Pinned Post
Alex Rogers in Palm Beach and James Fontanella-Khan in New York
Trump picks Howard Lutnick to run commerce department
Donald Trump has said he will nominate Wall Street investor and campaign donor Howard Lutnick to run his commerce department.
Lutnick, who is the co-chair of Trump’s transition team, had also been a contender to lead the Treasury department in the new administration. He is the chief executive of investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald.
Trump’s nomination would need to be confirmed by the US Senate. A spokesperson for Lutnick declined to comment.
Read more here
Joe Miller in New York
SpaceX launches megarocket as Trump watches on
Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched a megarocket, with Donald Trump in attendance and watching on, but called off a plan for it to be caught by “chopstick arms”.
The president-elect had travelled to Brownsville, Texas, to witness the sixth test of Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, that will be crucial to Musk and the US government’s plan to put humans back on the Moon.
While the rocket took flight as expected and entered orbit, the return and catch of Starship’s “Super Heavy” booster by so-called chopstick arms — which was completed successfully last month and which Trump praised during campaign rallies — was called off.
The reason for the catch being called off was not immediately clear, but the booster landed safely in the ocean.
Zehra Munir in New York
Market update: US stocks close higher as Nvidia jumps ahead of earnings
Gains for chipmaker Nvidia helped US stocks close higher, as investors prepared for the release of the chipmaker’s quarterly earnings on Wednesday.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 closed 0.4 per cent higher on Tuesday, while the technology-dominated Nasdaq Composite gained 1 per cent.
Nvidia climbed 4.9 per cent for its biggest one-day jump in two months and also finished as one of the top-performing stocks in the S&P 500. The industry leader, whose products have become crucial to the artificial intelligence boom, is expected to post an 83 per cent increase in third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, to $33.2bn.
Joe Daniels in Bogotá
US recognises Venezuelan opposition leader González as president-elect
The US has recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González as president-elect, months after an election in which authoritarian president Nicolás Maduro claimed victory despite widespread accusations of fraud.
“The Venezuelan people spoke resoundingly on July 28 and made [González] the president-elect,” US secretary of state Antony Blinken wrote in a post on X on Tuesday. The US said in August that González won the most votes though stopped short of recognising him as president-elect.
Maduro was declared the winner of the election by the government-controlled National Electoral Council, though the opposition released polling station tally sheets verified by independent observers showing that González was the true victor by a two-to-one margin.
In a post on X on Tuesday, González thanked the US for the “recognition of the sovereign will of all Venezuelans”.
Peter Wells in New York
Trump picks TV star Mehmet Oz to run agency that administers Medicare
Donald Trump has picked television personality and physician Mehmet Oz to serve as the administrator for the federal agency that administers the country’s Medicare health insurance service.
Dr Oz, as he is popularly known, was named on Tuesday by the president-elect to serve as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator, which also works with state governments to administer Medicaid and other health insurance programmes. The CMS sits within the broader US health department that Robert F Kennedy Jr was last week picked to lead.
The US is facing a healthcare crisis “and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to make America Healthy Again”, Trump said in a statement on Tuesday.
Additional reporting by Alex Rogers in Washington
Zehra Munir in New York
Markets update: Wall St rises as Walmart gives boost to supermarket stocks
US stocks were trading higher, as investors turned their attention to earnings from bellwether companies of the consumer and technology sectors.
The S&P 500 was up 0.3 per cent during Tuesday afternoon trading, recovering from a decline earlier in the session.
Walmart was one of the top-performing stocks in Wall Street’s benchmark index, with its shares up 3.7 per cent at a record high. The retailer, considered a consumer bellwether, reported a solid set of quarterly results, helping boost shares of other grocery groups such as Albertsons, Costco and Kroger.
Target, which reports on Wednesday, is more exposed to general merchandise. Its shares were down 0.6 per cent.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.9 per cent, with every Magnificent Seven stock trading higher.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury was down 0.03 percentage points to 4.39 per cent, while that on the two-year note fell 0.01 percentage points to 4.27 per cent.
