Bloomberg Australia’s central bank is expected to cut interest rates to a fresh record low, reduce its three-year yield target and unleash further bond buying as it tries to turbo-charge a recovery now that the country is released from lockdown. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will cut the cash rate to 0.10% from 0.25% and set its yield curve …

Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised the stake in its Chinese securities joint venture to 71%, taking a step closer to becoming the first foreign bank to attain full ownership of a firm as the country opens its $50 trillion financial market. The bank bought a 20% stake put up for sale by Shanghai Waigaoqiao FTZ for 177.7 million yuan …

Bloomberg The largest US banks are less healthy than they appear, boosted by temporary accounting and capital-relief measures as well as massive market support from the Federal Reserve, an advocacy group said. Although the six biggest banks’ leverage ratios reported at the end of June averaged almost 2 percentage points above the regulatory minimums, the actual average would have been …

Bloomberg Westpac Banking Corp.’s full-year profit plunged after the lender was hit with a record fine for breaching anti-money laundering laws, and the coronavirus-induced recession swelled bad-debt charges. Cash earnings fall 62% to A$2.61 billion ($1.8 billion) in the 12 months ended September 30, the Sydney-based bank said in a statement. The results include a previously disclosed A$1.2 billion charge …

Bloomberg The pound declined to the weakest level in a month on concern a lockdown across England would deal a painful blow to an economy already reeling from similar measures earlier this year. Sterling fell as much as 0.7% to $1.2855, the lowest since October 7, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the month-long restrictions amid concern that the coronavirus …

Bloomberg Stock markets climbed globally for a second day along with US futures hours before the American presidential election. Currency traders braced for increased volatility. Bank shares including BNP Paribas SA advanced after the French lender joined European peers in posting lower-than-expected bad-loan provisions from the pandemic. Equity markets in Beijing, Hong Kong, Australia and South Korea all surged more …

Bloomberg Hedging exposure to the S&P 500 index via options is going to remain costly yet vital next year due to the pandemic and relative lack of protection from traditional havens, Tallbacken Capital Advisors LLC said. “Vaccine volatility” is likely because of the winding paths ahead to the eventual introduction of an inoculation or other therapies, according to Tallbacken CEO …

Bloomberg India stocks tracked Asian peers higher ahead of the US election. The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.8% to 40,067.14 as of 10:04 am in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced by the same magnitude. Swings in stock prices are set to ease for the first day in five after a measure of volatility touched its highest level …

Bloomberg Oil kicked off what promises to be a turbulent week of trading by plunging to a five-month low as a continued increase in Libyan crude production coincided with a wave of new virus-lockdown measures in Europe. The double whammy of falling demand and growing supply pushed futures in New York down as much as 6% in Asian trading. That …

Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp warned it may take up to $30 billion in writedowns on natural gas fields acquired more than a decade ago, and reported a third straight quarterly loss. Exxon is confronting one of its biggest crises. If the company takes the full $30 billion impairment, it will be the industry’s worst in more than a decade, according …