10 things you need to know in markets August 13

REUTERS/Umit
Bektas

Good morning! Here’s what you need to know in markets on Monday.

1. Global markets are selling off following last
Friday’s collapse of the Turkish
lira. China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite
index immediately fell by more than 1% after the opening bell — a
fall matched by similar declines in Hong Kong and South Korea.
Shares in Japan are also down more than 1.6%, weighed down by a
stronger yen as money moves to safe-haven assets.

2. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB) has issued a
statement pledging to maintain stability in the financial
system. The Turkish lira plunged 25 per cent against
the US dollar last week, with most of that depreciation happening
on Friday amid escalating tensions with the Trump
administration. “The Central Bank will closely monitor the
market depth and price formations, and take all necessary
measures to maintain financial stability, if deemed necessary,”
the TCMB said. 

3. While Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased last week about
taking the company private, several suitors may have already been
courting the electric car giant months
ago. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the
country’s sovereign wealth fund, is in talks with Tesla about
becoming a significant investor as part of the move towards
privatization, sources with knowledge of the fund’s
plans told
Bloomberg on Sunday. 

4. North and South Korea have agreed to host another summit
between their leaders in September. Kim Jong Un
and Moon Jae-in first met in April and agreed to another summit,
this time in Pyongyang. 

5. President Donald Trump backed boycotting American motorcycle
manufacturer Harley Davidson Inc on Sunday, the latest salvo in a
dispute between the company and Trump over tariffs on
steel. The Wisconsin-based motorcycle manufacturer
announced a plan earlier this year to move production of
motorcycles for the European Union from the United States to its
overseas facilities to avoid the tariffs.

6. A ship carrying soybeans from the United States
docked in the port of Dalian on Saturday, more than a month after
it arrived off China’s coast just hours after hefty tariffs were
imposed on US goods, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon shipping
data. The short journey into the northern
Chinese port was the first by Peak Pegasus, which has 70,000 tonnes
of US soybeans on board, since it arrived off the coast on July 6
shortly after Beijing imposed 25% import duties on $34 billion
worth of US goods, including soybeans.

7. Russia will continue decreasing its holdings of U.S.
securities in response to new U.S. sanctions on Moscow, Finance
Minister Anton Siluanov said, RIA state news agency reported on
Sunday. Russia will increasingly use rubles and
other currencies, including the euro, rather than the U.S. dollar
in its settlements, Siluanov said, speaking on state TV.

8. Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Monday the
country did not risk a financial market attack and that his
government could not be “threatened” by the idea, speaking in an
interview to a national daily. “I do not see
the concrete risk of this government being attacked, it is more a
hope of the opposition,” Di Maio told Corriere della Sera.

9. Malaysia is seeking to repossess a $35 million private jet
owned by financier Low Taek Jho as part of investigations into a
multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB, Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad said on Sunday. The financier,
also known as Jho Low, bought the Bombardier Global 5000 jet for
$35.4 million in 2010 using funds allegedly taken from 1Malaysia
Development Berhad (1MDB), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
has said.

10. Samsung is considering suspending operations at one of its
mobile phone manufacturing plants in China due to slumping sales
and rising labor costs, the Electronic Times reported on
Monday. Samsung might stop producing mobile
phones this year at Tianjin Samsung Telecom Technology, its
Chinese mobile phone manufacturing base in Tianjin, the South
Korean newspaper said.