Updated throughout the day
September 1
Good evening everyone. For the infinitieth time, Chinese shares staged another last hour rally after tanking most of the day but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to push the Shanghai index into the green. Or red, in this case. The Shanghai Composite currently stands at 3,166.62 points, beginning the month down 1.23%. Here’s how the rest ended the day:
- SZCOMP: -4.61%
- Hang Seng: -0.92%
- Nikkei: -3.84%
China’s disappointing CPI also seemed to have rattled the European markets, with the FTSE 100 slipping 2.3%, the CAC falling 2.4%, and the Xetra Dax dropping 2.5%. The euro’s rise also seemed to have exacerbated the region’s rout as the currency surged 0.9% against the greenback. Meanwhile, in the American futures markets, S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq minis are signalling a 2.35%, 2.32%, and a 2.46% drop respectively.
Here’s what else you need to know:
UN confirms Palmyra temple destruction. A satellite image has confirmed that the main temple in the ancient city of Palmyra in northern Syria has been destroyed, the United Nations says. This follows reports of an explosion at the Temple of Bel which is held by militants from the Islamic State. BBC
Thailand journalists acquitted of navy defamation. A court in Phuket has acquitted two journalists of defaming the navy and breaching the Computer Crimes Act. Chutima Sidasathian and Australian Alan Morison, from news site Phuketwan, faced jail time for a line in a 2013 article on human trafficking. BBC
Female Bangkok bombing suspect reaches out to authorities. Wanna Suansan, a Thai national suspected of having a hand in the August 17 bombing of Thailand’s Erawan Shrine, has reportedly contacted the authorities to give her testimony. Xinhua
Beijing to tighten currency forward trading rules to buoy the yuan. The PBOC is reportedly moving to clamp down on yuan speculation by making it more expensive for banks to buy dollars in the forward currency markets, proving that the market can price the yuan as much as it wants, as long as its the price Beijing says it is. Reuters
Greek PMI…climbs? First we had the U.S. dictating oil prices, then we had China leading the stock markets, and now this? Joking aside, Greek manufacturing posted some pretty good gains in August, climbing to 39.1 from 30.2 reading the previous month. It still has a long way to go to hit the 50 mark though. Financial Times
China PMI falls to new lows. Caixin’s final manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) reading dropped to 47.3 in August – its lowest level in over six years – while the state’s official PMI slipped to a three-year low of 49.7. While the latter figure seem to be in-line with expectations, they’re both below the 50 mark separating expansion and contraction, suggesting that China’s manufacturing sector is losing steam – and how. CNBC
Macau GDP shrank a whopping 26%. You may be having fun in Macau but the place itself – not so much. The former Portuguese colony just saw its worst quarter since the Portuguese handed it back to the Chinese, largely thanks to Beijing’s massive crackdown on graft. Financial Times (paywall)
Japanese manufacturing picks up. China’s manufacturing sector may be contracting, but Japan’s seems to be on the rise. The Markit/Nikkei Japan Final Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) came in at 51.7 for August, slightly below the 51.9 preliminary reading but much better than July’s 51.2. Reuters
China tries to pump up the markets. Beijing was working late into the night issuing a raft of measures to try and stop the stock market slide, calling for buy-backs and more generous dividend payouts, and vowing to making mergers easier. South China Morning Post (paywall)
China journo gives on-air confession. A business report from one of China’s financial magazines, Caijing, has been paraded on state television to make an on-air “confession” for supposedly triggering stock market chaos with his reporting. The Guardian
U.S. oil production numbers revised lower. Looks like it’s time for us to fill ‘er up. The EIA – using new methodology – has just revised the U.S.’ oil production numbers for June from 9.5 million barrels per day to 9.3 million, and have also revised their January to May output estimate from 170,000 barrels per day to 130,000. U.S. Energy Information Administration
Yet another blast in China. A massive explosion shook a chemical plant in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, state media said on Tuesday. The extent of casualties is unknown. Similar blasts killed more than 145 people in Tianjin last month, while another explosion killed a person in a different part of Shandong. Reuters
Worried over China, Japan gets tooled up. Japan’s defence ministry has asked for its biggest ever budget of 5.09 trillion yen ($41.9 billion) to bolster its ability to protect outlying islands in response to China’s growing military reach in the region. The Guardian
U.S. to sanction Chinese hackers. The White House is reportedly creating sanctions against Chinese individuals and companies as U.S. tech firms – and the government itself – worry about the growing threat of China’s cyber-espionage. Financial Times
Deadly protests in Ukraine. A national guard member was killed and more than 100 people injured in protests outside the Ukrainian parliament. Violence erupted after the MPs announced backing more autonomy for the rebel-held east Ukraine. The parliament had hoped the reforms would end the fighting in the east. BBC
Bloomberg News to layoff 80 journalists. The company is expected to cut about 3.3% of its 2,400 newsroom this week. The layoffs will be in the U.S., but across coverage areas. New York Post
You won’t believe this…
Presidents gone wild. The US president Barack Obama will trek through the wilderness of Alaska with UK adventurer Bear Grylls this week. Obama will use his appearance on Running Wild with Bear Grylls as a chance to observe to effects of climate change. Other celebrity guests on the show have included Kate Winslet and Kate Hudson. BBC
Lucky lottery winner not so lucky after all. Danny Chasteen and his girlfriend, Susan Rick, won $250,000 in last month’s lottery. Unfortunately for them, they won it in cash-strapped Illinois, so they only got an IOU. Incensed, Chasteen told the Tribune: “You know what’s funny? If we owed the state money, they’d come take it, and they don’t care whether we have a roof over our head.” Poor dude. MarketWatch
Photo: SimonQ錫濛譙