Market Beats | U.S. DOJ Weighs Google Breakup; China’s A-Shares Tumble 7.1%; Tesla Hits Record China Sales; Wall Street Salaries Keep Falling; 6 Million Evacuate as Hurricane Hits Florida

1. China’s A-Share Index Suffers Worst Drop in 4 Years

2. U.S. DOJ Considers Breaking Up Google

3. Tesla Posts Record Quarterly Sales in China

4. Wall Street Compensation Continues to Slide

5. Six Million Urged to Evacuate as Hurricane Milton Approaches Florida

6. BlackRock Explores Acquisition of HPS Investment Partners

7. Amazon Debuts AI Tool to Help Drivers Locate Packages Faster

1. China’s A-Share Index Suffers Worst Drop in 4 Years

China’s CSI 300 Index plunged 7.1% — its sharpest one-day drop since 2020 — wiping out all of Tuesday’s gains and ending an 11-day winning streak. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index also dropped over 10%.

Markets reacted to the Ministry of Finance’s lack of new fiscal stimulus, which dampened earlier optimism. Analysts said real capital injections are needed to sustain confidence.

CSOP Asset Management said the stimulus measures need time to reach the real economy, and after a 30% rally, a correction was to be expected.

Morgan Stanley and HSBC still expect RMB 2 trillion in additional government support.

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2. U.S. DOJ Considers Breaking Up Google

The U.S. Department of Justice is weighing whether to ask a federal judge to force Google to break up its business, aiming to reduce its dominance in search.

The DOJ may seek to bar Google from leveraging Chrome, Android, and the Play Store to boost its search dominance. Judge Amit Mehta could also request access to Google’s underlying data models.

Analysts are skeptical, citing Google’s vast resources and willingness to fight a multi-year legal battle — much like Microsoft did 20 years ago.

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3. Tesla Posts Record Quarterly Sales in China

Tesla delivered 88,321 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in China in September, up 19% YoY, with Q3 sales reaching 249,135 units — slightly ahead of last year’s total.

While China posted strong growth, global deliveries came in at 462,890, missing analyst estimates.

Tesla is benefiting from government subsidies of up to RMB 20,000 for consumers trading in older cars for EVs. CEO Elon Musk is expected to unveil the long-awaited robotaxi tomorrow, aiming to jumpstart Tesla’s next phase.

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4. Wall Street Compensation Continues to Slide

The average total compensation in New York’s securities industry fell 5.2% YoY to $471,370, according to State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli — the third-highest level on record. Adjusted for inflation, the decline is 8.7%.

Despite the pay drop, profits surged 80% in the first half of 2024 to $23.2 billion, boosting potential bonuses by 7.4%.

Wall Street headcount hit 214,900, 15,600 above pre-pandemic levels.

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5. Six Million Urged to Evacuate as Hurricane Milton Approaches Florida

Roughly 6 million Floridians were ordered to evacuate as Hurricane Milton approaches the state with winds reaching 130 mph.

Governor Ron DeSantis urged residents to seek local shelter, though capacity across the state tops out at just 31,000 people. Many are worried they won’t be able to return home soon.

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Florida this weekend, signaling federal commitment to recovery efforts.

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6. BlackRock Explores Acquisition of HPS Investment Partners

BlackRock is in early talks to acquire HPS Investment Partners, a leading private credit firm also considering an IPO that could value it at over $10 billion.

Other suitors include CVC Capital Partners, though no formal deal has been announced.

BlackRock has been aggressively expanding into private credit, completing two acquisitions this year to strengthen its alternatives platform.

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7. Amazon Debuts AI Tool to Help Drivers Locate Packages Faster

Amazon unveiled an AI tool called Vision Assisted Package Retrieval, designed to help delivery drivers quickly locate the right packages for each stop.

The system uses a green circle to highlight relevant packages and a red X to rule out incorrect ones. Amazon says it can save drivers up to 30 minutes per route.

The tool has been in development since 2020 and will roll out to 1,000 delivery vans starting next year.

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This content is sourced from Financial Times, Bloomberg, and The Real Deal, among other financial news outlets.