WORLDWIDE : BUSINESS HEADLINES
NASA astronauts cap historic ‘odyssey’ aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule
U.S. astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who flew to the International Space Station in SpaceX’s new Crew Dragon, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday after a two-month voyage that was NASA’s first crewed mission from home soil in nine years.
Behnken and Hurley, tallying 64 days in space, undocked from the station on Saturday and returned home to land their capsule in calm waters off Florida’s Pensacola coast on schedule at 2:48 p.m. ET following a 21-hour overnight journey aboard Crew Dragon “Endeavor.”
“This has been quite an odyssey,” Hurley told senior NASA and SpaceX officials at a homecoming ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. “To be where we are now, the first crewed flight of Dragon, is just unbelievable.”
The successful splash-down, the first of its kind by NASA in 45 years, was a final test of whether SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk’s spacecraft can transport astronauts to and from orbit — a feat no private company has accomplished before.
“This day heralds a new age of space exploration,” Musk said. “I’m not very religious, but I prayed for this one.”
Full coverage : REUTERS
China factory activity expands at fastest pace in nearly a decade: Caixin PMI
BEIJING – China’s factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in nearly a decade in July as domestic demand continued to improve after the coronavirus crisis, though export orders and employment remained weak, a private business survey showed on Monday.
The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index(PMI) rose to 52.8 last month from June’s 51.2, marking the sector’s third consecutive month of growth and the biggest jump since January 2011.
It also beat analysts’ forecasts for a more modest improvement of 51.3. The 50-mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.
The generally upbeat findings echoed an official survey on Friday, adding to evidence that the world’s second-largest economy is getting back to its feet faster than expected from the coronavirus shock, which has now been largely brought under control.
“The supply and demand sides both improved, with relevant indicators maintaining strong momentum,” Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin Insight Group, wrote in a note accompanying the Caixin survey release.
Full coverage : REUTERS
WORLDWIDE : ECONOMY / FINANCE / STOCK MARKET
Japan first quarter GDP unchanged at 2.2% annualised contraction after second revision
TOKYO – Japan’s economy shrank an annualised 2.2% in January-March, unchanged after a second revision, data from the Cabinet Office showed on Monday.
The additional revision for gross domestic product (GDP) compared with economists’ median forecast for a 2.8% contraction in a Reuters poll.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis GDP shrank 0.6%, also unchanged from the second preliminary reading and compared with a median forecast for a 0.7% fall.
The government published additional revisions to GDP for the January-March quarter reflecting revised capital spending data from the finance ministry, which had initially drawn fewer respondents than usual due to coronavirus-related disruptions.
Full coverage : REUTERS
Dollar on defensive as U.S. recovery story in doubt
TOKYO – The U.S. dollar ticked up in early Monday trade, clinging to its rebound late last week, but mounting concerns about a slowing U.S. economic recovery from coronavirus epidemic kept a lid on gains.
The dollar rose 0.3% to 106.20 yen, having gained almost 1% on Friday thanks in part to month-end buying following its dive into a 4-1/2-month low of 104.195.
The euro also shed 0.3% to $1.1744, off Friday’s two-year high of $1.1908.
The common currency hit a speed bump as there were some technical signs of being over-bought in the near-term, and with speculators’ long position hitting a record level, said Minori Uchida, chief currency analyst at MUFG Bank.
“But the dollar’s decline is likely to continue. Real U.S. interest rates are declining even as the country is running a big current account deficit, a situation we hadn’t have for a long time,” he said.
U.S. bond yields have fallen to their lowest level since the market turmoil in March triggered by the pandemic, with the 10-year yield slipping to near 0.50%, undermining the yield attraction of the dollar.
Full coverage : REUTERS
Asia stocks cautiously mixed, dollar tries to bounce
SYDNEY – Asian share markets turned mixed on Monday as U.S. lawmakers struggled to hammer out a new stimulus plan amid a global surge of new coronavirus cases, though a squeeze on crowded short positions gave the dollar a rare bounce.
Sentiment was helped by a survey showing China’s factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in nearly a decade in July, with the Caixin/Markit PMI at 52.8.
That lifted Chinese blue chips 0.9% .CSI300. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS dipped 0.2%, though that was from a six-month top.
Japan’s Nikkei .N225 added 2.1% courtesy of a pullback in the yen, while South Korea shares .KS11 were flat.
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 inched up 0.1%, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures STXEc1 and FTSE futures FFIc1 were little changed.
Investors were nervous at the lack of a new stimulus package in the United States with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows not optimistic on reaching agreement soon on a deal.
Full coverage : REUTERS
Oil edges lower on oversupply concerns as OPEC+ set to raise output
TOKYO – Oil prices fell on Monday on concerns about oversupply as OPEC and its allies, together known as OPEC+, are due to pull back from production cuts in August while an increase in COVID-19 cases worldwide raised fears of slower pick-up in fuel demand.
Brent crude futures slid 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $43.44 a barrel by 0001 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 12 cents, or 0.3%, at $40.15 a barrel.
Brent posted a fourth month of gains in July and U.S. crude posted a third as both rose from depths hit in April, when much of the world was in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Investors are worried about supply gluts as the OPEC+ is due to start reducing production cuts this month and a recovery in oil prices from record lows is expected to encourage U.S. shale producers to ramp up output,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Nissan Securities.
Full coverage : REUTERS
Nichiigakkan shares surge after Bain Capital sweetens offer price
TOKYO – Shares of Japanese nursing home operator Nichiigakkan Co (9792.T) surged more than 8% on Monday after U.S. investment firm Bain Capital made a sweetened $1.2 billion offer.
Bain raised its offer price for Nichiigakkan to 1,670 yen from 1,500 yen after the market close on Friday as activist fund Effissimo Capital Management, which owns about 12% of Nichiigakkan, agreed to tender its shares to Bain.
Shares in Tokyo-based Nichiigakkan equalled the new offer price of 1,670 yen in early trade on Monday after rising 8.4%.
Full coverage : REUTERS
