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Nissan Motor eyes $4 billion in bond sales, term sheet shows
SYDNEY :Japan's Nissan Motor is eyeing $4 billion worth of dollar and euro senior unsecured bond issuances, according to term sheet reviewed by Reuters. The car maker is looking at a five-, seven- and 10-year dollar bond deal to raise a minimum of at least $750 million in each tranche. Prospective investors have been told the five-year tranche would have a coupon in the mid-7 per cent area, the seven-year tranche would be in the high 7 per cent area while the longer-dated tranche would be in the low 8 per cent area, the term sheet said. Nissan is also looking at a four and eight-year Euro issuance with a minimum size of 500 million euro ($588.40 million) in each tranche. Pricing guidance has been set at high-5 per cent for the four-year and high-6 per cent for eight-year bond, the term sheet said. Nissan said it also planned a 150 billion yen ($1.04 billion) six-year convertible bond. ($1 = 0.8498 euros) ($1 = 144.7900 yen)
CNA
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S$1.5b nickel fraud trial: Accused swindler Ng Yu Zhi declines to testify, defence closes case
SINGAPORE: Ng Yu Zhi, the businessman at the heart of an alleged nickel investment fraud involving almost S$1.5 billion (US$1.17 billion), declined to testify in his case on Monday (Jul 7). Ng, 38, who ran Envy Global Trading and Envy Asset Management, chose to remain silent and accepted that the judge could draw an adverse inference from his choice to do so. He made this decision after speaking with his lawyers for under an hour on Monday morning. Defence lawyers Hassan Esa Almenoar and Nichol Yeo had no other witnesses to call, and the defence closed its case. Both the prosecution and defence are to file their closing submissions on whether or not Ng should be convicted, with a verdict to be given later. Lead prosecutor Gordon Oh said he had discussed the matter with the defence and it would be "preferable" to have the verdict on Aug 22. Judicial Commissioner Christopher Goh took note of that but said he would give the verdict date at a later time in case of any further developments or queries he may have. Ng went on trial in November facing 42 charges, including forgery, handling benefits from criminal conduct, cheating, fraudulent trading and criminal breach of trust. He has another 66 outstanding charges, but these were stood down or set aside for the time being while this trial goes on. THE CASE The prosecution's case is that Ng attracted hundreds of investors over five years from February 2016 with his companies' purported physical nickel trading. They said Ng was the scheme was Ng's "brainchild", but the nickel trading was "fiction" that he conveyed to investors either personally or through his sales representatives. Alleged victims of the scheme include lawyers and a venture capitalist, who testified about how he was "impressed" by Ng. Ng then lived lavishly on the proceeds of the fraudulent scheme, alleged the prosecutors, withdrawing at least S$201.2 million from Envy Global Trading to his personal bank accounts. He spent it on expensive artworks, property, cars and jewellery, charged the prosecutors. Over six years, Ng's companies received a total of S$1.46 billion in investments from 947 investors. Of this, about S$482 million was channelled to Ng's personal bank accounts. Ng was initially on bail running into the millions, but he was remanded after breaking bail conditions by allegedly committing fresh offences. His latest request for bail was rejected by the court last week.
CNA
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Stocks slip in Asia on US tariff confusion, oil skids
SYDNEY: Stock markets slipped in Asia on Monday (Jul 7) amid confusion as United States officials flagged a delay on tariffs but failed to provide much detail on the change, while oil prices slid as OPEC+ opened the supply spigots more than expected. The US is close to finalising several trade agreements in the coming days and will notify other countries of higher tariff rates by Jul 9, President Donald Trump said on Sunday, with the higher rates to take effect on Aug 1. "President Trump's going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don't move things along, then on Aug 1, you will boomerang back to your Apr 2 tariff level," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNN. Trump in April announced a 10 per cent base tariff rate on most countries and higher "reciprocal" rates ranging up to 50 per cent, with an original deadline of this Wednesday. However, Trump also said levies could range in value from "maybe 60 per cent or 70 per cent", and threatened an extra 10 per cent on countries aligning themselves with the "Anti-American policies" of the BRICS group of Brazil, Russia, India and China. With very few actual trade deals done, analysts had always suspected the date would be pushed out, though it was still not clear if the new deadline applied to all trading partners or just some. "This renewed escalation in trade tensions comes at a time when major trade partners, including the European Union, India and Japan, are believed to be at crucial stages of bilateral negotiations," analysts at ANZ said in a note. "If reciprocal tariffs are implemented in their original form or even expanded, we believe it will intensify downside risks to US growth and increase upside risks to inflation." Investors have grown somewhat used to the uncertainty surrounding US trade policy, and the initial market reaction was cautious. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures both eased 0.3 per cent. EUROSTOXX 50 futures eased 0.1 per cent, while FTSE futures fell 0.2 per cent and DAX futures held steady. Japan's Nikkei lost 0.5 per cent, while South Korean stocks went flat. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.6 per cent, as Chinese blue chips dropped 0.5 per cent. DOLLAR MIXED Safe-haven bonds were better bid, with 10-year Treasury yields down almost 2 basis points at 4.326 per cent. Major currencies were mixed as the dollar index nudged up to 97.071. The euro held at US$1.1771, just off last week's top of US$1.1830, while the dollar was a fraction firmer at ¥144.76. The dollar has been undermined by investor concerns about Trump's often chaotic tariff policy and what that might do to economic growth and inflation. The same worries have kept the Federal Reserve from cutting rates, and minutes of its last meeting should offer more colour on when the majority of members might resume easing. It is a relatively quiet week for Fed speakers with only two district presidents on the docket, while economic data is also sparse. The Reserve Bank of Australia is widely expected to cut its rates by a quarter point to 3.60 per cent at a meeting on Tuesday, the third easing this cycle, and markets imply an eventual destination for rates of 2.85 per cent or 3.10 per cent. New Zealand's central bank meets on Wednesday and is likely to hold rates at 3.25 per cent, having already slashed by 225 basis points over the past year. In commodity markets, gold slipped 0.3 per cent to US$3,324 an ounce, though it did gain almost 2 per cent last week as the dollar fell. Oil prices slid anew after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed on Saturday to raise production by a larger-than-expected 548,000 barrels per day in August. The group also warned that it could hike by a similar amount in September, leaving analysts with the impression it was trying to squeeze lower margin producers and particularly those pulling oil from US shale. "We see OPEC+ targeting Brent oil futures around US$60 to US$65 per barrel as a result," said Vivek Dhar, an analyst at CBA. "This would challenge the economics of US shale oil supply growth and prevent non-OPEC+ supply growth from taking market share in coming years."
