- Hong Kong Shares Lead Asia Higher, Oil Rally Halts: Markets Wrap
Hong Kong stocks led gains among Asian equities ahead of US jobs data that will identify the path ahead for
interest rates. A rally in oil prices halted after the commodity had its biggest one-day jump in almost a year.
Equities in Japan and South Korea advanced while stocks in Australia dropped. Markets in mainland China
were shut for a holiday. A gauge of Chinese shares in Hong Kong advanced as traders assessed its recent
rally’s sustainability and await details of fiscal stimulus and holiday spending. Futures contracts for the S&P
500 and Nasdaq 100 rose. - Dow closes nearly 200 points lower as oil spikes and October malaise continues
Stocks fell on Thursday as concerns over Middle East tensions kept investors on edge in the run up to
September’s payrolls report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 184.93 points, or 0.44%, to end at
42,011.59. The S&P 500 lost 0.17% to close at 5,699.94. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day off 0.04% at
17,918.48 as a rally of more than 3% in Nvidia capped downside pressure. October trading is off to a rocky
start as escalating tensions in the Middle East dampen investors’ enthusiasm. After stocks tumbled on
Tuesday with Iran launching a missile attack on Israel, investors are now preparing for further uncertainty as
Israel starts a ground operation into Lebanon. U.S. crude futures rose more than 5%. That propelled its weekto-date advance to more than 8% as growing fears tied to the Middle East pushed up prices. - Oil Set for Biggest Weekly Gain Since Early 2023 on Mideast Risk
Oil steadied, following its biggest one-day jump in almost a year, as fears that Israel may decide to strike
Iranian crude facilities in retaliation for a missile barrage kept the market on edge. Brent traded below $78 a
barrel after surging by 5% on Thursday as President Joe Biden said the US was discussing whether to
support potential Israeli attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure. A US official said later the administration
was still in talks with Israel and believed no decision had been taken yet. West Texas Intermediate was near
$74. - Gold holds steady as safe-haven demand counters stronger dollar
Gold prices held steady on Thursday as safe-haven demand from escalating tensions in the Middle East offset
pressure from a stronger dollar after investors toned down expectations of another big interest-rate cut from
the U.S. Federal Reserve. Spot gold was flat at $2,657.89 per ounce after hitting a record high of $2,685.42
last week. U.S. gold futures settled 0.4% higher at $2,679.2. - US Dockworkers Agree to Suspend Strike Until Jan. 15
Dockworkers at US East and Gulf coast ports have agreed to start moving cargo again while they continue
collective bargaining with their employers on a new contract.
The International Longshoremen’s Association agreed to extend the contract until Jan. 15 and work will
resume Friday, the union said in a statement on Thursday. - China’s Cash Funds Lose Billions in Rush Back to Stock Market
Billions of dollars have exited China’s largest money market exchange-traded funds just as billions more
flowed into ETFs tracking equities, signaling that Beijing has finally drawn skeptical investors back to the
country’s struggling stock market. - Cisco Nears Investment in CoreWeave at $23 Billion Valuation
Cisco Systems Inc. agreed to invest in CoreWeave, a cloud-computing provider that’s among the hottest
startups in artificial intelligence, as part of a transaction that values the company at $23 billion, according to
people with knowledge of the matter. CoreWeave, led by Chief Executive Officer Michael Intrator, has been
discussing a so-called secondary transaction that allows existing shareholders such as employees to tender
$400 million to $500 million of their holdings, Bloomberg reported last month. The deal is close to being
completed, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. - US Jobs Report Is Expected to Show Stable Growth in September
US Jobs Report Is Expected to Show Stable Growth in September. Economists anticipate that hiring picked up
slightly in September while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, an outcome that would assuage any
lingering concerns that labor demand is deteriorating. - Elis Is Said to Make Rebuffed Bid for UniFirst Amid Vestis Talks
Elis SA, the Paris-listed provider of uniform and linen cleaning services, made an informal takeover proposal
to US peer UniFirst Corp., according to people familiar with the matter, the second move by the French
company to pursue an American acquisition. Massachusetts-based UniFirst reached out to Elis to gauge its
