Wall Street Today: Global dealmaking set to break records after frenzied summer

Asia stocks eye Japan lift; Traders mull weak jobs
Asian stocks look set for a boost Monday from Japan, where the planned exit of the prime minister sparked a rally. Traders are also weighing the impact of sharply slower U.S. hiring on the stimulus outlook. Futures for Hong Kong inched higher, but slipped for Australia. The dollar was steady.

U.S. contracts fluctuated. The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ended little changed Friday, the Nasdaq 100 edged up to a record and rose as investors digested disappointing U.S. payroll growth coupled with faster-than-projected wage increases. U.S. markets are closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday and there is no cash trading for Treasuries.

'Solar bond' demand goes through the roof
Investment firms are buying record amounts of so-called solar bonds, debt issued to help U.S. individuals finance the purchase of rooftop solar panels to power their homes.

Sales of solar bonds hit around $2 billion in the first six months of the year, roughly double levels during the same period in 2020 and 2019, according to deal tracker Finsight.com. The bonds, which are backed by bundles of loans made to homeowners for panel purchases, are being issued by a handful of financing companies that specialize in residential solar panels, including $Sunnova Energy International (NOVA.US)$, GoodLeap LLC, Corp. and Solar Mosaic Inc.

The chip shortage has made a star of this little-known component
The global chip shortage is giving rise to a small group of little-known companies, including Unimicron Technology, Ibiden and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, whose products are increasingly essential to the plans of semiconductor industry titans. The companies make parts called substrates, which connect chips to the circuit boards that hold them in personal computers and other devices.

Substrate manufacturing has long been seen as a backwater of the global chip supply chain. The sector’s relatively low margins have led to underinvestment and, in recent months, added to the pain of a global chip shortage that has constrained personal computer sales, caused some auto makers to idele plants and raised costs for electronic devices.

Southeast Asia could lose $28 trillion if it fails to act fast on climate change
Southeast Asia’s economy is set to lose trillions over the next 50 years if it does not significantly reduce its carbon emissions, a Deloitte report found. The region’s services industry is predicted to lose $9 trillion by 2070, followed by $7 trillion of losses in manufacturing, while retail and tourism could collectively lose $5 trillion.

Southeast Asia needs to pivot from seeing global warming efforts as an optional cost, to seeing it as “an investment in a climate-driven transformation to a better future,” said Deloitte.

Match shares soar on news it will join S&P 500
Shares of $Match group (MTCH.US)$ rose more than 9% after hours, following news that the company is joining the S&P 500. As of Sept. 20 Match will replace Perrigo Company, which is slated to join the S&P MidCap 400.

The company's market cap currently stands at more than $40 billion.

Global dealmaking set to break records after frenzied summer
A frantic summer of dealmaking has put 2021 on track to break records, with almost $4tn of deals already agreed since the start of the year, as companies rush to exploit cheap financing and bumper profits. There were $500bn of transactions globally in the usually quiet month of August, up from $289bn in the same month last year, and $275bn in 2019.

The summer boom has helped push global mergers and acquisitions to a record $3.9tn year to date, according to data compiled by Refinitiv, more than double the amount from the same period last year, and up from $2.6tn in 2019. At this pace, total M&A activity this year is set to overtake the all-time high hit before the financial crisis in 2007, when $4.3tn worth of deals were announced.

Apple to delay iPhone update that could scan device for illegal content
$Apple (AAPL.US)$ is delaying the rollout of tools aimed at combating child pornography on iPhones after sparking concern among privacy advocates that the software could create broader risks for users.
Friday's announcement is the latest of several policy retreats and setbacks for Apple. It has twice in recent weeks announced changes to its App Store rules for software developers in the face of legal and regulatory complaints.

Source: Bloomberg, WSJ, CNBC, Financial times