WORLDWIDE : HEADLINES
Fujitsu still investigating causes of Tokyo stock bourse outage, says CEO
TOKYO – Fujitsu Ltd 6702.T, the developer of the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s trading system, is still investigating causes of the bourse’s worse-ever outage last week, the company’s chief executive said on Monday.
“We will make utmost efforts to find the causes and prevent recurrences of such troubles,” Takahito Tokita said at a briefing on Fujitsu’s digital strategy, in his first public appearance since the TSE outage paralysed the world’s third-largest equity market.
The TSE has said the glitch was the result of a hardware problem at its “Arrowhead” trading system, and a subsequent failure to switch to a back-up. It caused the first full-day suspension since the exchange switched to all-electronic trading in 1999.
Full coverage: REUTERS
Biden leads by 10 points as majority of Americans say Trump could have avoided coronavirus: Reuters/Ipsos poll
NEW YORK – Democrat Joe Biden opened his widest lead in a month in the U.S. presidential race after President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, and a majority of Americans think Trump could have avoided infection if he had taken the virus more seriously, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday.
The Oct. 2-3 national opinion poll gave little indication of an outpouring of support for the president beyond Trump’s core group of followers, some of whom have gathered outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where the president has been hospitalized.
Trump has repeatedly dismissed the severity of the pandemic as something that would disappear on its own, chiding Biden as recently as last week for wearing a protective mask, even as the coronavirus infected millions of people and forced businesses and schools to close.
Among those adults who are expected to cast ballots in the Nov. 3 election, the poll found that 51% were backing Biden, while 41% said they were voting for Trump. Another 4% were choosing a third-party candidate and another 4% said they were undecided.
Biden’s 10-point edge over Trump is 1 to 2 points higher than leads Biden posted over the past several weeks, though the increase is still within the poll’s precision limits of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
With about a month to go before the election, Biden has maintained an early advantage in securing the national popular vote. But to win the presidency, a candidate must prevail in enough states to win the Electoral College, and state polls show that Trump is nearly as popular as Biden in battleground states.
Full coverage: REUTERS
UK’s Sunak warns of economic and social impact of lockdowns: The Sun
British finance minister Rishi Sunak warned that a further lockdown would cripple both the economy and society, in an interview with The Sun newspaper, stating that lockdowns have a very strong economic and social impact.
“Having a difficult economy has an impact on both our ability to fund public services like the NHS but also on individual people’s long-term health outcomes,” Sunak said, according to the newspaper.
Sunak spoke about his dissatisfaction with the 10 pm curfew on pubs and restaurants saying that, “Of course it’s frustrating. I know it’s difficult and wish we didn’t have to do these things.”
He added that ministers were divided on the issue but encouraged Brits to abide by the rules.
Sunak had last month announced a new jobs support scheme that would help firms employ people on shorter hours, but warned he could not save every business or job.
The British government launched a new employment programme on Monday aimed at helping those left jobless due to the COVID-19 pandemic to get back into work.
Sunak in his interview expressed full support for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, saying that Johnson faces difficult decisions and “awful trade-offs”.
Full coverage: REUTERS
WORLDWIDE : FINANCE / MARKETS
Dollar treads water as markets await news on Trump’s health
TOKYO – The dollar held tight ranges against its peers on Monday as investors awaited clarity on the health of U.S. President Donald Trump after he tested positive for the coronavirus, sending markets into safe-haven assets.
“With not a lot of major economic indicators released this week, the focus all comes down to Trump’s illness,” said Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Bank.
“There is a welter of information about the severity of his condition, and that is making it difficult for market participants to make a move,” Uno said.
Just weeks before the Nov. 3 election, Trump was flown to hospital for treatment for the coronavirus on Friday, adding another layer of uncertainty and market volatility as Trump’s re-election campaign seeks to fend off Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
Doctors treating Trump for COVID-19 told reporters on Sunday they are monitoring the condition of his lungs after he received supplemental oxygen, hours before Trump surprised supporters outside the hospital by riding past in a motorcade.
The news came the day after contradictory messages from the White House caused widespread confusion about the president’s condition.
“Earlier, some traders bought back dollars and U.S. stock futures immediately after the news came out about Trump briefly leaving the hospital,” Sumitomo Mitsui Bank’s Uno said. “But I don’t think it means that he has been completely cured.”
Full coverage: REUTERS
U.S. stock futures rise on Trump’s health progress
TOKYO – U.S. stock futures rose on Monday on hopes that President Donald Trump could be discharged from hospital later in the day, easing some of the political uncertainty that shook Wall Street in the previous session.
Trump, 74, was flown to hospital for treatment for the coronavirus on Friday, but his doctors say he has responded well and could return to the White House on Monday.
S&P 500 e-mini futures EScv1 rose 0.45% in early Asian trading, while Nasdaq futures NQc1 gained 0.58%
Asian markets looked set to follow that lead with Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures YAPcm1 up 1.16%, Japanese stock futures NKc1 rising 0.75%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures .HSI.HSIc1 up 1.38%.
The dollar edged higher against the yen but fell slightly against the Swiss franc as traders jockeyed for position ahead would could be a volatile day in global markets.
Full coverage: REUTERS