appetite for a deal after Elis’s takeover approach to rival Vestis Corp. became public last month, said the
people, who asked not to be identified because discussions are private. - Stepped-Up Global Easing Risks Making It Harder for BOJ to Hike
Bets on more aggressive monetary easing in a number of advanced economies risk making the Bank of Japan
stand out all the more for contemplating raising, not lowering interest rates. Bank of England
Governor Andrew Bailey said his central bank can become a bit more activist in its approach to lowering
rates, in remarks published Thursday. The euro is heading for its longest daily losing streak since April as
traders speculate on an increasingly aggressive rate-cut path at the European Central Bank. Weak economic
data in Canada and Sweden have also raised odds on further easing in those markets. - Singapore Ex-Minister Gets Jail for Bribery in Historic Case
A Singapore court on Thursday sentenced a former minister to prison for the first time in half a century, as
the city-state sought to send a clear message that it won’t tolerate conduct that undermines its zeal for clean
governance. S. Iswaran, who served as transport minister until his resignation in January, was handed a 12-
month prison term for bribery and obstruction of justice. The sentence exceeded that sought by prosecutors.
The jailable offenses include obtaining tickets for the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, a night’s stay in Four Seasons
Hotel Doha, and flights including being aboard a private jet to Qatar. - RBNZ Seen Stepping Up Rate Cuts on Inflation Undershoot Risk
New Zealand’s central bank will cut interest rates by half a percentage point at each of its two remaining
policy meetings this year as risks mount of inflation undershooting its 2% target, economists said.
After starting its easing cycle with a quarter-point cut to 5.25% in August, the Reserve Bank will pick up the
pace, lowering the Official Cash Rate to 4.75% on Oct. 9 and to 4.25% on Nov. 27, economists at all five of the
nation’s largest banks said. - What to Know in Washington: New Brief in Trump’s Jan. 6 Trial
Donald Trump should stand trial for his private crimes in trying to overturn the 2020 election, US prosecutors
argued in a newly unsealed court filing that sheds fresh light on his interactions with former Vice President
Mike Pence. The government’s 165-page brief, released Wednesday with some redactions, starts the next
round of legal wrangling over whether the latest indictment can proceed after the Supreme Court held that
presidents in many instances cannot face charges for official acts while in office. The filing detailed Trump’s
desperate conduct in an exchange he had over the physical peril that Pence faced when Trump supporters
stormed the Capitol, injuring dozens of police officers. After hearing that Pence had been taken to a secure
location in the Capitol, an aide rushed to the White House dining room where Trump sat, hoping he would
take action to ensure Pence’s safety. Instead, according to the filing, Trump looked at him and said only, ‘So
what?” Prosecutors said in the brief they don’t plan to use the exchange at trial, without explaining why. - Japan’s Ishiba Seeks to Show Alignment With BOJ Governor Ueda
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba sought to show he isn’t pressuring the Bank of Japan over interest rate policy,
saying that he was aligned with BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda’s view that there was time to assess the situation
in markets and the economy before making any changes to rates. Speaking to reporters late Thursday,
Ishiba’s latest comments mark another shift in tone about the BOJ. They suggest Japan’s newest leader is still
in the process of judging how best to communicate with markets, and trying to thread the needle between
looking like he’s encroaching on the central bank’s independence, and supporting monetary easing ahead of
this month’s general election. - STZ Earnings: Constellation Brands Posts Mixed Q2 Results Amid Market Pressures
Constellation Brands STZ -4.70% dipped in pre-market trading after the company reported mixed secondquarter results. The producer of beer, wine, and spirits reported Q2 adjusted earnings of $4.32 per share, up
by 14% year-over-year. This was above analysts’ expectations of $4.08 per share. Additionally, the parent of
Modelo Beer reported net sales of $2.9 billion, a 2.9% year-over-year increase, though it fell short of Street
estimates of $2.95 billion. The company’s management acknowledged that the current macroeconomic
environment has put pressure on the broader beverage and alcohol market. Despite these challenges, the
