Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.
(Bloomberg) --
Singles’ Day spending hits a record, OPEC lays groundwork for supply cuts, and equity markets are poised to start the week with declines. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.
No Show
The annual round of Asian summitry kicks off this week with one person notably absent: Donald Trump. The U.S. president is staying at home, sending Vice President Mike Pence in his place. The snub means the world won’t pay as much attention to a set of summits that are usually more notable for what happens on the sidelines than in the meetings themselves. It does, however, give Chinese President Xi Jinping an opportunity to steal the spotlight. The meetings are the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ events in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Papua New Guinea.
Shopping Bonanza
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. logged a record 213.5 billion yuan ($30.7 billion) in sales for its annual Singles’ Day extravaganza, as shoppers swarmed the e-commerce giant’s online bazaars. China’s largest company reported that Xiaomi Corp., Apple Inc. and Dyson Ltd. products were the top three brands in early sales, which surpassed the 100 billion yuan mark less than two hours into Singles’ Day, according to Alibaba’s news website. This year’s Nov. 11 retail bonanza, originally dedicated to the nation’s unattached, offers a glimpse of consumer sentiment in China as U.S. tensions and a tit-for-tat tariff war depress stock markets and threaten to dampen the world’s No. 2 economy. The latest shopping festival is the last one for Jack Ma – who has championed the online sales promotion for a decade -- as he prepares to step down as Alibaba chairman.
Oil Cuts
OPEC and its allies started laying the groundwork to cut oil supply in 2019, reversing an almost year-long expansion, with Saudi Arabia reasserting its role as swing producer by announcing fewer shipments from next month. Saudi Arabia will export 500,000 fewer barrels a day in December than this month, taking the lead in OPEC to counter the price rout battering the finances of group members and energy companies alike. While its meeting with other producers on Sunday yielded no change in supply policy, OPEC+ warned in a statement that it might need “new strategies,” raising the prospect of a wider and coordinated cut in 2019. Oil collapsed into a bear market in little more than a month, and pressure is mounting on the OPEC+ group to act sooner than their policy meeting in December.
Market Open
Asian equity futures are pointing lower after U.S. stocks closed down on Friday amid a fresh round of selling in technology shares. Crude capped its longest losing streak ever on concern over a supply glut that OPEC and other producers looked to address at their meeting in Abu Dhabi. U.S. Treasury yields edged lower after the Fed reiterated its plan for "further gradual" rate increases. The pound opened weaker in early trading Monday as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May fights to keep her Brexit divorce plan alive.
Coming Up …
The week kicks off with traders closely watching whether oil will dig deeper into a bear market or rebound after the OPEC meeting. There is no cash Treasury trading due to the Veterans Day holiday in the U.S. China is due to release data on money supply and new yuan loans anytime through Nov. 15. India's central bank governor is scheduled to appear before parliament on Monday amid tense relations with the government. There'll also be Japanese PPI and Indian CPI and industrial production on Monday. On Wednesday, Japan reports GDP, while China releases figures on retail sales, industrial output and fixed asset investment. Australia has a consumer confidence report coming, plus wage growth data. Rate decisions from the Bank of Thailand and the Philippines are due this week. On Thursday, Australia's labor-market report, trade data for Indonesia and India, plus China new home prices are due. Meanwhile, Italy is considering small tweaks to its budget ahead of Tuesday's deadline to submit a revised spending plan to the EU.
What we've been reading
This is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours.
- Wall Street's $45 trillion China dream inches closer.
- An investor tips a Christmas Asia stocks rally.
- Trump’s isolation among allies.
- California’s deadly fires.
- The hedge fund that beat the odds in October.
- The rocket launch that brings cheap, quick space access.
- Here's how hard it'll be to beat China in a trade war.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Adam Haigh at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.