The Day Today

• Alphabet earnings miss and its share price falls >7% as ad revenue growth disappoints, $ strength is one reason cited
• China PMIs all miss, Caixin Manufacturing 50.2 vs expected 50.9,

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• Spanish elections see the ruling socialists with the most votes, but the far right makes gains with its leader calling it “a reconquest of Spain”
• Japan’s 6 trading day closure for Golden Week starts today
• Fitch and S&P warn of Brexit downgrade to the UK,

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• After today Tokyo will be closed for 6 trading sessions, Japan’s Financial Services Agency has already issued a warning about volatility, here’s an article from a few days ago but worth looking at for Golden Week details
• RBNZ’s Orr insouciant about any slowdown in the economy saying he’s “not particularly worried”
• US and Japan failed to agree on whether to link exchange rate policies to trade talks
• The UK’s National Security Council is to launch a formal inquiry into the Huawei leak
• Fed’s Kudlow says Fed may cut
• Cryptocurrency Bitfinex has been accused of hiding losses with Tether money by New York’s attorney general
• Japan Industrial Production -0.9% m/m vs expected 0.0%,

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• BOJ keeps a steady hand at the monetary policy tiller, policy rate stays at -0.1% as expected and says it will keep extremely low rates “at least through around spring 2020”
• South Korea GDP falls 0.3% QoQ,

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• Oz core inflation 1.4 was the weakest reading since series began in 2003, this is an average of the trimmed mean and weighted median, headline was 0.0% vs expected 0.2%
• Mnuchin and Lighthizer head to China as trade talks restart on the thorny issue of intellectual property
• Kim Jong Un arrives in Russia for summit with Putin
• US target 32 oil tankers trying to enter government held areas in Syria although the oil price pullbacks from highs due to confidence on spare capacity
• Brazil pension reform has passed a crucial first test
• US equities record high close,

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