- Imperial Brands (ITB TH) +1.5%
- MorphoSys (MOR TH) +0.5%
- Reckitt (3RB TH) +0.2%
- Danone (BSN TH) +0.2%
- Tomra (TMR TH) +0.2%
- Vonovia (VNA TH) +0.1%
- TUI (TUI1 TH) +0.1%
-
Solvay (SOL TH) unchanged
- BASF Guidance Cut ‘Troubling’ for Sector; Watch Chemicals Peers
-
Salmar (JEP TH) unchanged
- Salmar Upgraded to Buy at Kepler Cheuvreux; PT 484 Kroner
- Capgemini (CGM TH) unchanged
- Infineon (IFX TH) -1%
-
Deutsche Bank (DBK TH) -1.3%
- Deutsche Bank Layoffs Begin as Workers Feel Turnaround Plan’s Impact First
- Randstad (RSH TH) -1.6%
- Bechtle (BC8 TH) -1.9%
-
Bayer (BAYN TH) -1.9%
- BASF Guidance Cut ‘Troubling’ for Sector; Watch Chemicals Peers
-
HeidelbergCement (HEI TH) -1.9%
- HeidelbergCement Cut to Hold at Kepler Cheuvreux; PT 73 Euros
- Evonik (EVK TH) -2.5%
- Covestro (1COV TH) -4.5%
- Lanxess (LXS TH) -5.2%
-
BASF (BAS TH) -7.1%
- BASF Joins Chemical Makers Cutting Targets as Demand Plunges (2)
Asian stocks retreated in muted trading Tuesday after their U.S. counterparts slipped overnight, while Treasuries were little changed alongside the dollar. The yen held close to its lowest since May.
Stocks reversed gains in Japan, fluctuated in South Korea and declined in Hong Kong and China. S&P 500 futures dropped after U.S. equities fell for a second day as investors took a cautious approach in a week full of central bank activity. European contracts were lower. Trading may continue to be choppy ahead of key testimony this week from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, as investors assessed prospects for monetary easing following some conflicting signals on the U.S. economy.
US After Hours MR +6% on Q2 and 2H updates, WAAS / NMFC / BV/ HQY all lower on planned stock offerings
Nikkei +0.07% Hnag seng -0.64% CSI -0.56% Shanghai -0.53% Shenzen -0.39%
Eur$ 1.1216 CNH 6.8881 CNY 6.8784 JPY 108.75 GBP 1.2511 CHF 0.9943 RUB 63.7186 TRY 5.7411 WTI$ 57.44 -0.38%
S&P -0.32% EuroStoxx -0.34% FTSE -0.20% Dax -0.55% AMI -0.04%
Macro :
- Japan’s Machine Orders Drop Sharply in May Amid Global Slowdown
- Italy Seizes on Plunge in Borrowing Costs to Issue More Bonds
- Euro Area Welcomes New Greek Government With a Budget Warning
- Chinese Startup Douyu Seeks to Raise Up to $629 Million in IPO
- Trump Rule to Put Prices in Drug Ads Is Shot Down by Judge
- *U.S. TO IMPOSE DUTIES ON CHINA, MEXICO STRUCTURAL STEEL
Keep an eye on :
- ABBN SW : ABB Sells Solar Unit to Italy’s Fimer; Books $430 Million Charge
- ABI BB : AB InBev Asian Unit IPO Draws HK$9.4B of Margin Loans: HKEJ
- AIR FP : Airbus Asks Airlines to Check Wings of Older A380s for Cracks
- AIR FP : Airbus, Boeing May Pull Out of Canada Fighter Jet Bid: Rtrs
- AJAX NA : Ajax Signs 1-Yr Contract Extension W/ Dusan Tadic to June 2023
- ASY FP : Assystem Buys France’s ASCO to Expand in Nuclear Engineering
- CS FP : Axa: Full Exercise Over-Allotment AXA Equitable Secondary Offer
- BAS GY : BASF Joins Chemical Makers Cutting Targets as Demand Plunges
- ALBPS FP : Biophytis Sees Range of $7-$9/ADS in U.S. IPO
- CO FP : Foncière Euris: Court Lifts Ban on SocGen Calling in Rallye Shrs
- CSGN SW : Credit Suisse Hires Ford’s Heyer to Lead Auto Technology Banking
- DANSKE DC : Danske Bank Cuts Profit Forecast, Blaming Weaker ‘Momentum’
- DBK GY : Deutsche Bank Bond-Trading Staff Shuffle as Equities Slashed
- DBAN GY : Pamplona Capital to Acquire Majority Stake in Infiana
- FGR FP : Eiffage Wins EU57M Contract to Build Hospital Building in Brest
- FBK IM : Fineco ABB Price Guidance at EU9.80-EU9.90, Terms Show
