Asia – Contenders arrive for Abe’s replacement

Asian indices are up this morning led by the China A50’s 1.8% rise. Australia and New Zealand both closed down 1.3 & 1.4% respectively after the Reserve Bank of Australia maintained its 0.25% interest rate. Building permits in Australia increased by 12% MoM in July while AiG’s manufacturing index dropped to 49.3.

Manufacturing in New Zealand was also down by 3 ticks to 53.6 while building permits there decreased by 4.5%. Unemployment in Japan was up a tenth in July to 2.9%, while China’s manufacturing PMI for August increased to 53.1.

Europe – Data deluge today

Spain led European indices south yesterday with a 2.3% drop. The FTSE and Dax lost about 2/3 of a per cent each. Preliminary PMIs from Italy and Germany came in negative in August, with Q2 GDP falling 17.7% QoQ in Italy.

Americas – Post-apocalyptic economics in play

US equities followed Europe lower yesterday, the DOW losing 0.78% but the Nasdaq managed to add 0.68% thanks to split stock jumps from Apple and Tesla. The Dallas Fed yesterday published August’s Manufacturing Business Index – a swift rise to 8 from -3 the month before. Meanwhile, in Canada, raw materials prices disappointed with a 3% increase in July while building permits declined by 3%, following a 5.7% rise in June.

Commodities – Weak dollar stokes oil & gold

Both oil and gold are up this morning as the US dollar continues to weaken for a 4th month in a row, putting the currency at a 2-year low.

Corporate – Zoom up 4-fold

Zoom (+8.63%)yesterday beat expectations with a 355% increase in revenues to $663.5 mn, driving EPS up from 2 cents last year to 63 cents in this latest quarter and shares another 9.3% after trading.

Apple (+3.39%) shot up more than 4% yesterday after its 4-for-1 stock split, losing some gains towards session’s end, while TESLA added 12.57% and another 3% after hours, its 5-for-1 split stock now worth $498.32.

Qantas (+1.29%) has announced a $370 mn bond issuance with a 5.25% coupon – double the previous issuance – to fund previous maturing bonds and boost liquidity.

Facebook (-0.16%) is planning to block Australian users from news sharing, after the government proposed a law forcing companies to pay media firms for their content, according to Bloomberg. And Ford is down 1.73% after announcing further job cuts – numbers as yet undisclosed.

Lots of dividends on the agenda today, from VISA, Invesco, Fresenius, Wells Fargo, Intel, Phillips 66, Deutsche Post, Skyworks, FirstEnergy, Pacca, Wolters and LANXESS.

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