Bank and Financial Services Stocks

China Trucking Startup Files Confidentially for U.S. IPO

(Bloomberg) -- China’s Uber-like startup Full Truck Alliance has confidentially filed for an initial public offering that could raise at least $1 billion as soon as this year, according to people familiar with the matter.The startup backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. handed in its IPO filing in the U.S. recently, the people said, requesting not to be named because the matter is private. Full Truck Alliance is working with Morgan Stanley and China International Capital Corp. on its American debut after eking out a slim 2020 profit thanks to a pandemic-era shipping surge, people familiar have said.The company, known as Manbang in Chinese, was aiming to raise $1 billion to $2 billion in the IPO, people familiar said in January. A representative for Full Truck Alliance didn’t respond to an emailed request and text message seeking comment.Manbang, backed by SoftBank Group Corp., faces stiffening competition as smaller rivals try to win a slice of an evolving market. Giants from car-hailing leader Didi Chuxing Technology Co. to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. are now introducing technology to try and streamline the shipping process, connecting merchants with truckers and delivery firms.Formed by a merger between China’s two largest truck-sharing platforms -- Huochebang and Yunmanman -- Manbang has attracted a roster of backers including Alphabet Inc.’s CapitalG, Sequoia Capital China, Fidelity International and Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Capital. Manbang last raised $1.7 billion from investors including SoftBank and Tencent at a $12 billion valuation. It aimed to use the cash to expand into same-city deliveries, deepening a network now focused on ferrying goods between urban centers.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Central Banks Fight Back Against Bond Rout, Calming Investors

(Bloomberg) -- Central banks from Asia to Europe escalated their fight to calm panicking markets after U.S. Treasury yields surged to the highest level in a year, prompting policy makers to respond with a mix of debt purchases and intervention threats.The Reserve Bank of Australia waded in with more than $2 billion of unscheduled purchases, while Korea announced buying plans for the next few months. European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel said her institution may need to add more stimulus if the surge in yields hurts growth.While the response appeared to calm bond investors, it’s unlikely to bridge a deepening divide between traders and central banks over the pace of the economic recovery. Policy makers fear the so-called reflation trade, already rippling through all markets, could seep into economies that have yet to rebound from the coronavirus shock.“Reflation now needs a rein, and central banks are fighting the sharp rise in yields,” said Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank Ltd. in Singapore. “Their credibility is at stake here too -- if they want to maintain accommodative policy they have to act if markets look like they’re running away.”In the Asia-Pacific region, the RBA is taking the lead in acting as a breakwater for rising yields, a role typically played by the Bank of Japan. Its offer to buy A$3 billion ($2.4 billion) of debt acted to brake the selloff, with Australia’s three-year bond yield erasing gains. Treasury yields also came down from the 1.61% highs reached Thursday night as Asian investors piled in.While the BOJ hasn’t acted, Finance Minister Taro Aso fired a warning shot as the benchmark yield surged to within a couple of basis points of the perceived limit of the central bank. “It’s important that yields don’t suddenly jump up and down,” said Aso in Tokyo. “We need to make sure not to lose the market’s trust with fiscal management.”Governor Haruhiko Kuroda later said the BOJ won’t change its yield target, and wants to keep the nation’s yield curve low.Read: BOJ’s Tolerance for Rising Yields Tested Before Policy ReviewIn Europe, German bonds rallied on Friday, with the yield on 30-year debt falling six basis points to 0.19%. Italian benchmark debt also reversed a slide at the open to trade higher, with the 10-year yield down one basis point at 0.79%.The move coincided with ECB officials escalating their rhetoric against excessive market optimism about the state of the euro area economy.“A rise in real long-term rates at the early stages of the recovery, even if reflecting improved growth prospects, may withdraw vital policy support too early and too abruptly given the still fragile state of the economy,” said Schnabel, who is responsible for the ECB’s market operations. “Policy will then have to step up its level of support.”There are expectations that global central banks will try to contain a further rise in yields, said Kei Yamazaki, a senior fund manager in Tokyo at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management. “Fed officials have been tolerating the recent rise in yields, but the current risk-averse market will also prompt them to calm the market verbally.”Read More: In a Flash, U.S. Yields Hit 1.6%, Wreaking Havoc Across MarketsBond market snapshot:Treasury 10-year yields down four basis points to 1.48%Australia’s three-year yield fell one basis point to 0.12%10-year JGB surged to 0.175%, a level last seen when the BOJ announced negative interest rates in January 2016Germany’s 30-year bond yield fell six basis points to 0.19%The over-riding question for many investors is the extent of the selloff -- many on Wall Street didn’t foresee Treasury yields crossing 1.5% so quickly -- as each bout triggers stop-losses and lures short-sellers.Read: Emerging Markets Brace for Capital Flight in Fear of 2013 RerunWhile markets are increasingly pricing in higher inflation and the potential for rate hikes, every major central bank from the Federal Reserve to the ECB and the Bank of England see a prolonged period of easing as economies gradually recover. That would suggest this week’s tussle is set to continue.“Selling begets more selling,” said John Pearce, chief investment officer of UniSuper Management Pty. in Sydney. “In the short-term it doesn’t look like it’s stopping.”(Updates with ECB comment, European bond yields.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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  Global Bond Rout Eases; U.S. Futures Fluctuate: Markets Wrap

  Bloomberg
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  Gold Prices Tumble as US Yields Surge to 1-year High

  FX Empire