World stock markets rise, led by surge in Chinese shares on stimulus hopes + MORE Aug 10th

BANGKOK – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which on Saturday marked 48 years since its establishment, aims to establish an economic community known as the AEC by the end of this year. Proponents say the ultimate goal is to allow free trade, investment and movement of workers between the 10 nations that make up the grouping. But progress toward a borderless economy in a region that brings together democracies and dictatorships along with rich and poor nations is likely to be slow.
___
Is the AEC the new EU?
From a distance, Southeast Asia’s fledgling economic community resembles the early stages of the European Union, but at its core it’s a totally different animal. There are no plans for a common currency, central bank and regional parliament or to abolish borders within the region. However, policymakers could learn lessons from the EU experience where the movement of people from Eastern Europe to countries such as the U.K. has caused tensions. “To do it successfully, countries need to know how many people are going to come,” said Professor of Business Chris Wright, an expert in EU labour migration at the University of Sydney Australia…

LONDON – Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has acquired five student residence buildings in the United Kingdom for the equivalent of nearly C$672 million.
Four of the buildings acquired from Student Castle are in cities where the Canadian pension fund manager already has a presence through its subsidiary Liberty Living, which CPPIB acquired in March.
Those cities are Cardiff, London, Manchester and Newcastle.
The fifth city is Bristol, where Liberty Living hasn’t had a presence before.
The residences purchased from Student Castle for 330 million pounds include a total of 2,153 beds — bringing the total in Liberty Living’s portfolio to 19,000 beds in 46 residences in 18 cities.
The post CPP fund manager buys U.K. student residences with 2,153 beds for $672 million appeared first on Canadian Business – Your Source For Business News.

TOKYO – Global stock markets were moderately higher Monday led by a surge on the Shanghai index on hopes for stimulus measures following weak Chinese economic data.
KEEPING SCORE: France’s CAC 40 added 0.5 per cent to 5,179.07 and Germany’s DAX gained 0.4 per cent to 11,541.35. Britain’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.1 per cent to 6,724.04. U.S. shares were set to recover from recent losses. S&P 500 futures were up 0.3 per cent at 2,078.80.
CHINA TRADE: China’s July trade shrank by unexpectedly wide margins, showing the world’s second-largest economy faces weak demand both at home and abroad. Exports contracted by 8.3 per cent over a year earlier and imports were off by 8.1 per cent. For the year to date, exports are off 14.6 per cent and imports down by 0.8 per cent. That increases pressure on Beijing to stimulate domestic growth and to avert politically sensitive job losses in export industries.
THE QUOTE: Much of China’s east coast has developed service industries that are bearing up well under the slowdown, but the government is increasingly concerned about supporting the industrial north, said IG market analyst Angus Nicholson in a commentary…

Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board acquires five student residence buildings with a total of 2,153 beds