Kana Inagaki in London
Volkswagen taps Porsche veteran and ex-Rivian executive to lead US arm
Volkswagen has appointed Kjell Gruner, a Porsche veteran and a former executive at US start-up Rivian, as the new head of its Americas business as the European carmaker looks to boost sales in the US.
Volkswagen said in a statement on Tuesday that Pablo Di Si had stepped down “at his own request” after being in the position for only two years.
“In Kjell Gruner, we have brought on board an experienced expert who knows the market and customers very well,” VW chief financial officer Arno Antlitz said.
The management shake-up comes as VW’s renewed push in the US has been overshadowed by Donald Trump’s proposed tariff war and threats to slow down the transition to electric vehicles.
Andrew England in London
Iran discusses capping stocks of highly enriched uranium
Iran has discussed capping its stockpile of highly enriched uranium with the UN’s nuclear watchdog and has begun “preparatory measures” towards such a move, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The IAEA said in a report obtained by the Financial Times that during high-level meetings last week, the agency and Iranian officials discussed “the possibility of Iran not further expanding its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent”, which is close to weapons grade.
The quarterly report to the IAEA’s members said the agency had verified that Iran had begun taking preparatory measures “aimed at stopping the increase of its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent”.
Read more here
Zehra Munir
Starmer says ‘vast majority’ of UK farms will be unaffected by tax change
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the “vast majority” of farms would be unaffected by his government’s move to apply inheritance tax on agricultural land, after a day of protests in London against the policy.
Starmer told reporters during a press conference at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday that he refused to comment on television personality Jeremy Clarkson’s claim that 96 per cent of farmers will be adversely affected by the tax change announced in the latest Budget. “The facts speak for themselves,” he said.
Starmer said that in a “typical” case of a family wanting to pass on their agricultural land to one of their children, the tax would only apply to estates valued at £3mn or more and therefore the “vast majority” of farms would remain unaffected.
Stephen Gandel in New York
Top bank regulator Martin Gruenberg to step down as FDIC head in January
Martin Gruenberg, one of the US’s longest tenured top bank regulators, announced that he was planning on leaving the Federal Insurance Deposit Corp, the agency he has headed for much of the past decade.
Gruenberg, a Democrat whose five-year term does not end until early 2028, said on Tuesday in a memo to the FDIC’s staff that he would retire in mid-January, at the end of President Joe Biden’s term. Donald Trump was widely expected to fire Gruenberg, but his exit will make it easier for the president-elect to install a Republican at the head of the agency.
Gruenberg’s latest stint as head of the FDIC has been marred by a run of bank failures in 2023 as well as evidence of widespread discrimination at the FDIC under his tenure.
Mari Novik in London
Ukraine war worries tip European stocks into 3-day losing streak
European stocks notched up their first three-day losing streak this month, sliding as investors weighed the effects of the latest escalation of the war in Ukraine.
The broad-based Stoxx Europe 600 closed 0.4 per cent lower on Tuesday, but had been down as much as 1.3 per cent earlier in the day. It was the first time since late October that the index had fallen for three consecutive sessions.
Paris’s Cac 40 and Frankfurt’s Dax each slipped 0.7 per cent, but London’s FTSE 100 closed 0.2 per cent higher.
Lauren Fedor in Washington
Jeffries re-elected Democratic leader in US House of Representatives
Hakeem Jeffries has been re-elected as the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, two weeks after his party suffered disappointing losses at the ballot box.
The Republicans will retain control of the House and take back the reins of the US Senate and the White House in the new year, under a “unified government” that will give Donald Trump wide latitude to push through his sweeping legislative plans.
But Jeffries faced no serious challenge to his leadership in a closed-door election on Tuesday, and will now be seen as one of the key figures as the Democratic party seeks to plot a path forwards heading into the 2026 midterm elections and beyond.
Mari Novik in London
Markets update: US stocks fall at the open as geopolitical tensions rise
US stocks fell at the open on Tuesday as investors responded to the latest ramping up of geopolitical tensions over the war in Ukraine.
The S&P 500 opened 0.6 per cent down, joining an earlier sell-off in European markets. The technology-heavy Nasdaq was down 0.5 per cent.
