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(Bloomberg) --
Hong Kong’s airport reopens after protesters forced an unprecedented shutdown. Fears of a financial crisis in Argentina leads investors to dump stocks, bonds and currency. And Huawei hires help as Trump piles on the pressure.
Flight Disruption
Hong Kong's airport reopened early Tuesday after thousands of protesters staged a mass demonstration that led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Investors and business leaders are growing increasingly alarmed by the fallout from 10 weeks of anti-government demonstrations that show no sign of letting up. The Civil Human Rights Front, a group that has organized some of the largest rallies, announced it would hold another “mass march” on Sunday, Aug. 18. Global Times Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin said via Weibo that he thinks Beijing will intervene if the situation in the city doesn't improve. His state-run newspaper reported armed police are assembling across the border.
Cry For Argentina
Suddenly, fears of a full-blown financial crisis in Argentina have again come rushing to the fore. In the wake of President Mauricio Macri’s stunning rout in primary elections over the weekend, investors dumped stocks, bonds and currency en masse in a selloff that left much of Wall Street wondering whether the crisis-prone country was headed for another default. The upset, widely seen as a preview of October’s presidential vote, threw open the doors to the possibility a more protectionist government will take power come December and unravel the hard-won gains Macri made to regain the trust of the international markets.
Turmoil Unnerves
Asian stocks looked set to follow their U.S. counterparts lower as political unrest in Hong Kong and Argentina added to trade concerns and fueled a rally in global bonds. The yen and gold climbed. Risk assets were pummeled and Treasury yields sank after authorities closed Hong Kong’s airport and a Chinese official said the city was at a “critical juncture.” Futures indicated markets will open lower in Tokyo when traders return from a holiday Monday, as well as in Sydney. The latest sell-off provided another reminder of the fragile mood across markets extending the rocky start to August.
Huawei Gets Defensive
Huawei hired the law firm Sidley Austin to lobby on trade as the U.S. pressures allies to join it in blacklisting the Chinese telecom giant and the company finds itself increasingly mired in Donald Trump’s trade war with Beijing. The lobbying effort will focus on export controls, trade sanctions “and other national security-related topics,” according to a filing with the U.S. Senate. The disclosure comes after the company’s billionaire founder said he wants to create an “iron army” that can help it survive an American onslaught while protecting its lead in next-generation wireless.
Aramco’s Quiet Call
Saudi Aramco's first earnings call was surprisingly uneventful. The company said it doesn’t intend to tap international debt markets again in 2019 ahead of its planned IPO. However, the company will look at green bonds, eurobonds and Sharia-compliant bonds, should it decide in the future that more external funding is necessary. Few questions really sought to probe the first-half results of a 12% drop in profit or a stake purchase of Reliance Industries.
What we’ve been reading
This is what’s caught our eye over the last 24 hours.
- Hot pot stock that’s up 72% still has room to run, analysts say
- How many Chinese soldiers are there in Hong Kong and why?
- A Goldman Sachs analyst is bullish on Bitcoin. But is Goldman?
- Russia says new weapon blew up in deadly nuclear accident last week
- After crushing the London Whale, a hedge fund star lost his way
- Tourism is overwhelming the world’s top destinations
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexandria Arnold at abaca3@bloomberg.net, Alex Millson
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