- L’Oreal (LOR TH) +2.8%
- L’Oreal Expects Short-Term Virus Hit After Sales Growth Picks Up
- Nokia (NOA3 TH) +2.4%
-
Covestro (1COV TH) +2.3%
- Covestro Double-Upgraded, Own Before the Bad News Ends: Citi
- Glaxo (GS7 TH) +0.9%
- BNP Paribas (BNP TH) +0.9%
- Deutsche Bank (DBK TH) +0.8%
- Commerzbank (CBK TH) +0.8%
-
Shell (R6C TH) +0.5%
- Shell to Establish First Industrial-Scale Solar Farm in Queensland, Australia
- LVMH (MOH TH) -0.7%
- Burberry Withdraws Forecast as Coronavirus Hits China Sales
- Puma (PUM TH) -0.8%
- GVC (6GI TH) -1.1%
- Hugo Boss (BOSS TH) -1.5%
- Burberry Withdraws Forecast as Coronavirus Hits China Sales
-
Nemetschek (NEM TH) -2.1%
- Nemetschek Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 63 euros
-
Norsk Hydro (NOH1 TH) -6.8%
- Norsk Hydro 4Q Underlying Ebit Misses Lowest Est.
DAX:
- Covestro (1COV TH) +2.9%
- Covestro Raised to Buy at Citi
MDAX:
- Freenet (FNTN TH) +0.8%
- ProSieben (PSM TH) +0.8%
- Varta (VAR1 TH) -1.4%
- Hugo Boss (BOSS TH) -1.8%
- Burberry Withdraws Forecast as Coronavirus Hits China Sales
SDAX:
- Ceconomy (MEO TH) +8.8%
- Ceconomy 1Q Adj. Ebit Rises 7.6%; Confirms FY Forecast
- 1&1 Drillisch (DRI TH) +0.9%
- DIC Asset (DIC TH) +0.9%
- Heidelberger Druck (HDD TH) -1.9%
Aga Khan among victims of audacious French ‘scam of the century’
Paris court hears details of elaborate sting that netted $85m for alleged fraudsters
When the Aga Khan took a call from a man claiming to be the French defence minister requesting millions of euros for a top-secret government operation, he quickly agreed.
But the person contacting him was not Jean-Yves Le Drian, now France’s foreign minister. He was a member of a gang that scammed tens of millions of euros from the rich and famous in a case that was heard this week in a Paris courtroom.
The alleged ringleader was Gilbert Chikli, a 54-year-old Franco-Israeli previously convicted of fraud over the notorious “CEO sting” operation targeting companies that was the subject of a 2015 film.
Most of the 150 corporate chief executives, heads of state, ambassadors and religious leaders contacted as part of the new scam between 2015-17 quickly smelt a rat, but enough took the bait to transfer $85m to the fraudsters.
Mr Chikli, charged with multiple counts of organised fraud, impersonation and criminal conspiracy, denied in court this week that he carried out the sting and said he had “never taken drama classes”. But in a covert recording offered by the prosecution, he boasted to a fellow inmate before the trial: “For me, it was the scam of the century.”
Six others are charged over the alleged conspiracy, in which a man claiming to be Mr Le Drian — who in Skype calls wore a rubber mask to impersonate the minister — requested the secret transfer of funds so that Paris could pay an untraceable ransom to free two French hostages held in Syria and fund other secret missions.
Court documents show the three known victims were the Aga Khan, the billionaire leader of the world’s Ismaili Muslims, who transferred nearly €20m; Corinne Mentzelopoulos, owner of the Château Margaux wine estate, who sent €5.95m; and Inan Kirac, a Turkish businessman who transferred several million euros. Much of the money has not been recovered.
France’s international reputation also suffered because several foreign leaders, officials and diplomats complained about the approaches from the purported French minister.
“It could have had very grave consequences for diplomatic, political and economic reasons,” said Delphine Meillet, a lawyer representing Mr Le Drian. “France does not pay ransoms, and at the time there really were hostages. It could have caused real problems.”
The case has also exposed the ease with which the fraudsters were able to open and use bank accounts around the world to complete the audacious scam.
