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Good morning. There was a wave of news from China as the National People's Congress kicked off, two big U.S. tech firms gave updates and U.K. retail sales are likely to be ugly. Here's what's moving markets. Hong Kong Tensions Beijing's dramatic plans to tighten its grip on Hong Kong spurred outrage in the city and abroad. Opposition lawmakers warned that its status as an international financial center was in jeopardy as China announced an intention to "establish sound legal systems and enforcement mechanisms for safeguarding national security." "This is the end of Hong Kong," one opposition politician said, while U.S. President Donald Trump warned the U.S. could "address that issue very strongly" if needed. Two U.S. senators, meanwhile, are proposing legislation to punish Chinese entities involved in enforcing the new security laws and penalize banks that do business with those entities. Markets Hit Local assets took the biggest hit from China's plans as the Hang Seng fell more than 5% and the Hong Kong Dollar slid the most in six weeks. Losses in equities spread elsewhere in Asia too, though were more modest, perhaps aided by a separate pledge from China to implement the first phase of its trade deal with the U.S. despite a growing number of setbacks. Less positive was the Chinese government abandoning its decades-long practice of setting an annual target for economic growth. European stock futures are down about 0.7% this morning while oil retreated from the highest level in more than two months. Nvidia Relief, IBM Cuts Investors in chip stocks may have been relieved to see bellwether Nvidia Corp. give a quarterly revenue forecast in line with analysts' estimates after the U.S. close. The report was aided by a surge in spending on internet infrastructure and purchases of computer gaming gear, though also included a contribution to revenue from an acquisition. Elsewhere in the tech sector, International Business Machines Corp. cut an unspecified number of jobs across the U.S., eliminating employees in at least five states. The company declined to comment on the total number, but the workforce reductions appear far-reaching. EasyJet Vote It's a huge day for a budget airline EasyJet Plc, whose future will be decided in a single vote, with billions of dollars of aircraft orders at stake. Top shareholder Stelios Haji-Ioannou has called for the ouster of the U.K. airline's leadership in the middle of the coronavirus crisis, and his campaign comes to a head at an extraordinary general meeting when investors vote on his motion to remove four directors, including Chief Executive Officer Johan Lundgren and Chairman John Barton. Founder and former chairman Haji-Ioannou has spent more than 15 years opposing the plans of successive managers on the grounds that they've been too investment-intensive and offered insufficient returns. Coming Up… U.K. retail sales for April are expected to be very ugly due to the lockdown, with economists predicting double-digit percentage declines. Meanwhile, Burberry Group Plc's earnings report will be eyed by investors in luxury stocks hoping to see signs of a recovery in China. On the geopolitical front, the White House will issue a formal statement today that the U.S. intends to pull out of its Open Skies treaty with Russia. What We've Been Reading This is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours. And finally, here's what Cormac Mullen is interested in this morning Momentum hedge funds aren't just afraid of missing out, they are resigned to it -- at least if you go by one measure of their exposure to the global stock market. The 20-day beta of the Hedge Fund Research Macro/CTA Index -- which tracks funds synonymous with trend-following quant strategies -- to the MSCI AC World Index, is back below zero and at its lowest since November. After beginning the year with sizeable equity exposure, CTA funds proceeded to dump stocks as the coronavirus slammed markets, most notably in March, according to these beta calculations which measure performance relative to an equity benchmark. And they haven't got back in yet. That means they have missed out on the rebound in global shares, with the HFRXM index's 1% gain since the March lows a mere fraction of the near 30% climb in the MXWD. Still, as I'm sure their marketing departments are hoarse pointing out, the funds are fulfilling one part of their raison-d'etre, as hedges against market dislocation. The HFRXM is flat for the year versus a 12% slump in global stocks.  Cormac Mullen is a Cross-Asset reporter and editor for Bloomberg News in Tokyo. PLEASE NOTE: Due to public holidays in the U.K. and U.S., there will be no newsletter on Monday May 25. Like Bloomberg's Five Things? Subscribe for unlimited access to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close | 
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