George Parker in Rio de Janeiro
Starmer says rich UK landowners should pay more to fund rural services
Sir Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, has said he understands the concerns of farmers protesting in London, but argued that richer landowners should pay more to help fund better schools and hospitals in rural areas.
“I do understand their concerns,” Starmer said on the margins of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. But he also insisted that in a “typical case” only those with assets of more than £3mn would begin to pay inheritance tax.
He told the BBC that farmers would also benefit from better services in rural areas. “We need really good schools, really good hospitals, and we need houses that people could afford to live in,” he said. “They were the measures in which we invested heavily in the Budget.”
George Parker in Rio de Janeiro
Ukraine must be given ‘whatever is needed’ says Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, has said that Ukraine must be given “whatever is needed for as long as it’s needed”, on the day Kyiv struck a military target inside Russia using US-made long-range missiles.
Speaking at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Starmer again refused to say whether Ukraine would be permitted to fire UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles into Russia, and shrugged off suggestions of nuclear retaliation by Moscow.
“Look, Russia is the aggressor in Ukraine, and today is the day that marks 1,000 days of the conflict,” he told the BBC. “We must ensure Ukraine has whatever is needed for as long as it’s needed.”
Mari Novik in London
Markets update: US stocks slip pre-market as geopolitical tensions rise
US stocks slipped in pre-market trading on Tuesday as geopolitical tensions weighed on markets after Russian President Vladimir Putin revised and expanded Moscow’s nuclear doctrine, as Ukraine said it had used US-made Atacms missiles to strike deep inside Russia for the first time.
Futures contracts tracking the broad-based S&P 500 index were down 0.3 per cent, while those tracking the technology-heavy Nasdaq were down 0.1 per cent.
Martin Arnold in London
BoE proposes new rules on financial market infrastructure
The Bank of England has proposed a new set of rules to address “potential underlaps” in regulation it inherited from the EU on clearing houses, payment system operators and other financial market infrastructure providers.
The 10 “fundamental rules” are designed to enhance financial stability by clarifying the BoE’s expectations for providers of key parts of the plumbing behind the UK’s financial system.
“Together with our updated approach to supervision, it marks the next stage of the bank designing a nimble, effective and forward-looking regulatory regime, with more to come in the near future,” said Sarah Breeden, BoE deputy governor for financial stability.
Christopher Miller in Kyiv and Max Seddon in Riga
Ukraine strikes deep inside Russia with US-made Atacms missiles for first time
Ukraine struck deep inside Russia using long-range, US-made Atacms missiles for the first time since the Biden administration lifted restrictions on their use on Sunday, people familiar with the attack told the Financial Times.
The missiles struck a large weapons arsenal near the town of Karachev in Russia’s Bryansk region, more than 110km from the Ukrainian border, the people said.
The Russian defence ministry claimed its air defence systems shot down five of six Atacms missiles over the Bryansk region. Missile fragments fell on the territory of a military facility, sparking a fire, it said.
Videos circulated on Telegram showed the military facility in flames and a smoke trail in the sky above resembling that of a missile.
Read more here.
Jennifer Hughes in New York
Robinhood buys adviser platform TradePMR in push beyond online trading
Robinhood is pushing into services for registered investment advisers with the $300mn cash-and-shares purchase of TradePMR, a portfolio management platform that marks the broker’s latest move beyond its online trading roots.
The deal will give TradePMR, which has $40bn in assets under advisement, access to Robinhood’s younger customer base while helping the latter build its wealth management business. Robinhood began offering retirement accounts in 2023 and earlier this year acquired Pluto, a provider of investment research powered by artificial intelligence. It launched a credit card in March.
Shares in Robinhood have risen more than 170 per cent this year, buoyed by a series of quarterly profits and more recently, bets that its cryptocurrency business will boom under the incoming Trump administration.
Gregory Meyer in New York
Walmart raises guidance as it beats third-quarter revenue and profit forecasts
Walmart raised its guidance for the year and beat third-quarter revenue and profit forecasts as lingering inflation pushed wealthier consumers to its low-price products.
The world’s biggest retailer on Tuesday reported revenue of $169.6bn in the quarter, up 5.5 per cent year on year and almost $2bn higher than estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.