After convincing the victims to part with their money through phone calls, emails and on occasion Skype calls from the bogus Mr Le Drian, the alleged fraudsters directed the payments to accounts in China, Poland, Dubai and Slovakia.
The Aga Khan, for example, made five transfers totalling €19.99m in March 2016, two into what appeared to be business accounts in Poland and three to accounts in Shenzhen and Taizhou in China. Three of the transfers were blocked by China, France and Poland, but two of those to China amounting to €7.7m appear to have reached the fraudsters.
None of the three known victims would comment this week, although Mr Kirac, who has investments in France and was awarded the Légion d’honneur medal in 2011, told Turkey’s Aksam newspaper last year: “I didn’t suspect anything because it was very well organised.”
Mr Kirac, who reportedly became suspicious of having to transfer the money to a Chinese account, added: “Some time later, I realised. I asked my French friends. I asked the ambassador. They said: ‘Oh dear!’”
The alleged criminals contacted or tried to contact scores of other potential victims, including Ali Bongo, president of Gabon, the French central bank governor and the chief executives of major companies such as LVMH, Danone and Total. Most of those who were approached quickly realised they were being targeted in a scam.
One French executive who received a call from the fake Mr Le Drian realised it was a fraud because he knew the minister personally said the victims were “people who were slightly less familiar with the French system . . . and they were wealthy individuals with limited [corporate] structures around them”.
Mr Chikli, who fled a previous trial in which he was later convicted in absentia, was arrested in Ukraine in 2017 before being extradited to France.
Prosecutors said that another rubber mask was being prepared to mimic the features of Prince Albert II of Monaco, and that the gang had also researched having masks made of President Emmanuel Macron as well as former presidents François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy.
Stéphane Sebag, Mr Chikli’s lawyer, said his client was innocent and that the prosecution was relying on four inconclusive analyses of a series of telephone voice recordings “of very poor quality”.
The era of big M&A is over for Big Tech
But will regulators spot which smaller deals define the next phase of competition?
Big Tech is still in the M&A business — but only just.
Blocking the use of acquisitions by the largest US technology companies to consolidate their power has become an overt goal of many regulators and politicians. So it is telling to note that, in aggregate, the amount the leading tech companies spent on buying up other businesses tailed off last year.
But even if the headline-grabbing takeovers have been few and far between, the smaller deals are still flowing as the tech leaders round out their capabilities in key areas. And a diminished deal-flow may not make much difference to their headlong expansion into new markets: acquisitions had already come to play only a small part over the past half-decade.
It was easy to miss news earlier this week that Big Tech’s largest acquisition of 2019 had slipped through, unheralded. It came on the latest earnings call from Google parent Alphabet. Explaining the reason for a jump in headcount in the final months of last year, the company pointed to the December closing of its $2.4bn purchase of Looker as a factor in the increase.
A well-regarded data analytics company, Looker has been folded into Google’s cloud computing division. This is a market where Google is well behind Amazon and Microsoft, so it’s not as though Google was acting to freeze others out of the market.
But the deal was still enough to attract the attention of regulators: the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority said it was open to hearing comments from anyone who thought this deal would hurt competition. The deal closed with that preliminary review still going on, meaning that Google cannot integrate Looker into its business until the regulators have had their say.
That the relatively small acquisition of a little-known analytics company should be the most prominent deal by a group of companies sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars in cash speaks volumes about the limited M&A ambitions of Big Tech.
Regulatory filings in recent days show that the five most valuable US tech companies — Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook — spent only $7.2bn between them on acquisitions last year. That is only around half as much as each of the previous two years, and well below the $29bn of 2016.
So does this show that they are running scared of the trustbusters? Perhaps. But it’s not as though a critical avenue of growth has just been closed off to them.
For a start, big acquisitions have been scarce lately. Over the past five years the number of transactions worth more than $1bn can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Besides Google’s Looker deal and its $1.1bn purchase of parts of HTC’s smartphone business, they comprise Microsoft’s acquisitions of GitHub ($8.4bn) and LinkedIn ($27bn), and Amazon’s of Whole Foods Market ($13.2bn).
