"No Ceasefire in Gaza, No Votes"

November 01, 2023

Good Morning,

Twitter’s value falls by $25b since Elon Musk’s takeover, business confidence in New Zealand bounces to highest level in 6 years, Muslim-Americans and activists call for a cease-fire or will withhold votes and donations to Biden’s 2024 reelection. The National Party promises to appoint a ‘minister for space’.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

  • Inflation in the euro zone hit a two-year low a month after its economy began contracting, data showed on Tuesday, illustrating the dual impact of a steady diet of European Central Bank's interest rate hikes. (RT)

  • China is set to import record volumes of wheat this year, trading sources say, with rain damage to its crop and worries over dry weather in exporting nations fuelling Beijing's appetite to buy while prices are low. (RT)

  • The number of negative-equity mortgages in Hong Kong more than tripled in September, a sign of continued weakness in the city’s property market. (BBG)

Earnings and Data

  • Investment firm Forsyth Barr has slapped an ‘underperform’ rating on Port of Tauranga, after the NZX-listed port company posted a downbeat trading update last week. (NBR)

  • KiwiSaver fees have fallen up to 20% and should continue to fall, Morningstar Asia-Pacific data director Greg Bunkall says, and there is expected to be further consolidation in the sector. (NBR)

  • Elon Musk has told Twitter staff that the social media company’s value has fallen to $19 billion, marking a significant reduction from the $44b he paid for the business last year. (Stuff)

News Summary

  • Victim repeatedly stabbed in his sleeping bag at remote campground (Stuff)

  • A search is underway for the body of a surfer who is believed to have been killed in a shark attack off the coast of a South Australian town. (Stuff)

  • The future of 1,000 privately-owned Auckland bus shelters is unclear as the advertising contract which funded them, is up for grabs. (Stuff)

  • Husband woke to find armed police in his home and his wife shot dead (Stuff)

  • Kiwi innovation is taking alternative protein into a new age, with room to work alongside the primary sector rather than replace it. However, headwinds such as funding and infrastructure shade the sunrise industry’s ascent. (NBR)

  • Wellington port company CentrePort has confirmed it has settled a $17 million legal dispute it was involved in with Statistics NZ. (NBR)

  • Dairy co-op Fonterra has announced the sudden departure of its chief financial officer Neil Beaumont, whose last official day on the job will be November 3. (NBR)

  • The National Party’s promise to appoint a ‘minister for space’ is a welcome signal of the importance the new Government will place on the aerospace industry, but there are more steps that can be taken to boost the sector’s impact on the nation’s economy. (NBR)

  • Business confidence has bounced to the highest level in six years, as the election result gives firms optimism about the months ahead. (NBR)

  • Israel said its forces attacked Hamas gunmen inside the militants' vast tunnel network beneath the Palestinian enclave of Gaza after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed calls for a halt to fighting to ease a worsening humanitarian crisis. (RT)

  • As the clock ticked down to the Nov. 1 deadline Pakistan set for undocumented migrants to leave the country, Muhammad Rahim boarded a bus from Karachi to the Afghan border. (RT)

  • Muslim Americans and some Democratic Party activists say they will work to mobilize millions of Muslim voters to withhold donations and votes towards President Joe Biden's 2024 reelection unless he takes immediate steps to secure a Gaza ceasefire. (RT)

  • China said it will set up a system to resolve debt risks of its local governments, as state leaders and top bankers wrapped up a two-day, closed-door meeting to set the priorities for the $61 trillion financial sector. (BBG)

  • Hong Kong’s finance minister will attend a major economic summit in the US in place of the city’s leader John Lee. (BBG)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

  • Windfarms deal: ‘Maybe the best times are still to come’ (NBR)

  • After 12 years in the brewing business, Deep Creek Brewing has gone into liquidation. (Stuff)

  • The U.S. Department of Justice heads to trial on Tuesday to urge a federal judge to block JetBlue Airways' (JBLU.O) planned $3.8 billion acquisition of ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines. (RT)

  • Vodafone (VOD.L) will sell its Spanish business to Zegona Communications (ZEG.L) for 5 billion euros ($5.30 billion) in the second major deal by its new CEO to revamp a company struggling with little growth in mature markets. (RT)

  • Vietnam is holding talks with chips companies with the aim of boosting investment in the country and possibly building its first chipmaking plant, or fab, two business executives said, despite warnings from U.S. industry officials about high costs. (RT)

  • Future Group has wasted no time spending its Series C funding, picking up Guild Super Services and its $2.8 billion in funds under management. (AFR)

VC & Fundraising

  • Titanium play IperionX raises $25m after US Defence Department win (AFR)

Debt

  • China Evergrande is trying to stave off liquidation by revising its debt restructuring plan, but its biggest challenge will be convincing its creditors, and shareholders in two of its units, that the proposal is worth their while. (RT)

Daily Picks

  • “The teen driver who killed two mums” - Read more here

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