The Asia Eight

Daily must-reads from the world’s most dynamic region

January 12, 2021

1 TOP STORY: Coal-to-gas transformation promised

2 ATF TV: The industries driving rare earth demand

3 ATF BIG PICTURE: Tracking the rise of the new gold

4 ASIA MARKETS: HSI, CSI300, Nikkei 225 climb

5 COMMENT: Fears grow that stocks are overvalued

6 NEWS: Bakkt $2.1bn deal underlines SPAC appeal

7 NEWS: Australia bars China from from contract bid

8 NEWS: UK to tighten laws banning Xinjiang trade

01 Top Story China pledges coal transformation

Gas power plants planned for cities with pipelines to rural areas; gas seen as a 'clean' solution to the large demand for heating in big cities; Qingdao in the east is building an LNG terminal, while officials have also been urged to complete the Datang and Huadian gas-turbine power plants

02 ATF TV Rare earth, the new gold dream

Pini Althaus of USA Rare Earth explains which countries are driving demand for the key commodities

03 The ATF Big Picture

04 Asia Markets

HSI climbs 1.3% to 28276.5; CSI300 adds 2.2% to 3,608.34 and Nikkei 225 rises 0.1% to 28164.34

Market Wrap

05 Comment

“There is no doubt that there are genuine concerns about lofty stock valuation among traders and investors. They firmly believe that a healthy correction in the stock market is strongly on the cards." Naeem Aslam at AvaTrade

06 Bakkt in SPAC deal

Cryptocurrency exchange is going public via a merger with SPAC VPC Impact; it aims to beat rival exchange Coinbase, before it can do a traditional IPO, and will help in the race to exploit bitcoin’s rise

07 Oz blocks China bid

China State Construction Engineering Company's $230-million takeover offer for local unit of a South Africa-listed developer is rejected on grounds of 'national security'

08 UK Xinjiang trade ban

British government expected to expand Modern Slavery Act to include Uighur Muslim forced labour but individual Chinese officials would not be targeted with sanctions