSA Peugeot Citroën and China's state-owned carmaker Dongfeng Motor have agreed the main terms of an industrial and commercial partnership that will include a large capital injection into the French group in return for technology sharing.
http://on.ft.com/19hyBiX Mentor adds to Nigeria president's woes amid missing $50bn
The in-tray of Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's president, has been filling up with some potent mail in recent weeks. In just over 24 hours two letters have leaked, one from the central bank raising questions about the whereabouts of $50bn in oil revenues, the other a broadside from a former head of state, Olusegun Obasanjo.
http://on.ft.com/18m3X9m Emerging Markets
MSCI Emerging Market Index down -0.66% at 995.90 Americas
DJIA down -0.81% at 15,844
S&P 500 down -1.13% at 1,782
Bovespa down -1.81% at 50,068 Asia
Nikkei 225 down -1.43% at 15,294
Topix down -1.00% at 1,238
Hang Seng down -0.52% at 23,216
Shanghai Composite down -0.11% at 2,202
MSCI Asia ex-Japan down -0.75% at 547.02
CNX Nifty down -0.69% at 6,264 Currencies
€/$ 1.38 (1.38)
$/¥ 102.56 (102.42) Commodities
Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.17 at 109.53
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.08 at 97.36
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -3.10 at 1,255 | 
