Stock market news: Opening bell, September 4, 2018

A
man carries meat to a butcher’s shop in Johannesburg, South
Africa.
Reuters/Siphiwe
Sibeko

Here is what you need to know. 

South
Africa enters a recession.  The South African
economy contracted 0.7% quarter-over-quarter in Q2, making for
two consecutive quarters of negative growth, sending the rand
down 2.45% to 15.2227 per dollar. 

Argentina launches a sweeping new austerity program to try to
solve its economic crisis. Argentina late on
Monday revealed new austerity measures — including an
increase in export tariffs for grains such as soybeans, and a
halving of the number of government agencies — aimed at reducing
the country’s huge budget deficit.

Australia holds rates. The Reserve Bank of
Australia, on Tuesday, kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged
at 1.5% for a 25th consecutive meeting. 

Jeremy Grantham explains where you should be putting your
money. The cofounder and chief investment
strategist at the $71 billion Grantham, Mayo, & van Otterloo
shared with Business Insider his contrarian play for investors
who can afford a longer time horizon. 

China is considering merging two of its biggest mobile-phone
carriers. Official are considering a merger
between China United Network Communications Group Co. and
China Telecommunications Corp. with the hopes of speeding up the
development of 5G, Bloomberg says, citing people familiar with
the matter.

One of China’s richest men was arrested in the US on sexual
misconduct allegations, then left the
country. Liu Qiangdong, the founder and CEO of
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, was detained in Minneapolis over
the weekend on a sexual-misconduct allegation — but has returned
to China after not being charged with a crime. 

Tesla reportedly misses its Model 3 production target in
August. The electric-car maker produced about
4,300 Model 3 sedans during the last week of August — shy of its
goal of 6,000 per week, but remains on track to meet its
quarterly goal of producing 50,000 to 55,000 vehicles, according
to the auto news website Electrek. 

Stock markets
around the world trade mixed. China’s Shanghai
Composite (+1.1%) led the gains in Asia and France’s CAC (-0.91%)
trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed
near 2,903.

Earnings reports trickle out. RH reports after
markets close.

US economic data flows. Markit manufacturing
PMI will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET before construction spending
and ISM Manufacturing cross the wires at 10 p.m. ET. US auto
sales will be announced throughout the day. The US 10-year yield
is up 1 basis point at 2.87%.