Operating income grew 8.2 per cent to $6.7bn, also surpassing consensus forecasts and the company’s previous guidance.
Walmart’s shares have gained almost 60 per cent this year compared with 24 per cent for the S&P 500 index, reflecting increasing confidence in its profit outlook.
Read more here.
Sam Fleming in London
BoE’s Bailey points to risks in both directions on inflation
The Bank of England’s governor has told the Treasury committee that he sees risks in both directions with regards to inflation.
Andrew Bailey reiterated in testimony to the committee that progress on getting inflation down had been more rapid than the BoE had expected.
Nevertheless, he emphasised that year-ahead expectations for companies’ wage growth reflected in the bank’s decision-maker panel survey had stabilised at a higher level of 4 per cent in recent months.
Other data also pointed to a relatively tight labour market, indicating “lingering persistence in wage pressures beyond what we are assuming in our projection”.
Sam Fleming in London
BoE must assess Budget impact as it considers rate cuts, says governor
The Bank of England must approach further interest-rate cuts carefully as it assesses the impact of the Budget measure to raise employer national insurance contributions, Andrew Bailey has said.
There are “different ways” in which the policy could play out, the Bank of England governor said, and it would take time to assess the ramifications. The extra costs could be passed on through higher consumer prices, or companies could absorb them through lower margins, by boosting productivity, or by offering smaller pay rises or shedding workers.
“A gradual approach to removing monetary policy restraint will help us to observe how this plays out,” Bailey said in a report to the Treasury committee.
Sam Fleming in London
UK should not have to choose between the US and EU on trade, says BoE governor
The UK should engage in “active dialogue” about trade with both the Trump administration and Brussels, and must not feel compelled to choose between them, the Bank of England’s governor has said.
Andrew Bailey said it was too soon to tell how the next US administration’s policies would affect the UK, given that “we literally do not know what their intentions are”.
Bailey told the Treasury committee: “Free trade is not about choosing one area over another . . . We should approach all areas of the world as places we trade with.”
This meant implementing the post-Brexit settlement with the EU in the best way possible. “I find it hard to understand people who seem to say we should implement Brexit in the most hostile fashion possible.”
Martin Arnold in London
Curbing emissions would have only ‘limited impact’ on financial system, EU finds
European regulators found there would be only a “limited impact” on the financial system from the EU’s drive to cut carbon emissions by 55 per cent by 2030, even if it caused investors to ditch polluting companies.
The EU’s top financial watchdogs on Tuesday said their first stress test to estimate how the fight against climate change would impact banks, insurers, pension funds and investors concluded it “would not be a concern for financial stability per se during the green transition”.
Zehra Munir in New York
What to watch in North America
Events to look out for on Tuesday include Walmart earnings, Biden’s lunch with Lula and housing data.
Consumer earnings: Investors will be keen for any insights into US consumer sentiment when Walmart and Lowe’s Companies report third-quarter earnings before Wall Street’s opening bell. Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer, will offer insights into price pressures, discounts and guidance on consumer spending patterns heading into the busy holiday season. Lowe’s may indicate whether interest rate cuts are helping to revive appetite for home improvement; investors will be listening carefully for any sign of the impact potential Trump administration tariffs could have on its products.
G20: On day two of the rich countries’ summit in Rio de Janeiro, US President Joe Biden will attend a working lunch with Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Housing starts: Economists expect new monthly residential construction to have fallen to an annualised pace of 1.33mn in October from 1.35mn in September.
Mari Novik in London
Markets update: European stocks hit by rising tension over Ukraine
European stocks turned negative, reversing early gains, after Russian President Vladimir Putin approved an updated nuclear doctrine following approval from the US for Ukraine to use US-made long-range missiles to hit targets in Russia.
The broad-based Stoxx 600 was down 1 per cent, while the benchmarks in Germany and France were both down more than 1.3 per cent.
London’s FTSE 100, which has more exposure to defensive stocks, was down 0.5 per cent.
Olaf Storbeck in Frankfurt
Bank of Italy governor calls for rapid ECB rate cuts
The European Central Bank should cut interest rates quickly over the coming months and effectively ditch its current “meeting-by-meeting” approach, the governor of the Bank of Italy said in a speech in Milan on Tuesday.
