North America
In the U.S.:
- US President Trump told reporters that he intends to curb the US economic relationship with China, contrasting himself with Joe Biden by threatening to punish any American companies that create jobs overseas and to forbid those that do business in China from winning federal contracts.
- The drop continued the push the theme that the recovery may be decelerating.
REIT Focus:
Equinix, Inc. announced that it had detected a ransomware event on some of the company’s internal systems. Equinix stated that the incident did not affect any of its customers and the data centers remained functional.
In China:
- Export outperformance was mainly driven by demand for medical PPE and work-from-home related products.
- Reuters reported that the US State Department revoked visas for more than 1,000 Chinese nationals under a 29-May presidential proclamation to suspend entry from China of students and researchers deemed security risks.
In Japan:
- Japan’s tourism minister Kazuyoshi Akaba stated that the government will include Tokyo in its domestic travel subsidy program, which adds an additional 15% subsidy for travel expenses.
- If he secures the nomination he may call a snap election to replace Abe as Prime Minister.
REIT Focus:
Hang Lung Properties announced that it had won the tender to purchase the US Consulate in Hong Kong for $332M. The sale comes as the US moves staff away from Hong Kong following mainland China’s new security laws for Hong Kong.
Europe
In Europe:
- While it left the door open for further stimulus, its macroeconomic projections were more optimistic than consensus estimates, with an upward revision in inflation.
- The Government put forward its Internal Market Bill, which governs the trading relationship between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and enables Britain to set its own state-aid regime while Northern Ireland continues to apply the EU’s state aid rules.
REIT Focus:
UK listed Safestore Holdings Plc provided a third quarter trading update for the period 5/1/20 to 7/31/20 that continued demonstrate relative resilience for its self-storage operations in the UK and Paris. Total revenues increased 0.8% on a like-for-like basis for the period, +0.5% on a Constant Exchange Rate (CER) basis. Storage revenues were up 2.6% (+2.2% CER), while like-for-like ancillary revenues were up 0.8% (+0.5% CER). The slower pace of growth in like-for-like ancillary revenues is primarily a reflection of a lower level of move in/move out activity during the period as a result of various lock-down measures that were in place and has since started to show signs of recovering. The growth is storage revenues was primarily driven by a 3.8% growth in the average storage rate during the period (+3.5% CER) with the average occupancy down 1.0% in the period. Year-to-date total revenues are up 3.9% on a like-for-like basis (+4.0% CER). Recent revenue collections have been largely unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic with the percentage of July revenues collected by the end of August broadly in line with 2019. Management commented in its press release that the Company remains on course to meet its full year expectations.
The views expressed in this update are as of the date of this blog entry. These views and any portfolio holdings discussed in the update are subject to change at any time based on market or other conditions. The adviser disclaims any duty to update these views, which may not be relied upon as investment advice. In addition, references to specific companies’ securities should not be regarded as investment recommendations or indicative of the Adelante products, strategies, or portfolios.