Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
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Trump back in America., stock sell-off eases in Asia, and Australia jobs data on tap. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about.
Trump Back Stateside
President Trump arrived back in the U.S. after his marathon tour of Asia, and it wasn’t long before he was on Twitter discussing his trip. In an afternoon speech from Washington, Trump said that Chinese President Xi Jinping recognizes that a nuclear North Korea is a grave threat to China, and the two leaders agree that a freeze-for-freeze agreement with the rogue nation is unacceptable.
U.S. Markets Take Another Tumble
U.S. equities fell to a three-week low as global growth concerns and tax cut prospects were front and center over the New York session. The S&P 500 notched its fourth drop in five days. The final hour of trading was painful for bulls as stocks extended losses on a report that a key Republican opposes the Senate’s latest tax bill. Energy shares led declines as crude continued its slide toward $55 a barrel. A renewed commodities slump overshadowed data showing an unexpected gain in U.S. retail sales, while inflation data helped boost bank shares.
Sell-Off Eases in Asia
However, Asia Pacific stocks saw the sell-off pause. Equity markets across the region are pointing to an easing of the recent stress. After the MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell for four straight days, futures in Japan are pointing to a muted open to Thursday trading, while Australian and Hong Kong gauges stand poised to climb. Traders will be monitoring the Nikkei Stock Average Volatility Index, which after its recent spike is well above this year's mean.
Eco Data On the Way
It's jobs day in Australia. The unemployment rate is forecast to hold steady at 5.5 percent in October, with employment rising by 18,800. Data released Wednesday showed the wage price index accelerated to 2.2 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, which should come as some comfort to the Reserve Bank of Australia. Later in the day, Hong Kong is projected to show an unemployment rate unchanged at 3.1 percent, while growth in the Philippines is forecast to tick up to an annual rate of 6.6 percent in the third quarter.
Zimbabwe and Bitcoin?
Zimbabwe’s military seized power and detained 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe in a struggle over the succession plans for the African nation. How do crypto currencies play into this? Zimbabwe doesn’t have its own currency, causing bitcoin to surge as much as 10 percent on Zimbabwe’s Golix exchange. The price of the cryptocurrency in the Southern African nation jumped as high as $13,499, almost double the rate at which it trades in international markets, according to prices cited on Golix’s website.
What we’ve been reading
This is what caught our eye over the last 24 hours.
--With assistance from Adam Haigh and Luke Kawa
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Boris Korby at bkorby1@bloomberg.net.
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