“With inflation close to target and domestic demand stagnant, restrictive monetary conditions are no longer necessary,” Fabio Panetta said, urging policymakers to focus on the risk of inflation falling “well below 2 per cent”.
The ECB has cut interest rates three times this year to 3.25 per cent and is widely expected to reduce borrowing costs again by 25 basis points in December, before further cuts next year.
Jonathan Wheatley in London
Risers and fallers in Europe
Big share price moves in Europe this morning include French airport operator Aéroports de Paris, UK self-storage company Big Yellow Group and London-listed tobacco and vape maker Imperial Brands.
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Aéroports de Paris: shares rose 4 per cent, leading risers on the Stoxx Europe 600 index, after the operator of 26 airports said traffic across the group rose 6.5 per cent in October.
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Big Yellow Group: shares fell 4.7 per cent after the London-listed self-storage operator said earnings per share fell 3 per cent in the six months to September, although it said EPS would return to growth in the second half of its financial year.
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Imperial Brands: shares in the owner of brands including Gauloises, Golden Virginia, Rizla and Blu rose 3.5 per cent after it said revenues from smoking alternatives such as vapes had jumped 26 per cent in the past year.
Laura Pitel in Berlin
Undersea cable cut was likely sabotage, says German defence minister
The severing of an undersea communications cable between Germany and Finland is likely to have been an act of sabotage, Germany’s defence minister has said.
Boris Pistorius said it was unclear who was responsible for what he described as a “hybrid” warfare tactic.
But he said: “No one believes that these cables were cut accidentally . . . Therefore we have to state, without knowing specifically who it came from, that it is a ‘hybrid’ action. And we also have to assume, without knowing it yet, that it is sabotage.”
Mari Novik in London
Markets update: European stocks rise ahead of inflation data
European stocks opened slightly up on Tuesday ahead of Eurozone inflation data due later this morning.
The broad-based Stoxx Europe was up 0.3 per cent at the open. Paris’s Cac 40 rose 0.2 per cent, while Frankfurt’s Dax opened flat.
London’s FTSE 100 opened up 0.3 per cent, pulled up by retailers including Sainsbury’s. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was up 0.1 per cent.
Najmeh Bozorgmerh in Tehran
Iran warns it has not ‘abandoned right to retaliate’ against Israel
Iran’s foreign minister has warned that Tehran will inevitably retaliate to last month’s strikes by Israel, saying failure to do so would be “an invitation to war”.
“We have not and will not abandon our right to retaliate,” Abbas Araghchi said during a meeting with commanders of the Revolutionary Guards this week, a video of which was made public on Tuesday.
Araghchi said Tehran would not fall into what he called Israeli “traps” designed to provoke a confrontation between Iran and the US.
“What prevents a [full-scale] war is being fully prepared for one,” Araghchi said. “In the face of threats, even the slightest display of fear is an invitation for war.”
Laura Onita in London
Mulberry chief pledges to simplify business as losses widen
The new boss of Mulberry said he would simplify the business as part of his plan to turn it around, as half-year sales fell by a fifth.
Revenue at the British luxury handbag maker fell 19 per cent to £56mn and it recorded a loss before tax of £15.7mn in the six months September 28, compared with £12.8mn the previous year.
Chief executive Andrea Baldo, who has been in post for three months, said that “in response to current market conditions, we have taken decisive steps to streamline operations, improve margins, reduce working capital, and strengthen our cash position”.
Madelein Speed in London
Nestlé cuts profit margin target
Nestlé has cut its medium term profit margin outlook and announced the separation of its European bottled water business, as its new chief executive Laurent Freixe sets out his plan to turn around the food giant.
The world’s biggest food company lowered its medium term profit margin guidance to 17 per cent, down from the 17.5 to 18.5 per cent target set by former chief executive Mark Schneider, who stepped down earlier this year.
The company announced a 9 per cent boost in its advertising and marketing spend by the end of next year as well as a cost cutting drive of SFr2.5bn (€2.7bn) by 2027. It will also put its water and premium drinks operations into a standalone business.