- GEN DC : Genmab Says Daratumumab in Combination Met Primary Endpoint
- IBAB BB : IBA to Install Proton Therapy Center in Kansas
- LUPE SS : Lundin Petroleum Not In Any Talks With Aker BP, E24 Reportsfirts
- B4B GY : Wumart, Yonghui Said to Be in Final Race for Metro’s China Unit
- MOR GY : Morphosys to Invest up to EUR 15 Million for Vivoryon Stake
- KN FP : H2O Says It Lost Almost a Third From Some Open-Ended Funds
- COX FP : Nicox Gets $3m Milestone Payment From Eyevance for Zerviate
- ORSTED DC : Orsted Among Power Companies in Danish Price-Setting Probe: JP
- PWTN SW : Panalpina Applies War Risk Surcharge for Strait of Hormuz
- POXEL FP : Metavant, Poxel Report Positive Topline Safety for Imeglimin
- REX FP : Recylex Requests Share Suspension Pending Press Release
- RAL GY : Foncière Euris: Court Lifts Ban on SocGen Calling in Rallye Shrs
- RHIM LN : RHI Magnesita Holder GP Investments to Offer 2.2m Shrs
- ROG SW : Roche: Hemlibra Data Show Benefits for People With Hemophilia A
- RDSA NA : Sarasin Sells Part of its Shell Stake on Climate Concerns: FT
- SAE GY : Shop Apotheke First Half Revenue EU338 Mln
- SAL IM : Salini Prepares $1.7 Billion Bet to Save Italy’s Building Sector
- SIE GY : Brazil Regulator Fines Alstom, Caf, Bombardier on Subway Cartel
- TLG GY : TLG Immobilien Investment Property Valuation Raised by EU400M
- VOW3 GY : VW Labor Chief Seeks Premium SUV for Wolfsburg Site: WAZ
- WPP LN : Bain Is Said to Near Deal for 60% Stake in WPP’s $4b Kantar Unit
>>> Up
* Babcock Upgraded to Neutral at Citi
* Generali Upgraded to Neutral at Goldman; PT 16 Euros
* ICADE Upgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 89 Euros
* Ingenico Group Upgraded to Add at AlphaValue
* LafargeHolcim Upgraded to Buy at Kepler Cheuvreux; PT 53 Francs
* Orange Belgium Upgraded to Buy at SocGen; PT 22 Euros
>>> Down
* Adecco Downgraded to Sell at Goldman; PT 51 Francs
* Antofagasta Downgraded to Neutral at Macquarie; PT 9.45 Pounds
* BASF Downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 59 Euros
* Central Asia Metals Cut to Neutral at Macquarie; PT 2.10 Pounds
* Chr. Hansen Downgraded to Sell at Berenberg; PT 575 Kroner
* Intertek Downgraded to Sell at Goldman; Price Target 54 Pounds
* Just Eat Downgraded to Hold at Berenberg
* Randstad Downgraded to Sell at Goldman; PT 45 Euros
>>> Initiation
* Alpha Finl Markets Rated New Outperform at Macquarie
* ASML Rated New Buy at SocGen; PT 220 Euros
* Banco BPM Rated New Neutral at MainFirst; PT 2.10 Euros
* BPER Banca Rated New Neutral at MainFirst; PT 4.15 Euros
* UBI Banca Rated New Outperform at MainFirst; PT 3.10 Euros
>>> Call
Jeffrey Epstein: the mystery behind the financier
US financier charged with sex trafficking of minors is an inscrutable figure with famous friends
Seeing Jeffrey Epstein dressed in navy prison garb and slumped at a courtroom table, it was hard to imagine that he once rubbed shoulders with presidents and a prince.
Mr Epstein, a New York financier with a jet-setting life and famous friends in the worlds of business, politics and academia, is now facing as much as 45 years in prison after New York prosecutors filed sexual abuse charges against him. He has pleaded not guilty.
The case, nudged along by investigative work by the Miami Herald newspaper, promises an ultimate reckoning for Mr Epstein after years of legal pursuit. It also threatens to draw in his social contacts, including Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, while also shining a harsh light on a top Trump cabinet official.
