Stocks in China Slide; U.S. Equity Futures Advance: Markets Wrap - Yahoo Finance

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. equity futures power higher and European stocks were steady as investors took in stride a sell-off in Asia, where Chinese shares plunged as markets there reopened amid the worsening coronavirus outbreak. Treasuries and gold declined.

Contracts on the three main American equity indexes all advanced in the wake of Friday’s drop. Gains in technology and travel shares offset declines for miners in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, as support measures from China’s government helped stem losses in other markets. Stocks in Shanghai fell almost 8%, while local iron ore futures slumped. Equities came off their lows in Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney and fluctuated in Hong Kong.

Oil was little changed, and the offshore yuan weakened to more than 7 per dollar. Copper futures drifted in London trading after dropping for 13 sessions. The deadly outbreak showed no signs of slowing with China’s death toll reaching at least 360.

Investors shifted gears on Monday on the back of turmoil that sent global equities to the worst week since August amid concern economies will falter as the virus spreads. The People’s Bank of China cut rates as it injected cash into the financial system on Monday, part of a slew of measures to shore up their financial markets.

Elsewhere, the pound dipped as investors reacted to a report that U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson could walk away from talks over Britain’s future trade relationship with the European Union. Indian bonds surged after the government refrained from announcing higher debt sales in Saturday’s budget and amid plans to allow foreign investors greater access to government securities.

Here are some key events coming up:

The first contest to choose a Democratic nominee to run against Donald Trump in November is the Iowa caucuses Monday.The U.S. manufacturing gauge from the Institute for Supply Management is due Monday. There are also a slew of other PMIs, including India and Brazil.Tuesday brings a policy decision from the Reserve Bank of Australia, and the Reserve Bank of India’s interest rate decision is due Thursday.Friday has the U.S. employment report for January.

These were the main moves in markets:

Stocks

Futures on the S&P 500 Index increased 0.4% as of 8:15 a.m. London time.Nasdaq 100 Index futures gained 0.6%.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index edged up 0.1%.The MSCI All-Country World Index decreased 0.2%.The MSCI Emerging Market Index sank 0.7%.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index advanced 0.1%.The British pound dipped 0.4% to $1.3147.The euro dipped 0.1% to $1.1078.The Japanese yen weakened 0.2% to 108.53 per dollar.The offshore yuan depreciated 0.3% to 7.0191 per dollar.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed two basis points to 1.53%.Germany’s 10-year yield was steady at -0.44%.Britain’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.518%.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.4% to $51.35 a barrel.Gold slipped 0.7% to $1,577.82 an ounce.LME copper futures climbed 0.6% to $5,600.50 per metric ton.

--With assistance from Haslinda Amin.

To contact the reporters on this story: Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net;Todd White in Madrid at twhite2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sam Potter at spotter33@bloomberg.net, Yakob Peterseil

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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2020-02-03 08:25:00Z
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Former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers dies at 78 - Fox Business

A federal judge has ordered convicted ex-WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers to be released from prison early due to health concerns.

Bernie Ebbers, the disgraced former CEO of Worldcom has died at the age of 78, according to a family attorney.

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Ebbers was the brains behind one of America’s biggest accounting frauds.

He received an early release from his 25-year prison sentence in Dcember, because family members said he was suffering from dementia and was legally blind.

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Ebbers served 13 years of his sentence.

Worldcom was a veritable household name in 2001 as one of the world's largest telecommunication companies. A popular portfolio stock, Worldcom made moves to falsely inflate its earnings on its profit and loss statement by nearly $4 billion.

BERNIE EBBERS, BRAINS BEHIND HISTORIC FRAUD SCHEME, TO BE FREED FROM PRISON

Under Ebbers, the company spread out expenses in smaller amounts over several years instead of reporting them immediately to investors. As a result, in 2001, the company reported a mind-boggling $1.4 billion profit. Had the operating costs been correctly reported, Worldcom would have lost money for fiscal 2001 as well as first-quarter 2002.

Ebbers had been serving his time in a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas.

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2020-02-03 04:44:10Z
CBMiWWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZveGJ1c2luZXNzLmNvbS9idXNpbmVzcy1sZWFkZXJzL2Zvcm1lci13b3JsZGNvbS1jZW8tYmVybmllLWViYmVycy1kaWVzLWF0LTc40gFdaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZm94YnVzaW5lc3MuY29tL2J1c2luZXNzLWxlYWRlcnMvZm9ybWVyLXdvcmxkY29tLWNlby1iZXJuaWUtZWJiZXJzLWRpZXMtYXQtNzguYW1w

Chinese stocks are having their worst day in years as the coronavirus outbreak escalates - CNN

The Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) and the Shenzhen Component Index plummeted more than 8% on their first day of trading after an extended Lunar New Year holiday. They've been closed since January 24.

The plunge puts Shanghai on pace for its worst day since August 2015's "Black Monday," when global markets were rattled by China slowdown fears. Shenzhen, meanwhile, hasn't recorded a single-day percentage drop this bad since 2007.

China's currency also fell. The onshore yuan sank 1.5%, dropping below seven yuan to one US dollar in its first day back from the holiday break. The yuan also weakened below the seven mark offshore, where it moves more freely and has been trading since last week.

While global markets have had several days to weigh the rapid spread of the coronavirus, this is the first chance that mainland China has had to react in more than a week. Before the holiday, the number of cases numbered roughly 800 — now, there are more than 17,000.

Markets were originally scheduled to reopen last Friday, but the Chinese government extended the holiday as it worked to control the outbreak.

