Bloomberg News
– China equities fall. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped for a second day, closing 3.5 percent lower after a session that saw volumes 36 percent below their 30-day average. Trading in Chinese equity futures, down 99 percent from the June high due to a government clampdown, remained thin as brokers try to tempt investors into trading futures overseas.
– Bank of Japan holds. The BOJ held off increasing stimulus at its meeting on Tuesday, with Governor Haruhiko Kuroda telling reporters that the bank sees a gradual recovery in the economy continuing. Eleven of the 35 economists surveyed by Bloomberg are now expecting the bank to add stimulus at its next meeting on October 30. The yen strengthened 0.6 percent against the dollar to 119.53 by 9 a.m. London time.
– Mixed European data. European car sales rose 11.5 percent in August, the second-fastest gain this year, with registrations climbing to 781,676 from 701,251 a year earlier. In the U.K., inflation returned to zero, driven down by the cost of motor fuel and clothing, increasing expectations that the Bank of England is still months away from moving its benchmark rate higher. Meanwhile, in Germany investor confidence fell for a sixth month, with the ZEW index of investor and analyst expectations dropping to 12.1 from 25 in August, well below the median estimate of 18.1 in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
– Glencore falls to record low. Glencore Plc slumped to a new all-time low of 118.1 pence in trading this morning with shares wiping out all the gains since the company announced a $10 billion debt-reduction plan earlier this month. Copper retreated for a third day, with aluminum, nickel and zinc also declining.
– Coming up… U.S. retail sales data is due to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, with the median estimate from economists surveyed by Bloomberg pointing to a 0.3 percent increase. Later, at 9:15 a.m. ET we get industrial production data. With uncertainty remaining high ahead of the Fed decision on Thursday, these numbers will be closely watched.
CNN Money
– China stocks have plunged 6% in two days. Chinese stocks suffered another round of heavy losses on Tuesday, renewing concerns over government efforts to support markets.
The Shanghai Composite shed 3.5% on Tuesday, bringing losses for the week to 6%. Declines have been even steeper on the smaller Shenzhen Composite, which has lost more than 11% over the past two trading sessions.
Late in the day, China’s government announced a shakeup at the country’s stock market regulator. The Nikkei 225 in Japan was one of the few indexes in Asia to edge higher Tuesday, gaining 0.3%.
– China’s currency could double losses this year – economists. The yuan, also called the renminbi, is expected to slide another 2.8% against the U.S. dollar by the end of 2015, according to the survey’s median estimate.
The currency has already fallen 2.6% against the dollar since January, the vast majority of which came during a two-day drop in early August that stunned investors and contributed to a global stocks selloff.
In addition to the surprise depreciation, the central bank changed the way the yuan’s 2% daily trading band is set — a calculation that now uses the previous day’s closing price instead of the bank’s own opaque process.