Who is Jeffrey Epstein?
Mr Epstein, 66, was born in the Coney Island neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York. His father worked for the parks department. He took science classes at the Cooper Union and New York University but never earned a degree.
He was teaching mathematics at the elite Dalton prep school in Manhattan when his fortunes changed. Impressed by his talents, a parent recommended he go into banking. Mr Epstein was soon hired by Ace Greenberg, the chairman of Bear Stearns, where he went to work in 1976. He left — abruptly, according to some reports — in 1981 and launched his own firm, J. Epstein & Co, the following year. The pitch was that Mr Epstein’s firm would only manage money for billionaires. His Gatsby-esque transformation was complete.
Where does his money come from?
The question has confounded journalists for decades, even as Mr Epstein’s wealth has been undeniable. In a motion to deny bail on Monday, prosecutors noted he had six residences, including a private island, a $77m mansion in Manhattan that is reputed to be the city’s largest and a $12m estate in Palm Beach, Florida. They said he had 15 vehicles, including seven Chevrolet Suburbans and a Hummer, as well as two private jets he owned through corporate entities. More of his financial details may become available in the coming days after Mr Epstein’s lawyers file a report with the court in connection with his bail hearing.
He has been frequently referred to as a “billionaire”. But Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney who brought the two-count sex trafficking of minors indictment against Mr Epstein, declined to confirm that label when asked at a news conference on Monday. The mystery has been heightened by the absence of the sorts of breadcrumbs big money managers typically sprinkle across Wall Street as they move in and out of assets. His company, now called Financial Trust Co, is incorporated in the US Virgin Islands, where corporate disclosures are more sparse than in the mainland US.
Leslie Wexner, the founder of L Brands, which owns Victoria’s Secret, is the only client of Mr Epstein identified with any certainty. The links between the two include Mr Epstein’s Manhattan mansion. In 1989 Mr Wexner purchased the building for some $13.2m, but by the mid-1990s Mr Epstein was telling the press he owned it. Property records show no transaction until 2011, when the deed transferred to an entity controlled by Mr Epstein, who signed as both the buyer and seller. No purchase price is listed.
What is he charged with?
Mr Epstein is accused of sexually abusing “dozens” of underage girls from 2002 to 2005, luring them to his homes in New York and Florida, and paying them each hundreds of dollars after he had molested them. Some of his alleged victims were paid to recruit others so he could maintain “a steady supply of new victims to exploit”, according to the charges. Mr Berman, the Manhattan US attorney, said on Monday that the alleged conduct “shocks the conscience”.
Prosecutors also said they found a “vast trove of lewd photographs” in a raid of the Epstein mansion in Manhattan on Saturday. Mr Berman said some of the photographs appeared to be of “underage girls”. In a locked safe, agents found CDs labelled “Girl pics nude”, according to a court filing by prosecutors. “The defendant, a registered sex offender, is not reformed, he is not chastened, he is not repentant,” they wrote in the filing.
Mr Epstein’s lawyer, Reid Weingarten, said the photos were “ancient” and that the subjects were of age. Mr Weingarten allowed that his client may have been involved in prostitution, “and a lot of it”, but never resorted to coercion, violence or intimidation.
Why wasn’t he charged federally before?
Mr Weingarten argued in court on Monday that prosecutors were trying to “re-do” a case from 2007 and 2008 in Miami, which ended with a controversial non-prosecution agreement that allowed Mr Epstein to avoid federal charges.
Alexander Acosta, now Donald Trump’s labour secretary but then the US attorney in Miami, let Mr Epstein plead guilty to state prostitution charges that resulted in a jail sentence of 13 months and required him to register as a sex offender for life.
At the time Mr Epstein was represented by powerful lawyers such as Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard law professor, and Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel who investigated Mr Clinton in the 1990s.
Mr Acosta kept the plea deal hidden from Mr Epstein’s victims in that case, violating a federal victims’ rights law, a judge ruled in February this year. The judge, Kenneth Marra, said in his ruling that Mr Epstein had “sexually abused more than 30 minor girls” from 1997 to 2007.
Mr Berman said on Monday that the deal Mr Acosta struck only bound the US attorney’s office in Miami, not his own. Mr Weingarten said the new charges “should chill the blood of every defence attorney that makes a deal with the United States”.
Who else could get dragged into this?