You have to go all the way back to 2014 to find a year when the Big Tech M&A departments were all working full-swing. Along with Facebook’s purchases of WhatsApp and Oculus, acquisitions that year included notable names such as the smart home company Nest (by Google), the headphone maker Beats (Apple’s biggest deal), the games streaming company Twitch (Amazon) and the video game Minecraft (Microsoft).
These deals point to one type of acquisition that regulators hope to head off in future: those that enable today’s leaders to dominate the next big markets when they are still in formation.
But are regulators in any position to make accurate judgments about what those new markets will be, and which small acquisitions will provide the key to unlocking them? It will also be hard to ban deals in the booming cloud computing market, where an oligopoly has been forming. As the UK’s review of Looker shows, the regulators are sure to kick the tires to see what is permissible as new tech markets take shape. Whether they will act is another question.
At the other end of the size scale are the many smaller deals that slip under the radar, but which have been instrumental in consolidating Big Tech’s grip on important new technologies. Chief among these is AI. Since Beats, Apple has spent less than $1bn a year on dealmaking — but it has been mopping up small AI companies as it tries to match the big lead of Google and Amazon.
The next phase of competition in the tech sector probably won’t be defined by megadeals. But that doesn’t mean M&A won’t play an important part in shaping how Big Tech consolidates its position.
Treasury yields dipped, while U.S. and European stock futures were steady around record highs, ahead of the key American monthly payrolls report.
Asian equities declined after their biggest daily jump since June, and as news of further coronavirus infections on a cruise ship off Japan offered a reminder that cases remain on the rise. Confidence that the epidemic won’t derail the 2020 global expansion has helped put global shares on course for the best week since June. The dollar was flat ahead of the key monthly U.S. payroll report. Oil held above $51 a barrel in New York.
US After Hours PINS +17%, SYNA +16%, SKX +13% up big on earnings; MYGN -29%, TTWO -8% lead on the downside; ZGNX sells off on clinical data
Nikkei -0.19% HangSeng -0.68% CSI -0.34% Shanghai -0.04% Shenzen +0.32%
Eur$ 1.0977 CNH 6.9811 CNY 6.9811 JPY 109.94 GBP 1.2943 CHF 0.9751 RUB 63.25 TRY 5.9867 WTI$ 51.25 +0.59%
S&P -0.02% EuroStoxx -0.03% FTSE -0.04% Dax -0.13% SMI -0.10%
Macro :
- Deaths Top 636; Trump Reassures Xi on Efforts: Virus Update
- German State Chief Urges Vote Amid Fury Over Far-Right Deal
- China to Cut Tariffs 50% on U.S. Goods Spelled Out in Deal (3)
Keep an eye on :
- ABN NA : ABN Amro Clearing Chicago to Settle SEC Probe on ADR Handling
- AIR FP : Airbus January Net Orders 274 Commercial Aircraft
- AKSO NO : Aker Solutions Fourth Quarter Adjusted Ebitda Meets Estimate (1)
- AMBUB DC : Short Sellers’ Nordic Nightmare Attracts a $130 Billion Investor
- ATRLJB SS : Atrium Ljungberg Sees 2020 EPS SEK7.29
- BAMI IM : Banco BPM Fourth Quarter Net Income Beats Estimates
- BNP FP : BNP Paribas Takes SocGen OTC Metal Portfolio Oudea Is Exiting
- CEC GY : Ceconomy 1Q Adj. Ebit Rises 7.6%; Confirms FY Forecast
- CE IM : Credem 2019 Net EU201.3m Vs EU191.6m Estimate
- CSGN SW : Credit Suisse CEO Thiam Resigns; Thomas Gottstein Appointed CEO
- DSV DC : DSV PANALPINA A/S 2020 Adj. Oper Profit View Midpoint Meets Est.
