- Asian Equities Advance, Yen Gives Up Some Gains: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Shares in Asia opened higher Monday as markets shifted focus to key US data prints this week for further insight into the health of the world’s biggest economy. The yen pulled further off the seven-month high it touched last week. Equity benchmarks for Australia and South Korea both gained, while stock futures for Hong Kong slipped. - Stocks close higher, clawing back much of the week’s losses in major recovery from Monday’s sell-off: Live updates
Stocks ticked up Friday as the stock market built on its incredible comeback from Monday’s violent rout. The broad market index ended the week just shy of completely reversing its weekly losses. The S&P 500 advanced 0.47% to finish at 5,344.16. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.51% to close at 16,745.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 51 points, or 0.13%, to end at 39,497.54. Week to date, the broad market index was just 0.04% lower. During Friday’s session, it had managed to briefly turn positive for the week before losing some of its gains. Meanwhile, the blue-chip Dow and tech-heavy Nasdaq were down on the week by 0.6% and 0.18%, respectively. This week marked the most volatile week of 2024 for the market. The Dow on Monday tumbled 1,000 points, while the S&P 500 lost 3% for its worst day since 2022. Disappointing U.S. payrolls data from the prior week and concerns the Federal Reserve was too late with rate cuts were the main culprits for the selling, along with the unwinding of a popular currency trade by hedge funds. - Oil Steady After Weekly Gain as Traders Watch for Iran Reprisal
(Bloomberg) — Oil steadied after its first weekly gain since early July, with the market still waiting for Iran’s response to last month’s assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran. Brent traded below $80 a barrel after rising almost 4% last week, while West Texas Intermediate was near $77. - Gold holds ground on US Fed rate-cut hopes, lower yields
Gold prices held steady on Friday after a sharp rise in the previous session, buoyed by a dip in U.S. Treasury yields, as investors grew confident the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in September. Spot gold was down 0.1% to $2,422.99 per ounce, after a 1.9% rise on Thursday. U.S. gold futures held steady at $2,462. However, the bullion was down about 0.8% so far this week, on track for its biggest weekly decline since June. Prices fell as much as 3% on Monday after investors liquidated positions in tandem with a broader equities sell-off. - Carry-Trade Blowup Haunts Markets Rattled by Rapid-Fire Unwind
(Bloomberg) — By now, last Monday’s global market meltdown looks more like a brief tremor, a fleeting panic unleashed by a small policy shift from the Bank of Japan and resurgent fears of a US recession. But the way it unfolded so rapidly, and just as quickly faded out, is exposing how vulnerable markets are to a strategy that hedge funds exploited to bankroll hundreds. - Hedge Funds Smell Blood as Lenders Turn on Each Other
(Bloomberg) — iHeartMedia Inc. is the owner of a sprawling network of US radio stations that pumps out music and chat everywhere from New York City to Fairbanks, Alaska. In recent weeks, however, it has been much more selective when addressing one crucial audience: its worried lenders. - CEO Pay Climbs to Record in UK But Lags US Increases
(Bloomberg) — The chief executive officers of Britain’s biggest companies received record compensation last year but the slowing pace of increases saw the pay gap with the US widen. Median pay for FTSE 100 CEOs edged up 2% to £4.19 million, $5.35 million, from the previous year, research by the High Pay Centre think tank showed. - Israel Bolsters Infrastructure Defense Amid Iranian Threats
(Bloomberg) — Mayors have battery-backed sirens ready, first-responders got satellite phones and old-fashioned transistor radios could be an information lifeline if people need to move into shelters. Faced with the heightened risk of attacks from Iran or its proxies in the region, Israel is diversifying and fortifying it power supplies. - Biden Says He Dropped Out Due to Risk He’d Be Distraction
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden said he ended his reelection bid after hearing from congressional Democrats that he’d hurt their down-ballot chances in November, providing his fullest explanation yet of his decision to drop out. Biden name-checked former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a CBS News interview that hinted at the intra-party pressure to leave the race. - Small US Inflation Pickup Won’t Derail a Fed Rate Cut: Eco Week
(Bloomberg) — US inflation probably picked up modestly in July, but not enough to derail the Federal Reserve from a widely anticipated interest-rate cut next month. The consumer price index on Wednesday is expected to have risen 0.2% from June for both the headline figure and the so-called core gauge that excludes food and energy. - Ex-BOJ Board Member Rules Out Another Rate Hike This Year
