MOST IMPORTANT TODAY:  All eyes on HK Props, where short interest in some names is very significant (Wharf REIC 11.9% freefloat on borrow, 23 days to cover!).  Props were strong overnight in US & Europe.   Likely a combination of things including covering into month end, EU yield scarcity with the ECB bank div news & US rent collection data from NAREIT showing improvement, even for retail.  I imagine the Macau news will be taken well as a blueprint for GBA.  Combined with the charts found here I would be re-examining underweight positioning today. We’ve added Link REIT to our sales Asia Alpha list.  Love to discuss.

Headlines

l  Y’day: NKY -0.26%, HSI +0.69%, SHCOMP +0.71%, KOSPI +1.76%

l  Overnight: Dow -0.77%, SPX -0.65%, Nasdaq -1.27%

l  GOLD: futures touched $2,000 for the 1st time

l  PROPERTY:  US Vanguard real estate ETF jumped 2%

l  US: Fed extended 7 of its 9 emergency lending programs by 3mths to Dec 31

l  ECB: anncd div ban for Eurozone shld be extended to 31 Dec 2020 from 1 Oct 2020. (Reuters)

l  SINO-US: CN vows measures a/f US blacklists entities over Xinjiang

l  CN: Reports 89 new virus cases in XinJiang, 8 in Liaoning

l  HK: Reports 98 new local coronavirus cases (142 local day prior)

l  GBA: Macau residnts allowed Guangdong travel; Quarantine exemption extended to all GZ (Macau biz)

Finally:  If you read just 1 thing today make it THIS.  Here’s 1 explanation.

Charts source: HKU Med   https://covid19.sph.hku.hk/

China's economy to grow 2.5% in 2020: per Bloomberg. (China Daily)

Shanghai 2Q office rents ↓ 3.7%QoQ to Rmb286.4 ($41.03)/m² per mth despite leasing uptick. (Mingtiandi)

Nanjing rolls out new rules for lottery house purchase: talents, rigid demand family (who don’t have a housing) have priority. (The Paper)

Wang Xiangming was appointed as Chairman China Resource Group.  Chair Fu Yuning retires. (The Paper)

Kaisa acq’d a resi site in Qingpu district, Shanghai for Rmb1.6b, fl price Rmb26,679/m². Other bidders incl Jinmao, Sino-Ocean, Greentown, Seazen. (The Paper)

HK retailer association asking for turnover rent only for multiple mths. (SCMP)

HK Ferry / Empire puts 185 units in Seacoast Royale resi project, Tuen Mun up for sale Sat, HK$11,961-17,035/ft². Received 3,000 subscriptions.  (HKET)

SHKP puts 55 units in Regency Bay resi project, Tuen Mun up for sale Fri, HK$15,372-21,012/ft². (HKET)

M+S secures S$1.95b green loan for Marina 1 mixed use devt. Proceeds will partially finance Marina One's office & retail components, which are valued @ S$5b. M+S is 60% owned by Khazanah Nasional + 40% by Temasek. (Edge Prop)

Ascendas India Trust posts 1H DPU of 4.64c vs 3.75c; makes higher provision for doubtful debts. Total prop income ↑3% to S$99m, NPI ↑1% to S$73.5m. (Biz Times)

CapitaLand Retail China Trust 1H DPU S$0.0302. 1H NPI S$65.3m, income available for distribution S$35.3m. (Co) 

Ascott Residence Trust 1H DPS ↓69%YoY to S1.05c. Revenue ↓16% to S$208.5m, gross profit ↓28% to S$88.6m. (Biz Times)

Ascott Residence Trust agr’d to sell Ascott Guangzhou + Citadines Didot Montparnasse Paris serviced apts for S$191.4m ($138.8m). To realise total est’d net gains S$23.2m; S$19.4m from GZ + S$3.8m from Paris. (Edge Prop)

ARA Logos 2Q DPU ↑0.4%YoY to S1.326c. Gross revenue ↑4.3%YoY to S$29m, NPI ↑7%YoY to S$21.9m. (Biz Times)

ASX-listed BlackWall to buy back WOTSO co-working hub operation. (AFR)

Charter Hall sold its entire 5% hldg in Waypoint REIT for A$2.61/sh, totaling A$101.6m. Charter Hall will receive a distribution of A7.41c per WPR share for the half yr ended June 30. Charter Hall Long WALE REIT also sold its entire 5% hldg in WPR for the same price. (Kalkin)

Cromwell / IGIS buys 7 DHL logistics assets in Italy for A$85.7m. Cromwell will fund from existing cash reserves. The assets will then form the seed portfl for a new Cromwell European Logistics Fund which will be focus on core+ logistics assets in Benelux, France, Germany & Italy w/ GAV A$650m-A$800m. (Co) 

Ingenia buys 100% interest in new build ready 163-site greenfield community in Ballarat, VIC. 1^st residents xpctd to move in from May ‘21.  Will incl a pool, gym, community hall, caravan parking.  + optioned adjoining 3.3ha site for A$4.3m for an add’l 90 home sites. (Co

Ichigo Hotel Revises 2021 Jan Earnings F/cs. Operating rev ￥1.1b (↓27% from prev f/c), Operating profit ￥472m (↓40.7%), NI ￥259m (↓56%), DPS ￥1015 (↓56.4%). (Co) 

Hulic 2Q operating income est ￥15.07b, net income est ￥9.35b, net sales est ￥66.46b. FY operating income est ￥104.45b, net income est ￥66.89b. net sales est ￥419.67b. FY div est ￥38.86. Shrs ↓26.7% YTD. (BBG) 

Mitsui Fudosan bought back 5.46m shrs for ~￥10b during Jul 1-27. (Co)  

CapitaLand starts building 9.3ha IT park along Chennai’s IT corridor in India. The 9.3ha IT park has 4.6mft² devt potential for premium Grade A office space. (Biz Times)

Ascendas India Trust 1H DPU ↑24%YoY to S4.64c. NPI Rs3.86b ↑2%YoY  (S$73.5m↑1%YoY). (Co) 

Sejong's apt px ↑ 0.97% WoW Jul 14-20, largest ↑ among all cities in the country. Long-term housing rental deposits ↑ 0.99%WoW. (Korea Joongang Daily)

* My pa holdings: BAC US, 1 HK, 6 HK, ST SP