Beer Business segment saw a 6% increase in net sales, driven by a 4.6% rise in shipment volumes. The
company’s beer business comprises more than 80% of its revenues. However, the Wine and Spirits segment
experienced a 12% decline in sales, primarily due to a 9.8% drop in shipment volumes, attributed to difficult
market conditions, particularly in the U.S. wholesale channel, which affected most price segments within the
wine category. - Airbnb director Gebbia sells over $5.4 million in company stock
Airbnb, Inc. director Joseph Gebbia has sold a significant portion of his holdings in the company, according to
a recent regulatory filing. The transactions, which took place on October 1, involved the sale of company
stock worth over $5.4 million. The sales were conducted in multiple transactions at prices that ranged from
$125.54 to $128.05 per share. Specifically, Gebbia sold 13,016 shares at an average price of $125.54, 18,992
shares at $126.54, 10,011 shares at $127.46, and a smaller batch of 700 shares at $128.05. These sales were
part of a pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plan, a tool that allows company insiders to sell shares at
predetermined times to avoid accusations of insider trading. In addition to the sales, the filing also detailed
the acquisition of 34,907 shares through the exercise of stock options at a set price of $40.18. This
transaction is part of a stock option plan that vests in monthly installments over four years, starting from
December 2020. The transactions come at a time when Airbnb’s stock has seen significant interest from
investors, with the company being a major player in the travel and lodging industry. Gebbia’s role as a
director and a major shareholder in Airbnb means that his trading activity is closely watched by market
participants. Investors and analysts often scrutinize insider buying and selling as it can provide insights into
an insider’s view of the company’s prospects. While the reasons for Gebbia’s sale have not been disclosed,
the use of a 10b5-1 plan suggests that the decision to sell was made well in advance, rather than in response
to recent market events or company developments. - U.S. Food and Drug Administration Approves Perioperative Treatment of Neoadjuvant Opdivo®
(nivolumab) and Chemotherapy Followed by Surgery and Adjuvant Single-Agent Opdivo for Resectable
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
approved Opdivo® (nivolumab) for the treatment of adult patients with resectable (tumors ≥4 cm or node
positive) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and no known epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)
mutations or anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements, for neoadjuvant treatment, in combination
with platinum-doublet chemotherapy, followed by single-agent Opdivo as adjuvant treatment after surgery,
otherwise referred to as perioperative therapy, which is used before and after surgery. The approval is based
on results from the CheckMate-77T trial, the company’s second positive Phase 3 randomized trial with an
immunotherapy-based combination for the treatment of resectable NSCLC.1 Opdivo is now the only PD-1
inhibitor to demonstrate statistically significant and clinically meaningful benefits in this disease versus
chemotherapy in both a neoadjuvant-only regimen and as part of a perioperative regimen. - Texas Attorney General Sues Insulin Manufacturers and Pharmacy Benefit Managers Over Price-Fixing
Conspiracy That Increased Prices by 1,000%
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against several major insulin manufacturers and
pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), alleging a conspiracy to inflate insulin prices. The lawsuit targets
pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE:LLY) and PBMs, including Cigna
Corp’s (NYSE:CI) Express Scripts and CVS Health Inc’s (NYSE:CVS) CVS Pharmacy, accusing them of engaging in
an unlawful scheme to raise insulin prices. According to the lawsuit, insulin manufacturers artificially raised
the prices of their drugs while paying PBMs a significant, undisclosed portion in return for preferred
placement in PBM offerings. The PBMs allegedly rewarded the manufacturers with the highest list prices by
giving their products preferred status while excluding more affordable alternatives. These insulin drugs,
which cost manufacturers less than $2 to produce, were introduced in the late 1990s at $20 per vial.
However, prices have now soared to between $300 and $700 per vial. Over the past decade, some
manufacturers have raised insulin prices by as much as 1,000%.
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