- EMSN SW : EMS-Chemie Full Year Ebit Beats Highest Estimate
- ENEL IM : Enel FY Profit Meets Estimates; On Track For 2020-2022 Targets
- ENGI FP : Engie Not Planning Big Asset Sales, Changes in Suez Stake: Echos
- ENGI FP : Engie Board Decides Not to Renew CEO Kocher’s Mandate
- ENTRA NO : Entra 4Q Rental Income Beats Highest Est.; 2H Dividend NOK2.40
- EL FP : EssilorLuxottica Faces Longer EU Probe Into GrandVision Deal
- SESG FP : *FCC CHAIRMAN: C-BAND AIRWAIVES PRESENT ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITY
- RF FP : Eurazeo Appoints Branthomme Director of Financial Affairs
- FCA IM : Fiat: Virus Risk to Supply Chain Threatens One Europe Plant
- FLOW NA : Flow Traders Jan. NTI ‘Considerably Higher’ After 4Q Misses Est.
- GSF NO : Grieg Seafood to Buy Rest of Grieg Newfoundland
- HL/ LN : Hargreaves Lansdown GBP500m Share Sale by Holder Said Covered
- HSTG LN : Hastings Has Growth Potential, But ‘Bumps’ May Be Ahead, MS Says
- INTTUM SS : Intrum 6.9m Share Offering By Holder Book Said to Be Covered
- MCP PL : Portugal’s CMVM Confirms Value of Offer Price for Media Capital
- MCHN SW : Art Basel Hong Kong Canceled Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
- MEKO SS : Mekonomen Fourth Quarter Ebit Misses Lowest Estimate
- ML FP : Michelin’s Indonesia JV Seeks $100M Fresh Financing: Kontan
- MOBN SW : Mobimo Full Year Dividend Per Share Matches Estimates
- KN FP : Natixis Gets a Lift From Markets as Riahi Caps Difficult Year
- NDA SS : Cevian: Would Be a ‘Good Idea’ for Nordea to Buy Back Shares
- NOD NO : Nordic Semiconductor Fourth Quarter Ebit Beats Highest Estimate
- NHY NO : Norsk Hydro 4Q Underlying Ebit Misses Lowest Est.
- NOVN SW : Cipla, Novartis Settle Patent Suit on Generic Version of Jadenu
- NPRO NO : Norwegian Property Fourth Quarter Net Income NOK396.1 Mln
- OR FP : L’Oreal Sees FY Sales, Profit Growth Despite Coronavirus
- OR FP : L’Oreal FY Is ‘Impressive,’ EPS Miss Not Important, RBC Says
- RIO LN : Rio Shareholders Call for Disclosure of Scope 3 Emission Targets
- SPM IM : Saipem Gets Offshore Contracts Worth Over $500 Million
- SAA1V FH : Sanoma Oyj Full Year Dividend Per Share Beats Estimates
- SCST SS : Scandi Standard Fourth Quarter Adj. Oper Profit SEK104 Mln
- 9984 JP : SoftBank Surges Most in a Year; Elliott Said to Build Stake (1)
- UBI FP : Ubisoft 3Q Beat Positive for Key Year Ahead, Analysts Say
- VIV FP : Taylor Swift Signs Global Publishing Deal With Vivendi’s UMPG
- WHA NA : Wereldhave 2020 EPS Forecast Misses Lowest Estimate
- WLN FP : Bigger is Better in Payments: Worldline Not Done With Deals
- XXL NO : XXL Posts 4Q Loss After Write Down; Sees Risk of Covenant Breach
- YIT FH : YIT Oyj Full Year Dividend Per Share Misses Lowest Estimate
>>> Up
* Assa Abloy Raised to Hold at ABG; PT 210 kronor
* Atlantia Raised to Buy at Citi; PT 25.80 euros
* Covestro Raised to Buy at Citi
* Hastings Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley
* Huntsworth Raised to Top Pick at RBC; PT 130 pence
* Konecranes Oyj Raised to Hold at ABG; PT 31 euros
* Mitchells & Butlers Raised to Buy at Berenberg
* Tele2 Raised to Buy at Handelsbanken; PT 172 kronor
* Vodafone Raised to Buy at Jefferies; PT 176 pence
>>> Down
* Avast Cut to Accumulate at Patria Finance; PT 478 pence
* A2A Cut to Sell at Goldman; PT 1.70 euros
* DNB Cut to Hold at Handelsbanken; PT 182 kroner
* Hurricane Energy Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 22 pence
* Kinnevik Cut to Hold at ABG; PT 235 kronor
* Nemetschek Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 63 euros
