24 Mins Ago
Country Garden to issue HK$270 million worth of new shares to repay loans
Chinese property firm Country Garden Holdings announced a plan to issue about 270 million Hong Kong dollars ($34.4 million) worth of new shares to repay some of its loans.
The company said the new shares will issued at 77 Hong Kong cents apiece, a 15.38% discount to the 91 cents closing price on Tuesday.
The subscriber of these shares is investment holding firm Ever Credit, wholly owned by laminates manufacturer Kingboard Holdings. Following the transaction, Kingboard will hold a 1.25% stake in Country Garden via Ever Credit.
The company entered into a HK$1.88 billion term loan facility with Ever Credit in December 2021, and this payment will reduce its outstanding loan to the unit to just under HK$1.6 billion.
Country Garden said the share issue is to preserve its cash resources and reduce gearing, and strengthen its financial position.
— Lim Hui Jie
3 Hours Ago
Nio shares plunge 8.3% after EV maker posts wider net loss
Nio‘s Hong-Kong listed shares plunged 8.30% on Wednesday, a day after posting a net loss of 6.06 billion yuan ($831.65 million) in the second quarter.
The loss was wider than the 2.76 billion yuan net loss logged in the same period last year.
The Chinese EV maker delivered 23,520 vehicles in the second quarter as it sold down the last of its outgoing models at significant discounts. But the refreshed lineup is already driving better results, with 20,462 vehicles delivered in July.
Nio could see deliveries “more than double” in the third quarter, John Zeng, director of China forecasting at Globaldata told CNBC. “Quarterly deliveries will more than double in Q3 and that will help them improve their total revenue.”
However, price cuts will give “pressure on their profitability in the coming quarters,” said Zeng.
— Sheila Chiang, John Rosevear
5 Hours Ago
Australia inflation softens to 4.9% in July, down from June’s 5.4%
Australia’s consumer price index grew 4.9% year-on-year in July, a slower rate than the 5.4% in June and the third straight month that the inflation rate has slowed.
Excluding prices of volatile items like fuel, fresh food and holiday travel, the inflation rate came in at 5.8%, lower than the revised June figure of 6.1%.
Australia’s statistics bureau said the most significant contributors to the July annual increase were price increases in housing as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages.
— Lim Hui Jie
6 Hours Ago
Chinese banks to cut existing mortgage rates soon: Reuters
Some Chinese state-owned banks will soon lower interest rates on existing mortgages, Reuters reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter.
If the cuts materialize, this would be the first time since the global financial crisis.
The sources told Reuters that the size of the cuts would vary depending on the clients and location, but could amount to as much as 20 basis points in some cases.
— Lim Hui Jie
6 Hours Ago
CNBC Pro: Morgan Stanley’s Slimmon says the S&P 500 will near 5,000 by year-end — and names 3 stocks to buy
Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s Andrew Slimmon said he believes markets are set for a “strong rally” by the end of the year.
The managing director and senior portfolio manager at the firm told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Tuesday that he believes the S&P 500 will be “closer” to 5,000 by then. If it reaches 5,000, that’s an upside of nearly 13% from Monday’s close of 4,433.
He named three stocks to buy.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
7 Hours Ago
One part of China’s consumer market is holding up against a broad decline
Authors David and Susan Schwartz found average daily foot traffic at Costco in China this summer was around 7,000 people — double that of the U.S. — for stores that are about the same size.
“What you will see is the premium market will definitely continue to do well,” said Chris Reitermann, CEO, Ogilvy Asia Pacific and Greater China.
However, he said companies are generally holding off on marketing spend amid uncertainty about overall future growth.
— Evelyn Cheng
6 Hours Ago
CNBC Pro: ‘Pain trade’: UBS CIO warns of bear trap as Chinese stocks rise
The recent rally in Chinese stocks could catch investors out, according to a UBS chief investment officer, who warned of a “pain trade.”
Adrian Zuercher, a chief investment officer at UBS in the Asia-Pacific region, said this could lead to a “bear trap” — when traders open short positions, believing markets will fall, but are forced to close out these positions when markets rise.
Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Lucy Handley
15 Hours Ago
Dollar reaches highest level against the Yen in 2023
The U.S. Dollar is up 0.5% against the Japanese Yen at 147.24, the highest level of the year. This marks the Dollar’s highest level against the Yen back to Nov. 7, 2022 when it traded as high as 147.56 against the yen.
The Nikkei is down -2.85% in August, on pace for the worst month of the year back to Dec. 2022, when the Nikkei lost -6.7%.
The Japan ETF (EWJ) is down almost -4.6% month to date, on pace for the first negative month in six. The decline has been led by Sysmex, Yamaha, Olympus and more, which have lost almost 20% or greater this month.
— Hakyung Kim, Gina Francolla
14 Hours Ago
S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow all trading above 50-day moving averages
All three major indices are trading above their respective 50-day moving averages on Tuesday.
The S&P 500 is above its 50-day moving average for the first time in nearly two weeks. If this pace is maintained, the S&P 500 could close above its 50-day moving average for the first time since August 14.
The Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average meanwhile, are both trading above their 50-day moving averages for the first time since August 24.
— Brian Evans, Nick Wells
22 Hours Ago
U.S. Treasury yields fall as investors look ahead to key economic data
U.S. Treasury yields declined on Tuesday as investors braced themselves for a series of key economic data releases due this week that will shed light on the latest developments around inflation and the labor market, and could inform the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy moves.
At 4:30 am ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was down by more than two basis points to 4.1922%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last trading at 4.9979% after falling by over one basis point.
Yields and prices move in opposite directions and one basis point is equal to 0.01%.
Treasurys
| TICKER | COMPANY | YIELD | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US1M | U.S. 1 Month Treasury | 5.432% | +0.05 | 0.00% |
| US3M | U.S. 3 Month Treasury | 5.509% | +0.021 | 0.00% |
| US6M | U.S. 6 Month Treasury | 5.574% | +0.024 | 0.00% |
| US1Y | U.S. 1 Year Treasury | 5.41% | +0.013 | 0.00% |
| US2Y | U.S. 2 Year Treasury | 4.915% | +0.025 | 0.00% |
| US10Y | U.S. 10 Year Treasury | 4.137% | +0.015 | 0.00% |
| US30Y | U.S. 30 Year Treasury | 4.243% | +0.006 | 0.00% |
14 Hours Ago
Apple sends invites for Sept. 12 launch event
Apple just sent out invites for its September press event, where it’s expected to announce the iPhone 15 and new Apple Watches.
The new iPhone models, likely branded as the iPhone 15, are expected to use a USB-C charging port. Some of the new devices Apple debuts could be made out of titanium, according to reports.
Shares of Apple were up nearly 2% on the day.
— Yun Li, Kif Leswing
