Japan cuts economic view
Japan cut its view on economic conditions for the first time in more than two years.
The coincident indicator that shows economic conditions slipped a preliminary 3.8 points, extending its decline in September and falling to the lowest in a year.
The government lowered its assessment of the index to "weakening" from "improving" in its first downgrade since August 2019.
Stagnant shipments of cars and its components and slowing exports and factory output dragged down the index.
OPEC+ able to increase oil supply in case of market demand: UAE Minister
United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei told Dubai-based channel that OPEC+ are able to increase oil supply if there is market demand.
The UAE has the capacity to supply additional volumes of crude to the market if needed and if agreed by the OPEC+ group, he added.
Mazrouei noted that insufficient investment in the oil and natural gas industry could lead to a hike in energy prices.
At a meeting last week, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+ stuck to a plan to raise oil output by 400,000 barrels per day on a monthly basis.
Business leaders optimistic about COP26 vision
Executives and financial analysts are optimistic that the talks at UNI climate conference in Glasgow will result in changes businesses need to make to play a bigger role in mitigating climate change.
The business observers believe that several steps including a pledge by financial firms to focus on climate change, the creation of a global standards body to scrutinize corporate climate claims, and pledges to cut methane emissions and to save forests could help minimize the impact of climate change.
The steps they said could boost sustainable business and investing efforts to mobilize the funds required to wean the world off fossil fuels.
Crypto rally lifts Ether, Bitcoin
Bitcoin rose to its all-time high and Ether, which underpins on ethereum network, climbed to a fresh record on, flows and inflation fears.
Bitcoin rallied more than 4% to $66,170, while ether touched a record of $4,768.07.
As real yields fall on inflation fears, assets such as gold and cryptocurrencies become attractive. Despite the current situation, the mood in the sector has also been favorable.
SoftBank posts quarterly loss
SoftBank Group Corp reported a 397 billion yen ($3.5 billion) net loss for the July-September quarter, primarily due to a $10 billion investment loss at its Vision Fund unit as tech valuations fell. It had registered a profit of 628 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.
Softbank's China portfolio has taken a hit due to regulatory crackdown and its stake in ride-hailer Didi fell to $7.5 billion from its purchase price of $12 billion.
The group's largest asset, Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba , fell by around a third in the second quarter.
IndusInd Bank tumbles over 12%
Shares of IndusInd Bank plunged over 12% after the lender said it disbursed 84,000 loans without customer consent in May due to a "technical glitch" and termed whistleblower allegations on loan evergreening as "grossly inaccurate and baseless".
After the statement, the stock tanked 12.33% to Rs 1,042.10 on the BSE and tumbled 12.40% to Rs 1,041.60 at the NSE.
Lending without consent was reported by the field staff in two days, and the glitch was also rectified expeditiously, the private sector lender said in a clarification.
Evergrande contagion | Bond interest payment delay
Some investors have not received interest payments for offshore bonds issued by an Evergrande unit, Scenery Journey Ltd. It was due to make semi-annual coupon payments on Saturday worth a combined $82.49 million on its U.S. dollar bonds.
Non-payment of interest triggers a 30-day grace period for payment. Evergrande’s one such period expires on November 10, for more than $148 million in coupon payments. The debt laden property developer is also due to make coupon payments totalling more than $255 million on December 28.
Rupee surges against U.S. dollar
The Indian rupee continues to appreciate against the U.S. dollar. The domestic unit opened strong at 74.25 against the dollar and gained further ground to 74.19 in early deals, a rise of 27 paise over its previous close. The Indian currency was supported by dovish central banks.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.01% to 94.31.
Oil prices rise
Oil prices rose after Saudi Aramco said it raised the official selling price for its crude to all buyers across the globe. Brent crude was up 1.1% to $83.64 a barrel, and U.S. oil gained 1.1% to $82.14. Last week, Brent dropped nearly 2%, while U.S. WTI declined almost 3%.
On Friday, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil producer raised its December official selling price to Asia for its Arab light crude to $2.70 a barrel versus Oman/Dubai crude, up $1.40 from this month.
Last week, OPEC+ producers agreed to stick to their plan to raise oil output by 4,00,000 barrels per day from December, ignoring calls from U.S. President for extra output to cool rising prices.
Markets update
Indian indices were trading lower in the morning session. Sensex was down 0.30% at 59,885.81, while Nifty fell 0.26% to 17,869.60.
Major Asian stock indices were mixed in the morning trade. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan dropped 0.23%. In Japan, Nikkei lost early gains to dip 0.23%, short of a recent five-week peak, while Topix slipped 0.25%. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.02%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng traded 0.30% lower.
In U.S., Nasdaq futures were off 0.4%, after 10 straight sessions of gains which left the index looking overextended. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.2%.
---- Edited by John Xavier
(With inputs from Reuters, PTI and other news agencies.)