U.S. Services Slump, Fed Bets, Hong Kong and Shenzhen: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Friday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

U.S. service industries joined manufacturing in taking a big step back, as the ISM non-manufacturing index dropped to 52.6 in September, a three-year low
- This, and a slew of other disappointing data this week, all point to a soft U.S. jobs report on Friday
- Traders boosted bets for the Federal Reserve to cut its benchmark interest rate again this month
Hong Kong and Shenzhen: Two cities grappling over China’s future. Hong Kong’s waning allure for ambitious mainland Chinese is symbolic of the shifting balance of power and opportunities between the neighboring cities
Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Masazumi Wakatabe said: “In an ideal world, we’d like to reach 2% inflation target and we’d like to get out of this negative interest rate policy as soon as we can.”
Germany’s economic woes are becoming more pronounced, with a sharp slowdown in services suggesting the pain from its industrial crisis is spreading
Meanwhile, the broader euro-area economy stagnated at the end of the third quarter, held back by an industrial recession and a sharper-than-expected slowdown in services
Here’s the first episode of a new season of the Stephanomics podcast, looking at how the trade war has already caused a recession for America’s factories