* Orsted Cut to Hold at Commerzbank; PT 740 kroner
* ROCKWOOL International A/S Cut to Hold at Handelsbanken
* Royal Mail Cut to Underperform at Bernstein; PT 135 pence
* SES GDRs Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 14 euros
* Signify Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 28 euros
* Spar Nord Cut to Sell at Handelsbanken; PT 65 kroner
* Spar Nord Cut to Sell at ABG; PT 62 kroner
>>> Initiation
* Airbus Rated New Buy at Bankhaus Metzler; PT 170 euros (+)
* Bawag Rated New Buy at HSBC; PT 60 euros
>>> Call
* Atlantia Up to Buy At Citi, Citing Fundamental Valuation Upside
* SpareBank 1 Nord Norge Cut to Hold at ABG; PT 76 kroner
*Vodafone Upgraded as Jefferies Sees Two Paths to Higher Returns
>>> Up
* Assa Abloy Raised to Hold at ABG; PT 210 kronor
* Atlantia Raised to Buy at Citi; PT 25.80 euros
* Covestro Raised to Buy at Citi
* Hastings Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley
* Huntsworth Raised to Top Pick at RBC; PT 130 pence
* Konecranes Oyj Raised to Hold at ABG; PT 31 euros
* Mitchells & Butlers Raised to Buy at Berenberg
* Tele2 Raised to Buy at Handelsbanken; PT 172 kronor
* Vodafone Raised to Buy at Jefferies; PT 176 pence
>>> Down
* Avast Cut to Accumulate at Patria Finance; PT 478 pence
* A2A Cut to Sell at Goldman; PT 1.70 euros
* DNB Cut to Hold at Handelsbanken; PT 182 kroner
* Hurricane Energy Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 22 pence
* Kinnevik Cut to Hold at ABG; PT 235 kronor
* Nemetschek Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 63 euros
* Orsted Cut to Hold at Commerzbank; PT 740 kroner
* ROCKWOOL International A/S Cut to Hold at Handelsbanken
* Royal Mail Cut to Underperform at Bernstein; PT 135 pence
* SES GDRs Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 14 euros
* Signify Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 28 euros
* Spar Nord Cut to Sell at Handelsbanken; PT 65 kroner
* Spar Nord Cut to Sell at ABG; PT 62 kroner
>>> Initiation
* Bawag Rated New Buy at HSBC; PT 60 euros
>>> Call
* Atlantia Up to Buy At Citi, Citing Fundamental Valuation Upside
* SpareBank 1 Nord Norge Cut to Hold at ABG; PT 76 kroner
*Vodafone Upgraded as Jefferies Sees Two Paths to Higher Returns
After Hours Summary: PINS +17%, SYNA +16%, SKX +13% up big on earnings; MYGN -29%, TTWO -8% lead on the downside; ZGNX sells off on clinical data
After Hours Gainers:
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: EGAN +17.4%, PINS +16.8%, SYNA +15.5%, SKX +13%, SIMO +11%, CCS +10%, TWOU +7.7%, NLOK +7%, BILL +6.8%, DXC +6.3%, UBER +4.5%, LGF.A +4.1%, VRTU +3.2%, VSAT +3%, LGND +2.4%, OFC +2.4%, ATVI +2.3%, TMUS +0.9%, NWSA +0.6%, EXPO +0.3%, HUBG +0.3%, AMCR +0.1%, BHE +0.1%, BKH +0.1%, MTD +0.1%, VVI +0.1%
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: OCN +29.6% (lifting on Q4 update and share repurchase program), COLL +8.4% (to acquire US rights to Nucynta from ASRT for $375 mln; reiterates FY20 guidance), ADRO +7.3% (earns milestone payment from MRK), VIAC +4.2% (Bloomberg report says several cos have asked about buying CNET), LGF.A +4.1% (signs output deal with Starz for split theatrical streaming window in the UK), ICE +3.1% (will no longer explore opportunities with eBay), VZ +0.6% (authorizes new repurchase program for up to 100 mln shares)
After Hours Losers:
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: MYGN -29.3% (also CEO resigns), MTW -13.6%, LMAT -9.3%, MOBL -8.4%, TTWO -8.3%, TSE -6%, TDC -5.9%, ASYS -5.8%, FLT -4.7%, VRSN -4.5%, COLM -3.9%, DLX -3.3%, SGEN -3.3%, ZEN -2.4%, BE -1.4%, WYNN -1.3%, G -0.9%, PMT -0.9%, FTV -0.7%, VCRA -0.5%, POST -0.2%, EHC -0.1%, NTUS -0.1%