Pumping money into the market

Authorities knew Monday's shock was likely inevitable. The People's Bank of China said Sunday that it would inject $1.2 trillion yuan ($173 billion) into the Chinese markets using the purchase of short-term bonds to shore up banks' ability to lend money. The measure will help maintain "reasonably ample liquidity" in the banking system and keep currency markets stable, the bank said.

The net amount of liquidity being injected into the markets is much lower. According to Reuters calculations using central bank data, more than $1 trillion yuan worth of other short-term bond agreements will mature Monday. That brings the net amount of cash flooding into the markets down to 150 billion yuan ($22 billion).

The central bank will also keep in contact with financial institutions and markets to determine what other policy responses may be necessary, according to Pan Gongsheng, deputy governor of the central bank.

Protecting China's financial markets and economy is a top priority for the government, which is also bracing for a potentially severe hit to first quarter economic growth. Some economists have said that China's growth rate could drop two percentage points this quarter — a decline that could mean $62 billion in lost growth.

Along with Monday's liquidity kick, top financial and economic regulators have announced dozens of other measures to stabilize China.

For example, the National Development and Reform Commission — the country's top economic planning agency — said Monday the government would "go to all lengths" to make sure that people have what they need to live, including food and other necessities. It also encouraged companies "that are key to control and prevent the virus" or are "of vital importance to the national economy" to resume production as soon as they can.

And the People's Bank of China said Saturday that it would provide money at low interest rates to commercial banks so that those banks could offer cheap loans to companies that make clinical masks, coronavirus testing kits and other types of medical supplies. The central government will also subsidize those special loans.

The country's stock exchange regulators have also said they would allow companies to delay 2019 annual reports and 2020 quarterly earnings reports if they are affected by the disruption.

Other markets react

Markets elsewhere in Asia opened lower Monday, too — though their losses were not nearly as dramatic as in China.

In Japan, where 20 cases of the virus have been confirmed, the Nikkei 225 (N225) fell 1%. In South Korea, which has 15 confirmed cases, the benchmark Kospi (KOSPI) fell 0.5%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (HSI), meanwhile, is about flat, moving between small gains and losses. The index lost more than 6% last week after investors returned from the Lunar New Year holiday. Unlike in mainland China, Hong Kong markets reopened last Wednesday.

In the United States, stock futures were actually higher overnight. Dow (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (COMP) futures were all at least 0.6% higher during Asian trading hours.

US markets haven't been immune from fears over the coronavirus, though. Last Friday, the Dow fell 600 points, capping a turbulent week for stocks.

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2020-02-03 04:35:00Z
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China moves to limit short selling as virus looms over market reopening - Reuters

(Reuters) - China has taken steps to limit short-selling activities as the country’s financial markets prepare to reopen on Monday amid an outbreak of a new coronavirus, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The sources said China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) had issued a verbal directive to brokerages including Citic Securities Co. and China International Capital Corp. to bar their clients from selling borrowed stocks on Feb. 3.

It was not clear if the suspension — which was first reported on Sunday by Chinese media outlet 21st Century Business Herald — would be extended beyond Monday, one of the sources said.

In an internal memo sent to its branches, Citic called the move a “political task” aimed at helping stabilize the market on the first trading day of the stock market in the Lunar New Year of Rat as the coronavirus outbreak unsettles global markets.

Investors are bracing for a volatile session in Chinese markets when onshore trades resume on Monday after a break for the Lunar New Year which was extended by the government.

China’s policy makers have taken various of measures to protect the financial system from the fallout due to the outbreak. The central bank said it will inject 1.2 trillion yuan ($174 billion) worth of liquidity into the markets via reverse repo operations on Monday.

The CSRC is also considering launching hedging tools for the A-share market to help alleviate market panic and will suspend evening sessions of futures trading starting from Monday, it said.

Additional reporting by Samuel Shen and Cheng Leng; Editing by Helen Popper

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2020-02-02 17:37:00Z
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China to inject US$174 billion of liquidity into markets in virus boost - South China Morning Post

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China to inject US$174 billion of liquidity into markets in virus boost  South China Morning PostView full coverage on Google News
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2020-02-02 14:54:51Z
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Report says creepy exec made life hellish for Victoria's Secret 'Angels' - Page Six

It was hell out there for those “Angels.”

Victoria’s Secret models were constantly hounded by a creepy executive who made unwanted sexual advances and even once told supermodel Bella Hadid she had “perfect titties,” according to a New York Times investigation.

The executive, Ed Razek, 71, stepped down from its parent company, L Brands, in August — but not before fostering an “entrenched culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment” at the lingerie company, the paper found.

One model, Andi Muise, told the paper Razek had harassed her for months with intimate emails, once writing her, “I need someplace sexy to take you!”

Razek would watch Hadid and other models prepare for fashion shows and remark out loud on their appearance, the report said.

The executive denied the allegations to the Times, insisting they are “categorically untrue, misconstrued or taken out of context.”

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2020-02-02 09:50:00Z
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China central bank to inject $174 billion via reverse repos on February 3 - Reuters

FILE PHOTO: A woman walks out of the headquarters of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, in Beijing November 20, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s central bank said it will inject 1.2 trillion yuan ($173.8 billion) worth of liquidity into the markets via reverse repo operations on Monday, as the country battles a new coronavirus outbreak.

The People’s Bank of China made the announcement in a statement published on its website on Sunday. It also said that the total liquidity in the banking system will be 900 billion yuan higher than the same period in 2019.

Reporting by Leng Cheng in Beijing and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Lincoln Feast.

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2020-02-02 07:37:00Z
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