Headlines

l  Y’day: NKY +0.28%, HSI +1.74%, SHCOMP +0.15%, KOSPI +1.1%

l  Overnight: Dow +1.35%, SPX +1%, Nasdaq +0.6%

l  US: Indices ↑ to another record high; Pos+’s from plasma treatmnt & xpctd fast track vaccine approvals

l  CN-US: Both sides see progress' on phase 1 deal; Trade Rep -parties discussed signif ↑ in CN purchases

l  CN-US: US, China shld cooperate instead of decouple, Zhao says.

l  US: Apple made new highs again ahead of its stock split

l  US: TikTok sues the US govt over Trump ban & claims that it has no security threat

l  US: University of Alabama reports 531 Covid cases since class start: AL.COM

l  CN-EU: China's Wang Yi on official visit to Europe Aug 25-Sept 1; to cover virus, economic cooperation.

l  CN: Will step up technology innovation to drive growth says Xi

l  S Korea: Seoul Schools Ordered to Shift to Online Class Through Sept. 11

l  SG: 51 new cases of Covid-19 infection.

l  HK: Reports just 7 local virus cases Monday  è hope social distancing measures may be relaxed sooner

l  HK:  HKU reports HK R_t below 0.5 for 1^st time in more than 2 months

l  HK: NWS to sell its public bus routes to a group of investors for HK$3.2b. (SCMP)

l  HK: To update on on social distancing measures later Tuesday (BBG)

l  PH: SMPH reportedly mandate banks for ’21 REIT, $0.5-1b; SM Prime pres says no formal mandate yet

l  AU: Frydenberg: China Mengniu-kirin deal not in national interest

l  NZ: Auckland lockdown extended to midnight Aug 30; 7 new covid-19 cases in the community

Finally:  What if you could turn your Green Buildings into Power Plants;  What if you needed a place that wasn’t your office to meet;  What if you could use advanced data analytics to mae smarter, healthier cities & make sure you had the right asset product in the right place;  What if you could use Robotic Furniture to turn your bedroom into an office for more comfortable WFH;  What if trillions of dollars of asset value were destroyed because you could get similar interaction that you’d get in an office, by using VR from the comfort of your home…  We have speakers with the answers at our Global Real Estate Conference (Sept 15-17). Attendance is now +57%.  Are you registered?  For Asian based investors we’ll have meetings IN the APAC time zone, strong representation by Asian RE companies; on demand video’s & replays for panels.  But you’ll need to be registered to access it.   I hope you’ll join us (open to BofA clients only)

MOHURD/PBOC to release financing rules for key devrs. Zhang Bo, rsch lead of Anjuke: 1) supervision of RE financial sector will be further strengthened in 2H; 2) some top devrs saw high debt lvls & high financing interest rates mainly due to the rapid devt of co itself & insufficient financing transparency. (Sina) >>> Per Centaline, @ Aug 20, the scale of issuance of credit bonds in property industry reached Rmb26.1bn; YTD devrs issued 811 bonds, w/ total financing amt Rmb624.2b.

China LPR unchngd @ 3.85%. (SH Daily)

CapitaLand pledges Rmb1m to support Chongqing flood relief. Raffles City Chongqing unaffected, but 2 props under its lodging arm The Ascott were affected. (Edge Prop)

Shenzhen Invsmt’s unit wins plot in Guangzhou’s Nansha district in record Rmb4b (US$578m). (SCMP)

Greenland acq’d 7 sites in Wuhan for Rmb16.4b (US$2.4b) to build world’s largest indoor exhibition. (Paper)

R&F reportedly to dispose Rmb12b ($1.7b) prop assets (IP + resi proj) this yr to lower debt. (Guandian)

Poly Devts 1H NI Rmb10.12b, 1.69%YoY; rev Rmb73.68b, ↑3.59% YoY.  EPS Rmb85cts. (Co)

Merchants Shekou 1H NI913.5m, ↓81%YoY; rev Rmb24.3b, ↑46%YoY; EPS Rmb5cts vs 60cts YoY. (Co)

China Sth City co-founder Leung Moon-lam sold top 3 storeys of K83 office twr in Kwai Chung to unknown buyer for HK$183m ($24m), ↓HK$72m had paid in 2018. (Mingtiandi)

205 new homes sold over w/e, ↑800%WoW.  166 from Empire/HK Ferry’s Seacoast Royale. (HKET)

5 new homes sold y’day. SHKP sold a special unit in ST Barths for HK$29.3m, or HK$25,300/ft². (HKET)

A duplex unit (2,846ft²) in Dukes Place, Jardines Lookout sold for HK$200m. Total sold 7 units for HK$1.38b YTD. (HKET)

New World Devt sold a unit (1,077ft²) in Fleur Pavilia, North Point for HK$48.35m. (HKEJ)

NWS to sell its public bus routes to a group of investors for HK$3.2b. (SCMP)

SG lift travel curbs for Brunei, NZ; ↓ stay home notice period for CN, VN, Malaysia, Aust (excl VIC) (BT)

JL Family Office buys 65 Club St 999yr conservation shophouse for S$15.7m. (BT)

Eagle Hospitality Trust’s sponsor Urban Commons says EHT’s advisors misled REIT. Urban Commons to focus on: 1) Quickly refinance the defaulted debt; 2) Raise min amt to sustain EHT & minimise dilutions to holders; 3) Create an amicable solution to restart & sustain the operations. (REITs Week)

New Zealand retail sales ↓15%YoY in 2Q20 due to COVID-19 lockdown. (NZ Herald)

Fitch affirms Mirvac at 'A-'; outlook stable. (Fitch Ratings)

Centuria completes retail entitlement offer, raising ~A$104m. (Co)

Scentre 1H FFO A$361.9m, ↓46%YoY. FFOps A$0.0696 vs A$0.1264 YoY. 1H net loss A$3.61b vs profit A$740m YoY. 1H rev A$1.09b, ↓16%YoY. No Interim Distrn for 1H. (Co)

Stockland FY final DPS A$0.106, ROE +11.5%, FFO A$825m, won't give FY21 FFO & distrn guidance. (Co)

Japan's dept store sales ↓20.3%YoY in July. (Mainichi)

BOJ injects Y1.2b via J-REITs buying & Y1.2b via ETFs facility. (Newswk)

Nomura Secs’ stake in 1 REIT ↓to 9.80% from 10.86%. (Kabutan)

Mitsubishi Estate Logistics REIT raised Y16.9b ($160m) @ Y431,701/unit to acq new specified assets. (Co)

Blackstone  to  scale  up Nucleus Office Parks once buys 16mft² commercial assets from Prestige. (Mint)

Fitch Solutions xpct Bank Indonesia to cut base rate by 25bps later this yr. (Jakarta Post)

Phil Congress set to approve a relief bill worth up to Php165.5b ($3.4b), far below est’d Php1.56trn recovery plan suggested by lawmaker needed to revive the economy. (BBG)

Megaworld evaluating if pay cash div this yr along w/ stock buyback. (BBG)

SM Prime reportedly hires banks for $500m-$1b REIT IPO nxt yr. (IFR)

AREIT declares total Php0.59/sh div. (Co)

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