10 things you need to know in markets, October 9

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

A
man covers his face as he reads information displayed on an
electronic screen at a brokerage house in Shanghai May 17,
2010.
REUTERS/Stringer

1. Asian shares
hit 17-month lows on Tuesday before stabilizing as
the
International Monetary Fund downgraded its outlook for the
world economy, citing rising interest rates and growing tensions
over trade. The S&P500 closed to
finish flat, after UK and European markets both fell by more than
1% following the
bloodbath on Chinese markets yesterday. US tech stocks
got hit for a third straight day. Tesla is now trading at its
lowest level in 18 months. 

2.
A software glitch caused Google to expose the personal-profile
data of hundreds of thousands of Google+ users, and managers
there chose not to go public with the information, according to
a report
Monday in The Wall Street Journal. In the wake
of the publishing of The Journal’s story, Google announced in a
blog post late Monday morning that it had
closed down the social networking service for consumers.

3. The second man accused of being behind the nerve agent
poisoning of Sergei Skripal
has been identified as a Russian military doctor employed by the
GRU, the Russian military intelligence
service. The UK in early September accused two
Russian men, Alexander
Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, of attempting to assassinate
ex-spy Sergei Skripal with a military-grade nerve agent in
Salisbury, England in March 2018. UK Prime Minister Theresa May
said the names were most likely aliases.

4. Volkswagen
is close to hiring Citigroup , Deutsche Bank , Goldman Sachs and
JPMorgan to help with the potential stock market listing of its
truck unit Traton, two people familiar with the matter told
Reuters on Monday. Volkswagen said last month that
Traton should by year-end be in shape for a potential stock
market listing, which is expected to take place in mid-2019.

5. The
European Union’s securities watchdog said on Monday it was
examining every initial coin offering (ICO) to see whether it
should be regulated, mirroring moves by its U.S.
counterpart. An ICO issues crypto currencies like
bitcoin or tokens to raise funds for a start-up company, and
regulatory warnings that investors could lose their shirts may be
falling on deaf ears.

6. The
CEO of Aviva is stepping down from his role after directing a
sweeping restructuring of the British insurer during his six
years at the helm. Mark Wilson will be replaced
temporarily by Chairman Adrian Montague while a permanent
successor is appointed, a task the company said on Tuesday it
aimed to complete within the next four months after assessing
internal and external candidates.

7.
Hurricane Michael is heading toward Florida’s Gulf Coast and is
expected to make landfall on
Wednesday
. Experts say
the storm is likely to reach at least Category 3 strength by
Tuesday night local time, making it a major hurricane.

8. China has
banned imports of pigs, wild boars and products from Japan and
Belgium following outbreaks of African swine fever in the two
countries, Chinese customs said on Tuesday. China
also ordered the return or destruction of products shipped from
the two countries, customs said.

9. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday would not
explain
why authorities rejected a work visa renewal for a prominent
British journalist, in an unprecedented case that has
tarnished the city’s international reputation and stoked
outrage. Victor Mallet, the Asia editor for the
Financial Times newspaper, who has been based in Hong Kong for
the past two years, was told last week his work visa would not be
renewed.

10. Forget green fields and clouds. Blazing sunshine and
rows of grapevines are now a growing part of the English
countryside, leading to
a rise in locally produced sparkling wine – boosted this year
by a bumper harvest. At the Chapel Down winery in
Kent, about 40 miles southeast of London, dozens of fruit-pickers
are busy loading grapes into bins for the harvest, which is about
60 percent bigger than last year’s.