Mr Epstein’s arrest threatens to heap embarrassment, and worse, upon a gilded cast of friends and associates he has collected over the years. In 2002, speaking to New York Magazine, Donald Trump uttered these words that are now coming back to haunt him:
“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
Mr Trump is not the only US president in Mr Epstein’s orbit. That same year, Mr Clinton took a week-long trip to Africa aboard his Boeing 727 jet. The trip was ostensibly to promote democracy and good governance programmes.
In a statement tweeted out on Monday night, a spokesman for Mr Clinton said: “President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York . . . He’s not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade.”
Mr Epstein’s relationship with Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has been a long-running headache for the British royal family. The two are believed to have been introduced in the 1990s by Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of disgraced media tycoon Robert Maxwell.
In a civil court filing, Virginia Roberts Giuffre claimed when she was 17 she had sex with Prince Andrew on three occasions, under pressure from Mr Epstein, who ordered her to “give the prince whatever he required”. Buckingham Palace has strenuously denied this, calling such allegations “categorically untrue”. An old photo emerged of the prince with his arm around Ms Roberts Giuffre’s waist.
The suit went on to claim that Mr Epstein used under-aged women as a means to ingratiate himself with powerful people and to gain potential blackmail information against them.
Ms Roberts Guiffre also has accused Ms Maxwell of helping Mr Epstein procure young women. Ms Maxwell has never been charged with wrongdoing and denied the claims, accusing Ms Guiffre of lying. Ms Roberts Guiffre sued for defamation and the case was settled in 2017.
Thousands of pages of records from the case are set to be released in the coming weeks after a federal judge ordered their unsealing.
Then there is Mr Dershowitz. Not only did he represent Mr Epstein but Ms Roberts Giuffre claimed she was forced to have sex with him on his client’s order. Mr Dershowitz has denied this, and says that the unsealing of documents in the case will clear him.
Geely shares fall after carmaker issues profit warning
Shares in China’s Geely fell by as much as 7.5 per cent on Tuesday after the carmaker said it expected a sharp drop in its net profit for the first half as a result of the country’s slowing market for auto sales.
In a profit warning issued to the Hong Kong stock exchange late on Monday, Geely said that its net profit in the six months to June 30 2019 would fall by 40 per cent from the Rmb6.7bn ($970m) figure it recorded in the same period a year ago.
The Zhejiang-based company blamed the anticipated sales drop on a “greater-than-expected decrease in overall sales volume in the Chinese vehicle market” and efforts to reduce its dealers’ vehicle inventories. The company also reported on Tuesday that its vehicle sales in the first half of the year fell by 15 per cent year on year.
Geely is expected to report its consolidated first half financial results in August. The company is perhaps best known outside China for being the largest shareholder in Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler.
“The 1H19 preliminary results were worse than our and consensus expectations,” said Kelvin Lau, an analyst at Daiwa.
Tuesday’s stock price fall made the Hong Kong traded shares of Geely, China’s largest carmaker by sales, the worst performing stock in the city’s benchmark Hang Seng. By mid afternoon they were trading down 5.5 per cent.
China, the world’s biggest car market by sales and an important source of revenue for global vehicle makers, is cooling following years of blockbuster growth.
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After Hours Summary: MR +6% on Q2 and 2H updates, WAAS / NMFC / BV/ HQY all lower on planned stock offeringsAfter Hours Gainers:
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: MR +6% (reports Q2 operational update; to reduce planned activity level for 2H 2019 ), OGI +5.2% (announces development of rapid-onset nano-emulsification technology for cannabis beverage products), OSTK +3.3% (after closing up more than 13% on the day), CTST +2.3% (modestly rebounding - despite being downgraded at Eight Capital in late trade), SOLY +1.8% (extending today's 62% move higher), BBBY +1.4% (ahead of earnings July 10 after the close), NTLA +1% (light volume; initiated with Outperform at Robert W. Baird; tgt $23), LIQT +1% (initiated with Overweight at Stephens)
After Hours Losers:
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: WAAS -4.5% (announces 4.1 mln share common stock offering), NMFC -2.8% (commences offering of 6 mln shares of common stock), BV -1.4% (ticking lower; files for $500 mln mixed securities shelf offering and 72,048,608 shares common stock offering by selling stockholders), HQY -1.2% (announces $410 mln common stock offering), THS -0.4% (to sell its snack division to Atlas Holdings for $90 mln)
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