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: ZGNX -32.9% (announces results from Phase 3 Trial of FINTEPLA for L-G Syndrome), ACB -12.2% (CEO steps down, preannounces soft Q2 results), SGH -8.9% (announces $200 mln convertible note offering), CRBP -6.7% (stock offering), EBAY -6.3% (ICE will no longer explore opportunities with eBay ), ADMA -5% (commences $75 mln stock offering)
Asia Market Update: Asian equity markets trade generally lower, Nikkei FUT declined amid reports of additional coronavirus cases on cruise ship; US jobs data due later today, China trade balance expected on Feb 7th
General Trend:
- Interest rate sensitive sectors (Property, Financials, Banks) move lower in early trading in Shanghai
- Declining sectors in Japan include Insurance and Iron/Steel
- Softbank Group rises over 6%, activist investor Elliott said to acquire $2.5B stake
- Japanese companies expected to report earnings later today include Honda, Nippon Steel, Suzuki, Isuzu, Softbank Corp
- Declining sectors in Australia include Energy and Resources
***Headlines/Economic Data***
Australia/New Zealand
-ASX 200 opened flat
- Flight Center [FLT.AU]: Coronavirus affecting early H2 traffic patterns may be more difficult to meet FY20 guidance
- (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia Gov Lowe: Discussed lower rates extensively in Feb; Board will continue assessing the balance between cutting cash rate and holding; risk of cut outweighs benefit
- *(AU) RBA STATEMENT ON MONETARY POLICY (SOMP): SEES JOBLESS RATE BETWEEN 5-5.25% FOR SOME TIME; Near-term growth forecast to reflect drought, bushfires, and coronavirus
- (AU) Australia Jan AIG Performance of Services Index: 47.4 v 48.7 prior
-(AU) Australia Port Hedland Jan Total Iron ore Exports 40.4Mt v 47.4Mt prior; Jan iron ore shipments to China: 33.98Mt v 41.4Mt m/m
-(AU) Australia Port Hedland said to issue 'stage 3' cyclone alert
- (NZ) Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Q1 Inflation Expectation Survey: 2-year Outlook: 1.9% v 1.8% prior
China/Hong Kong
-Shanghai Composite opened -0.3%, Hang Seng -0.5%
-Foxconn Industrial [601138.CN]: Started production of medical masks; main business line unchanged
-(CN) China PBoC Vice Gov Pan: FX reserves increased in Jan; MLF, LPR rates very likely to go down in Feb; Has ample policy room to counter coronavirus outbreak; some countries have overreacted; Virus could disrupt GDP activity in Q1
- (CN) China National Health Commission Feb 6th: Confirmed cases 31,161 v 28,018 prior; Death toll of 636 v 563 prior
- (CN) China Pres Xi: China's virus prevention efforts have achieved positive results; China will continue with its transparent approach to dealing with the virus - Chinese press
- (CN) China Pres Xi: All people mobilized in 'People's War' against coronavirus; Has taken comprehensive measures to combat coronavirus; China is fully confident and capable of defeating virus; economy has good momentum and that won't change, confirmed commitment to phase 1 trade implementation - phone call with US Pres Trump on Thursday
-(CN) China PBoC: Coronavirus impact will be temporary; domestic economy remains resilient and will provide support for financial markets
-(CN) China Vice Fin Min Yu: Allocated CNY66.74B for virus control in fiscal funds; will ensure fiscal funding for virus control
- (CN) China CBIRC Vice Chair Zhou: Expect NPL ratio of banks to rise somewhat; have ample resources to cope with rise in bad loans; coronavirus will not have a big impact on financial system
