10 things you need to know in markets September 27

SoftBank’s Masayoshi
Son.
Reuters / Kim Kyung
Hoon

Good morning! Here is what you need to know on Thursday.

1.Asian shares held firm on Thursday, outperforming sagging
Wall Street shares, and US bond yields fell after the Federal
Reserve raised interest rates as expected, sticking to its script
of gradual policy tightening. MSCI’s broadest index
of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3%, with South
Korea’s Kospi hitting three-month highs. European equity futures
suggested a weaker opening as investors weigh prospects of
additional Fed rate increases.

2.
SoftBank plans to create a new $100 billion fund every two to
three years, its CEO Masayoshi Son told Bloomberg Businessweek in
an interview published on Thursday. Son has
attracted more than $93 billion to his Vision Fund technology
investment vehicle and has flagged his intention to raise further
financing.

3.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is losing cabinet support for
her plan to revert to a ‘no-deal’ Brexit if Europe rejects the
Chequers proposals, The Times newspaper reported, citing
sources. Cabinet ministers including Brexit
secretary Dominic Raab, foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, environment
secretary Michael Gove and interior minister Sajid Javid are
looking to prevent May from locking Britain into a no-deal
Brexit, the report said.

4.
Italy’s new government plans to present its first budget targets
on Thursday, ending a drawn-out tussle which has pitted the
coalition parties against Economy Minister Giovanni
Tria. Reuters reports that the
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the right-wing League have
been pushing Tria, an academic not affiliated to either party, to
ramp up the fiscal deficit to finance their promises of tax cuts
and higher welfare spending.

5.
Swiss startup SEBA Crypto has raised 100 million Swiss francs
($103 million) to build a bank offering cryptocurrency services
to companies and investors while extending traditional banking
services to firms in the new industry. Headed by
former UBS managers Guido Buehler as chief executive and Andreas
Amschwand as chairman, the group said on Thursday it is seeking a
banking and securities dealer license to manage cryptocurrency
trading and investments for banks and qualified investors.

6.
Comcast, the victor in the $40 billion auction for Sky, said it
had acquired 38% of the British pay-TV group’s shares and did not
intend to make any further market purchases for now.
Comcast beat Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox in a rare
auction held last weekend. Fox said on Wednesday it would sell
its 39% stake in Sky to Comcast in a move that helps the US group
to complete the deal.

7.
Oil prices rallied up to 1% on Thursday as investors focused on
the prospect of tighter markets due to US sanctions against major
crude exporter Iran, which are set to be implemented in
November. Front-month Brent crude futures reached
$82.17 per barrel.

8.
Payments startup Stripe said on Wednesday it has raised $245
million in funding, better positioning the company to expand to
new markets globally and attract bigger customers.
The new funding round values San Francisco-based Stripe, whose
products make it easier for companies to accept online payments
and bill customers, at $20.25 billion, a dramatic surge from its
most recent $9.2 billion valuation in 2016.

9.
Air France KLM’s new CEO Benjamin Smith said the French state is
prepared to sell its 14% stake in the airline, according to the
Financial Times. Smith said French President
Emmanuel Macron was prepared to sell the 14% stake — even though
“there are some people in Air France that believe that this is
something they can have as an insurance”, the FT reported.

10.Taiwan said on Thursday its relationship with the Vatican
is stable and it would be closely watching developments between
China and the Vatican after a landmark deal between the two on
the appointment of bishops on the mainland. The
Vatican on Saturday signed an agreement giving it a long-desired
say in the appointment of bishops in China, triggering worries
among some officials in Taiwan that the Vatican could switch
diplomatic recognition to Beijing.