(Bloomberg) — The Bank of Japan won’t be able to raise the policy rate again this year, given the market turmoil that followed its recent hike and the low likelihood of the nation’s economy seeing a rapid recovery, according to a former board member. They won’t be able to hike again, at least for the rest of the year, former board member Makoto Sakurai said. - Harris Follows Swing-State Tour With Fundraiser in San Francisco
(Bloomberg) — Vice President Kamala Harris tapped donors in her political home base of San Francisco after a swing-state tour introducing running mate Tim Walz, raising more than $12 million at an event attended by top California Democrats, her campaign said. Guests at the Sunday afternoon fundraiser included billionaire investor Tom Steyer, San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer. - Adani Saga’s New Twist Is Great Political Fodder: Andy Mukherjee
(Bloomberg Opinion) — It’s just as well for Narendra Modi that India’s parliament has been adjourned a day ahead of schedule. Opposition parties would definitely have pounced on Hindenburg Research’s latest report to corner the prime minister on his friendship with Gautam Adani. Lawmakers would have asked the government why the markets regulator is being so slow in completing its scrutiny of the controversial. - Vance Backs $5,000 Child Tax Break in Bid to Steady Campaign
(Bloomberg) — Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance floated more than doubling the federal child tax credit to $5,000, seeking to reframe a pro-family stance that has come under attack from Democrats. I don’t think that you want this massive cutoff for lower-income families, which you have right now, the Ohio senator and Donald Trump’s running mate said. - Philippine Peso Sentiment on Upswing as Rate Cut Prospects Fade
(Bloomberg) — The Philippine peso is set to extend gains after an unexpected pickup in inflation damped the possibility of an interest-rate cut this week. The peso, which closed at 57.28 per dollar on Friday, has rallied 2.8% after falling to the lowest in more than two years in June. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. expects the peso to advance to as high as 56.5. - PBOC Might Cut Reserve Ratio Again Before Year-End
(Bloomberg Intelligence) — The PBOC might cut RRR again by another 25-50 bps before year-end. The rare guidance for a 50-bp RRR cut (effective on February 5) from the PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng on January 24 might have signaled the urgency of that move. Although China’s RRR cuts tend to be preceded by government guidance, such announcements don’t usually include details of planned cuts. - Kaisa, Times China Face Hong Kong Court to Avoid Liquidation
(Bloomberg) — Chinese developers Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. and Times China Holdings Ltd. will square off with creditors Monday, seeking to avoid liquidation before a Hong Kong court where decisions against the sector are starting to pile up. Sued by its creditors to liquidate after a 2021 bond default, Kaisa has been fighting against their efforts for about a year. - Hong Kong homebuyers spoiled for choice as 10,000 more flats to hit market this year
New flats made available this year will total nearly 20,000, according to Midland Realty, as developers pin hopes on rate cut to spur sales. Hong Kong developers show no sign of slowing down project launches in coming months even as high interest rates continue to dampen demand for new homes and hold prices down, according to analysts. Nearly 10,000 flats in 24 new properties are tipped to launch before year-end. - Orora taps UBS as private capital lurks after $2.2b Saverglass buy
Orora taps UBS as private capital lurks after $2.2b Saverglass buy, Financial Review. Orora boss Brian Lowe’s decision to splash $2.2 billion on Carlyle-owned French bottle maker Saverglass last September is increasingly looking like a bad one. The ASX-listed can and bottle maker’s shares are down 46 per cent since the acquisition. - Fletcher Building sells Tradelink to one of America’s richest families
Fletcher Building sells Tradelink to one of America’s richest families, Financial Review. Fletcher Building has agreed to sell its Tradelink plumbing and bathroom supplies business to Metals Manufacturers, a subsidiary of US-based Blackfriars Corporation. An announcement is expected on Monday morning. - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s revenue rose 45% in July, accelerating its pace of growth from the June quarter and bolstering hopes for sustained strong demand for artificial intelligence chips from the likes of Nvidia Corp
