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Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

Get up to date on what’s moving global markets this morning.

Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
A collection of U.S. one dollar bills are displayed in this arranged photograph in London, U.K. (Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) --

The dollar looks set for more weakening, Apple shares hit a fresh record and speculation mounts as Ghosn hints at what may have transpired in his miraculous escape mission. Here are some of the things people in the markets are talking about today.

In the latest on the Carlos Ghosn escape tale, the former automotive titan (who fled criminal charges in Japan), said his wife, Carole, and other family members played no part in his escape to Lebanon. “I alone organized my departure,” Ghosn said in a brief statement issued through a public relations firm. “My family played no role.” The communique shows Ghosn is itching to give his version of events and shield his family from any legal blowback. He said Tuesday he’s ready to “finally communicate freely with the media” as soon as next week. It’s still a mystery how Ghosn, one of the most recognizable foreigners in Japan, snuck out of the country despite round-the-clock surveillance. “I found out when you found out,” Carole Ghosn’s brother, Alain Nahas, said to Bloomberg News in a phone interview Thursday. Meanwhile, Nissan executives’ shock over the escape mission is turning to dread as Ghosn looks like he is readying himself for a media blitz. 

Stocks in Asia were primed for gains on Friday after a strong start to the year lifted U.S. equities to fresh all-time highs. Treasuries and the dollar rose, while futures indicated gains for equities in Hong Kong and Australia. The S&P 500 earlier rose 0.8% with megacaps Apple, Alphabet and Nike all notching record highs. Gains had begun in Asia on Thursday when traders returned from holidays to news of policy support from China’s central bank to lift its economy. The pound slid amid concern the U.K. won’t be able to negotiate a free-trade agreement with the European Union by the deadline at the end of this year. Elsewhere, crude oil pared an earlier advance while gold climbed. The euro slipped as data showed the region’s manufacturing downturn deepened in December.

The dollar had an awful December, but things may only get worse. The currency is set to extend losses as a truce in the U.S.-China trade war looms, and signs that global growth is improving could sap demand for haven assets, according to ABN Amro Bank NV. At the same time, the Federal Reserve has taken a dovish tilt, which will help shrink the yield premium offered by U.S. Treasuries, says M&G Investments Ltd. “You had safe-haven support for the dollar in 2019, but we have a trade truce now,” said Georgette Boele, senior foreign-exchange strategist at ABN Amro Bank in Amsterdam. “The dollar is on a path of long-term weakness.” The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against 10 global peers, slid 2% in December, the biggest monthly decline in almost two years. The U.S. currency started to weaken from October amid signs the U.S. and China were closing in on an initial deal to end their long-running trade dispute. The agreement was finally confirmed by President Donald Trump in December.

Apple Inc. started the year off with a bang, with shares topping $300 for the first time on Thursday. The iPhone maker rose as much as 2.3% to a record $300.26 a share amid a broader rally in technology stocks. Thursday’s gain was in stark contrast to the dismal start Apple had in 2019 when it cut its sales forecast for the first time in almost two decades exactly a year ago. Despite the setback, Apple went on to outperform all other megacap technology stocks in 2019 with a gain of 86%, its best year in a decade. Investors are optimistic about Apple’s performance during the holiday shopping season, its next generation 5G-capable phones expected in the fall and its expanding portfolio of services, such as music and Apple TV+.

As wildfires rage across the nation, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison isn’t reading the room. Eight months after being lauded a conservative hero by engineering an unexpected election victory, Morrison’s clumsy handling of the wildfire crisis — highlighted by his trip to Hawaii just days after declaring a national disaster — has stoked criticism over his political judgment, including by members of his own party. The devastation has taken a huge toll: 18 people are dead, more than 1,000 houses burnt and an area twice the size of Wales has been destroyed in one state alone. Disturbing footage of thousands of holiday-makers huddled on beaches awaiting rescue have fanned mounting concerns that Morrison’s pro-coal policies are hurting a nation that appears to be suffering the brunt of increasing climate change. The prime minister was heckled on Thursday by angry residents when he visited the bushfire-hit town of Cobargo, where two people died earlier this week. Others declined to shake his hand and called for more resources to tackle the disaster. 

What We’ve Been Reading

This is what’s caught our eye over the past 24 hours.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Adam Haigh at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net, Alice Truong

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