Asian markets are mirroring Wall Street’s rally. Australia’s inflation rate declined in July

Chinese real estate firm Country Garden Holdings has announced a plan to issue new shares worth about HK$270 million ($34.4 million) to pay off some of its loans.

The company said the new shares will be issued at 77 Hong Kong cents per share, a discount of 15.38% from the closing price of 91 cents on Tuesday.

The subscriber to the shares is investment holding company Ever Credit, which is wholly owned by chip maker Kingboard Holdings. Following the transaction, Kingboard will own a 1.25% stake in Country Garden through 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 loan outstanding for the unit to just under HK$1.6 billion.

Country Garden said that the aim of issuing shares is to preserve its cash resources, reduce debts and enhance its financial position.

– Lim Hwi Ji

Australia – Consumer Price Index It grew by 4.9% year-on-year in July, a slower rate than 5.4% in June and the third month in a row that inflation has slowed.

Excluding prices of volatile items such as fuel, fresh food and holiday travel, inflation was 5.8%, lower than June’s revised figure of 6.1%.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the most significant contributors to July’s annual increase were house price increases as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages.

– Lim Hwi Ji

Some Chinese state-owned banks intend to reduce interest rates on outstanding real estate loans soon. Reuters reportedCiting three sources familiar with the matter.

If the cuts materialize, it will be the first time since the global financial crisis.

The sources told Reuters the size of the cuts would vary by customer and location, but could be as much as 20 basis points in some cases.

– Lim Hwi Ji

Andrew Slimmon, of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, said he believes markets are set for a “strong rally” by the end of the year.

The company’s managing director and senior portfolio manager 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 about 13% up from Monday’s close of 4,433.

He requested three shares to buy.

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– Wizen tan

Authors David and Susan Schwartz found that Costco’s average daily traffic in China this summer was about 7,000 people — double that in the US — for stores of roughly the same size.

“What you’ll see is that the premium market will certainly continue to do well,” said Chris Reiterman, Ogilvy’s chief executive officer for Asia Pacific and Greater China.

However, he said companies are generally reluctant to spend on marketing amid uncertainty about overall future growth.

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– Evelyn Cheng

The recent rally in Chinese stocks could attract investors, according to UBS’ chief investment officer, who warned against “pain trading”.

This could lead to a “bear trap” – when traders open short positions, thinking markets will go down, but are forced to close those positions when markets go up, said Adrian Zurcher, UBS’ chief investment officer for Asia Pacific.

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— Lucy Handley

The US dollar rose 0.5% against the Japanese yen, reaching 147.24, the highest level of the year. This marks the highest level for the dollar against the yen dating back to November 7, 2022 when it was trading as high as 147.56 against the yen.

The Nikkei fell -2.85% in August, marking the worst month of the year since December 2022, when the Nikkei lost -6.7%.

Japan Exchange Traded Fund (EWJ) It’s down roughly -4.6% month-to-date, the pace of its first negative month in six months. The decline was led by Sysmex, Yamaha, Olympus and others, which lost nearly 20% or more this month.

Hakyung Kim, Gina Francola

All three major indices are trading above their 50-day moving averages on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 rose above the 50-day moving average for the first time in nearly two weeks. If this pace continues, the S&P 500 could close above the 50-day moving average for the first time since August 14th.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are trading above their 50-day moving averages for the first time since August 24.

Brian Evans, Nick Wells

US Treasury yields fell on Tuesday as investors braced for a series of key economic data scheduled for release this week that will highlight the latest developments on inflation and the labor market, and could guide the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy moves.

At 4:30 AM EST, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell more than 2 basis points, to 4.1922%. The two-year Treasury yield traded at 4.9979% after falling more than 1 basis point.

Yields and prices move in opposite directions and 1 basis point equals 0.01%.

Apple just sent out invitations to its September press event, where it is 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. It has been reported that some of the new devices that Apple will debut could be made of titanium.

Apple shares rose nearly 2% on the day.

– Yun Lee, how liswing