Sales for the month reached NT$256.95 billion$7.9 billion). For the third quarter, analysts project TSMC revenue should grow 37% to NT$747.4 billion, with the July result suggesting TSMC may surpass those expectations. TSMC’s American depositary receipts gained 1.6%. Last month, TSMC raised its full-year growth outlook to beyond the maximum mid-20% it had guided toward previously. Chief Executive Officer C.C. Wei signaled the company may have room to raise prices as more of its customers transition to its most advanced technology and have to compete for limited capacity. High-performance computing, led by AI, contributed
52% of TSMC’s revenue last quarter, the first time it has accounted for more than half. - Trade Desk shares soared 12.5% on Friday after the advertising technology company reported second-quarter results that beat expectations. It also gave an outlook that was ahead of consensus
SECOND QUARTER RESULTS: Adjusted EPS 39c vs. 28c y/y, estimate 35c. Revenue $585 million, +26% y/y, estimate $578.4 million. Adjusted Ebitda $242 million, +34% y/y, estimate $225.8 million. THIRD QUARTER FORECAST: Sees revenue at least $618 million, estimate $604.6 million. Sees adjusted Ebitda about $248 million, estimate $245.7 million. Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Cost (overweight, PT $110): Trade Desk’s 2Q results highlight the company’s ability to execute and consistently outperform. Recent partnerships with NFLX and FOX continue to demonstrate TTD’s leadership in the ecosystem. - Expedia Group Inc. posted better-than-expected second-quarter results while warning of softening travel demand in the current quarter, leading it to adjust its expectations for the rest of the year
Gross bookings across Expedia’s platforms, which include flight reservations, hotel stays, car rentals activities and vacation rentals, increased 6% to $28.8 billion in the three months ended June 30,. Wall Street was expecting $28.6 billion. In particular, the company signaled the vacation rental business returned to modest growth in the second quarter after decelerating the past few periods, which had weighed on Expedia’s results. Room nights booked, a key metric in the travel industry, jumped 10% to 98.9 million, exceeding estimates for 96.1 million nights. Second-quarter revenue increased 6% to $3.56 billion, ahead of the average estimate of $3.53 billion. Shares jumped 10.2%. - Bear market is coming in 2025, warns David Roche, but the Fed will step in before it turns draconian
Veteran investor David Roche expects a bear market in 2025 caused by smaller-than-expected rate cuts, a slowing U.S. economy and an artificial intelligence bubble. I think a bear market is probably coming, but probably in 2025. We now know what will cause it, the strategist at Quantum Strategy told CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia on Monday. Roche expects the Fed to resist reducing rates to the market’s desired 3.50%. The Fed’s median forecast for 2025 is 4.1%, while nearly all market participants currently see rates below 4.1% by September 2025, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. The second thing is that profits won’t fulfill expectations, because the economy is going to be slowing, Roche warned. The third factor Roche expects will
lead to a bear market is the AI sector. - European markets are set to rally at the open, with U.S. inflation data in focus this week
European stocks are expected to rally at the start of the new trading week, with global markets keeping a close eye on U.S. inflation data out Wednesday. The U.K.’s FTSE index is seen opening 40 points higher at 8,209, Germany’s DAX up 114 points at 17,181, France’s CAC 40 up 34 points at 7,301 and Italy’s FTSE MIB up 119 points at 32,000, according to data from IG. European markets are set to follow in the footsteps of their counterparts in Asia-Pacific, where markets were mostly higher overnight. The rally comes after global stock markets see-sawed last week with steep sell-offs followed by a sharp rebound. - Harris edges out Trump on who voters trust more with the economy, new poll finds
Vice President Kamala Harris is narrowly ahead of Donald Trump on the number of voters who trust her handling of the economy, according to a new Financial Times/Michigan Ross poll. The economy has remained a defining issue for voters who consistently cite inflation and the high cost of living as their top priority in national polls. Harris is expected to release an official economic policy platform in the coming days. - LVMH puts mark on Olympics as luxury brands embrace sports
Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) is investing 150 million euros ($163 million) in the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games. LVMH is leading a wave of luxury fashion entering the sports world, with partners like Naomi Osaka and Victor Wembanyama. Connecting to the world’s most elite sporting events may give LVMH a boost as overall luxury spending slows.
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