Patricia Nilsson in Frankfurt
Thyssenkrupp takes €1bn writedown of steel business as demand slumps
Thyssenkrupp has written down its steel business by €1bn as Germany’s largest steelmaker warns of structurally lower demand from European industry and a costly decarbonisation process.
The Essen-based group on Tuesday revealed a net loss of €1.4bn in 2023, attributing it mainly to the writedown — a slight improvement on the €2bn loss posted the year before. Sales slumped 7 per cent to €35bn.
The company is in discussions with Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský, who owns 20 per cent of the steel division, over plans to lift his stake to 50 per cent.
Read more here
William Sandlund in Hong Kong
Markets update: Indian equities and gold rebound as Chinese stocks decline
Indian equities and gold prices rose on Tuesday, paring back recent losses even as Chinese stocks lagged behind the rest of Asia-Pacific.
The Nifty 50 index and BSE Sensex rose 1.2 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively. The two indices have had a weak start to the fourth quarter, declining 8 per cent and 7.1 per cent, respectively, even though both are up for the year to date.
Chinese equities underperformed the rest of Asia with the CSI 300 index shedding 1.1 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was flat.
Gold prices extended a rebound to start the week, rising 0.4 per cent following a bullish report published by Goldman Sachs.
Maxine Kelly in London
What to watch in Europe today
EU inflation: October’s harmonised consumer prices data is due to be published.
UK farmers’ protest: The National Farmers Union plans to rally in London, protesting against new government policies including applying inheritance tax to agricultural land, which they argue puts family farms at risk and threatens food security and environmental goals
Bank of England: Governor Andrew Bailey appears before MPs on the Treasury committee, giving evidence on the BoE’s quarterly Monetary Policy Report.
Corporate earnings: Imperial Brands and Thyssenkrupp release full-year figures, while Informa issues a 10-month trading update.
William Sandlund in Hong Kong
Markets update: Australian equities hit record high
Asia-Pacific equities rose in early trading on Tuesday, with Australia’s stock market hitting a record high.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.7 per cent to reach 8,443 points as financial groups heavily weighted in the index registered strong gains. The Australian dollar strengthened 0.1 per cent against its US counterpart.
Taiwan’s semiconductor-heavy Taiex rose 1.5 per cent, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co also gaining 1.5 per cent after shedding 6 per cent over the previous six trading sessions.
China’s vice-premier He Lifeng delivered a speech in Hong Kong where he said Beijing would look to issue more sovereign bonds in the city and maintain its status as a global financial hub.
George Russell in Hong Kong
Donald Trump picks former Fox host Sean Duffy as transport chief
US president-elect Donald Trump has named Sean Duffy, a former Wisconsin congressman, as his choice for transportation secretary in his incoming administration.
Duffy was most recently a Fox News host, co-presenting the business programme The Bottom Line. He served in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019.
“Sean will use his experience and the relationships he has built over many years in Congress to maintain and rebuild our Nation’s Infrastructure, and fulfill our Mission of ushering in The Golden Age of Travel, focusing on Safety, Efficiency, and Innovation,” according to a statement by Trump announcing the nomination.
Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong
Hong Kong pro-democracy activists get up to 10 years in prison
A Hong Kong court has sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists to up to 10 years in prison in the territory’s biggest national security case to date.
The case’s 47 defendants, the territory’s most prominent activists, were arrested in dawn raids in 2021 over their participation in an unofficial primary election for the opposition legislative candidates.
Two other defendants had earlier been acquitted.
The prosecution had accused them of plotting to “paralyse” the Hong Kong government by winning a majority in the legislature and blocking budgets.
Benny Tai, a legal scholar described in court as one of the “principal offenders”, received a 10-year jail term. Others received sentences of between 50 and 93 months.
Cheng Leng and Kaye Wiggins in Hong Kong
China pledges boost for Hong Kong markets with share and bond issues
China said it would deepen market connections with Hong Kong by encouraging “quality enterprises” to sell shares, issue more sovereign bonds and encourage Chinese banks and insurers to set up regional headquarters in the territory.