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips Reverse Repo operations for the 3rd consecutive session; Net CNY0B v drain CNY0B prior
- (CN) China PBOC sets Yuan Reference Rate: 6.9768 v 6.9985 prior
-(CN) China PBOC to auction CNY30B in 3-month and 1-year bills in Hong Kong on Feb 13th
- (US) Treasury Sec Mnuchin: China tariff removal is part of the trade deal
- (CN) 34 year old Wuhan China doctor Li Wenliang, who first warned of coronavirus on Dec 30th and was subsequently arrested for said warning, has died; trends on Chinese and Hong Kong social media
- (HK) China Min Foreign Affiairs Commissioner Xie Feng: Monitoring possibility of outbreak in Hong Kong closely; China's work on virus is transparent; every level of government has been mobilized; maintaining close cooperation with Hong Kong officials
(CN) S&P: See China 2020 GDP at 5.0% due to coronavirus
- (CN) China release of prelim trade data said to be delayed - financial press
Japan
-Nikkei 225 opened +0.1%
- Softbank [9984.JP]: Elliott reportedly buys $2.5B stake in SoftBank, urges share buybacks and governance improvements - press
- Toyota [7203.JP]: Extended China output halt to Feb 16th
- Honda [7267.JP]: To keep operations in Wuhan suspended to Feb 13th as previously planned
- (JP) Japan said to have found 41 additional cases of the coronavirus on the Yokohama cruise ship - Japanese media
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) announcement related to daily bond buying operation: Unchanged
-(JP) Japan PM Abe says the gov't will compile emergency measures to respond to coronavirus impact by as early as next week - Japanese press
-(JP) Japan Econ Min Nishimura: Coronavirus starting to impact regional economies; watching for possible damage to consumption
- (JP) Japan megabanks to offer loans to companies impacted by the coronavirus – Nikkei
- *(JP) JAPAN DEC LABOR CASH EARNINGS Y/Y: 0.0% V -0.1%E; REAL CASH EARNINGS Y/Y: -0.9% V -0.9%E
- (JP) Japan Jan Official Reserve Assets: $1.342T v $1.324T prior
- (JP) Japan Dec Household Spending Y/Y: -4.8% v -1.7%e (3rd straight decline)
- (JP) Japan Dec Preliminary Leading Index CI: 91.6 v 91.3e; Coincident Index:94.7 v 94.7e
- (JP) Japan LDP Party said to be encouraging issuance of digital currency
- (JP) Nikkei notes speculation is circulating that Japan authorities began selling yen, using cash from the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) - Nikkei
Korea
-Kospi opened -0.3%
-(KR) South Korea Government: Has asked China to help resume production at South Korea auto parts factories in China
Other Asia
- (PH) Philippines Central Bank Gov Diokno: BSP has a lot of monetary space; next rate cut probably in middle of 2020; Not in a rush to cut RRR
North America
- (US) Fed's Quarles (hawk, voter): Coronavirus is a notable risk and needs to be monitored carefully
- Wynn Resorts [WYNN]: Reports Q4 -$0.62 v $0.85e, Rev $1.65B v $1.70Be; Overall Macau Ops Adj property EBITDA $170.1M v $167.6M y/y; Losing $2.5M a day on Macau casino closures; too soon to say when Macau ops will reopen
-(US) Buttigieg said to have lead in Iowa Democratic caucus with 100% of precincts reporting
***Levels as of 00:20 ET***
- Nikkei 225, -0.3%, ASX 200 -0.4%, Hang Seng -1.1%; Shanghai Composite -0.9%; Kospi -1.2%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.2%; Nasdaq100 -0.3%, Dax -0.3%; FTSE100 -0.3%
- EUR 1.0985-1.0978 ; JPY 110.02-109.81 ; AUD 0.6746-0.6711 ;NZD 0.6465-0.6447
- Gold flat at $1,570/oz; Crude Oil +0.1% at $51.02/brl; Copper -0.5% at $2.584/lb