Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

Alison Ciaccio

21 Jun 2019, 06:18 AM IST

Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

U.S. President Donald Trump waves to photographers after Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, not pictured, departed at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S. (Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) --

Donald Trump again downplayed an Iranian attack after a Navy drone was shot down, and oil surged the most in three years on the news. Xi Jinping makes a landmark visit to North Korea. And the quant known as Mr. Bear turned bullish at just the wrong time. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.

‘Loose and Stupid’

Donald Trump suggested Iran's downing of a U.S. drone was a decision by a “loose and stupid” individual, a comment that may ease escalating tensions. The president said the Islamic Republic made “a very bad mistake” by shooting down the unmanned aircraft but declined to detail any potential response. The UN called for “maximum restraint” as Tehran and Washington disputed whether the drone was over international or Iranian waters.

Stocks, Oil Surge

Oil jumped the most this year on the drone attack, with WTI futures surging as much as 6.1%. Speculative traders who’d turned against crude recently are ready to pile back in, according to LPS Futures. Asian equity futures are flat to slightly higher after U.S. stocks advanced, with the S&P 500 opening at a record high. And the global bond rally marched on. Ten-year Treasury yields dropped below 2% for the first time since November 2016 as a shift toward easing global central bank policy and Iran tensions pushed investors toward havens. The dollar fell across the board, as the Norwegian krone and Swiss franc both gained more than 1%.

Xi’s Push

Xi Jinping told Kim Jong Un he’s visiting to push for a political settlement on the Korean peninsula, and said China is willing to play a constructive role in denuclearization. Beijing is ready to help Pyongyang “address its legitimate security and development concerns,” as part of a deal, according to CCTV’s account of the Chinese president’s remarks.

Southeast Asia Convenes

The leaders of Southeast Asia’s economies are set to gather in Thailand this weekend as the shadow of Trump’s trade war keeps the region on edge. While China is the biggest trading partner for most of the participants, they also can’t afford to offend the U.S. Aside from slowing growth, the 10-nation summit in Bangkok is expected to focus on sustainability, ways of knitting the region’s markets together and efforts to foster digital innovation without compromising privacy and security.

Mr. Bear Turned Bullish

John Rachmat spent three years researching, backtesting and tweaking his quantitative investment model before he was convinced he had a winning formula. The former sell-side strategist, who accurately predicted the last two bear markets in Indonesia, has dropped near the bottom of the country’s performance rankings after his fund’s move to turn bullish on mining stocks shortly after it began trading in mid-2018.

What we’ve been reading

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

Slack shares soared in their first day of trading.
China is missing out on an epic bonds rally taking off globally.
A house-flipper sees big profits in Japan's eight million empty homes.
Thailand has a $13 billion plan to handle 65 million tourists a year.
Here’s why Japan is hosting the Rugby World Cup.
BMW’s billionaire heirs say their lives are harder than you think.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Robert Lafranco at rlafranco@bloomberg.net