Vice premier He Lifeng said at a conference on Tuesday that mainland officials would seek measures to retain Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre while encouraging greater mutual market access between Hong Kong and the rest of China.
“As long as it aligns with the central government strategy, benefits the country’s financial development and the development of Hong Kong as a global financial centre, we’ll study all possible measures thoroughly,” He told the Global Financial Leaders Investment Summit in Hong Kong.
Michael Pooler in Rio de Janeiro
G20 nations make pledges on taxes for super-rich, poverty and Gaza ceasefire
G20 nations have called for effective taxation of the super-rich, measures to alleviate poverty and a ceasefire in Gaza, despite objections from Argentina’s President Javier Milei to key elements of the joint declaration.
Argentina withdrew a threat to block the communiqué, but in a presidential statement criticised aspects including greater state intervention to fight hunger, in a dig at a flagship initiative launched by host Brazil at the leaders’ summit on Monday.
In a document released following the first of two days of gatherings in Rio de Janeiro, G20 members pledged to reform the UN Security Council.
They also repeated a demand from last year’s conference for climate finance to increase from “the billions [of dollars] to trillions”.
William Sandlund in Hong Kong
What to watch in Asia today
Hong Kong sentences 45 under Beijing’s national security law, Malaysian trade data and Tokio Marine earnings.
Events: A Hong Kong court is due to sentence 45 people convicted under Beijing’s national security law for holding unofficial primaries ahead of elections. Thailand is expected to announce more details of its $14bn “digital wallet” handout scheme.
Economic indicators: Malaysia publishes October trade data.
Corporate updates: Japan’s largest property and casualty insurer Tokio Marine reports earnings.
Michael Acton in San Francisco
Super Micro Computer shares rise on plan to avoid Nasdaq delisting
Super Micro Computer shares rose almost 16 per cent in after-hours trading on Monday, as the troubled server maker confirmed it had filed a compliance plan to avoid being delisted from the Nasdaq.
The company has hired BDO as its new accounting firm, after EY resigned as the company’s auditor, citing concerns about the company’s corporate governance and transparency.
Shares were already trending up during the day following an earlier report from Barron’s that Super Micro would make the filing.
Earlier this month the company said that an independent review had found no evidence of misconduct on the part of its management.
Suzi Ring in London
UK Serious Fraud Office closes Bombardier corruption probe
The UK Serious Fraud Office has closed a corruption probe into Bombardier, citing investigations in the US and Canada as better placed to take the case forward.
The decision, announced on Monday, comes four years after the SFO formally opened its investigation into the aircraft manufacturer over allegations of bribery and corruption in relation to contracts with Jakarta-based airline Garuda Indonesia.
The SFO said it would support the Canadian and US investigations. Bombardier said it “acknowledges” the SFO’s decision and continues “to cooperate with the authorities in Canada and the US”.
Jennifer Hughes in New York
Tesla stands out as US stocks recover from back-to-back drops
Gains for electric vehicle maker Tesla helped push US stocks higher, breaking a two-day losing streak after an initial post-election rally ran out of steam.
The S&P 500 closed up 0.4 per cent on Monday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.6 per cent.
Tesla gained more than 5 per cent, and has been helped by investor hopes the incoming Trump administration would support a push for self-driving cars.
Elsewhere among other “Magnificent Seven” stocks, chipmaker and investor darling Nvidia meanwhile slid 1.3 per cent ahead of quarterly results due on Wednesday.
Philip Stafford in London
Donald Trump’s social media group in talks to buy crypto trading venue
Donald Trump’s social media company is in advanced talks to buy Bakkt, a cryptocurrency trading venue owned by Intercontinental Exchange, as it pushes to expand beyond online conversation.
The US president-elect’s Trump Media and Technology Group, in which he has pledged to retain his 53 per cent stake, is closing in on an all-share purchase of Bakkt, said two people with knowledge of the talks.
Bakkt’s market capitalisation stood at just over $150mn on Monday.
TMTG, which operates Truth Social, has become one of the most actively traded US stocks since Trump’s election victory.
Although it has reported just $2.6mn in revenues this year, TMTG has a $6bn equity valuation, giving its management a valuable currency with which to buy other companies.
Read more here