5 things to start your day

Follow Us Get the newsletter Capitol Hill under siege. Japan is set for a state of emergency. U.S. authorities consider more restrictions on Alibaba and Tencent. D.C. in Disarray President Donald Trump ordered National Guard troops to the U.S. Capitol and told supporters who overwhelmed Capitol Police and stormed the halls of Congress, forcing debate on Joe Biden's victory in the Electoral College to be suspended, to "go home." Lawmakers fled when an angry mob stormed the Capitol building, after Trump declared in a speech that he will never concede defeat. One woman died after being shot, Capitol Police said. Earlier, Democrats took control of the U.S. Senate for the first time in six years. Here's the latest on the ongoing mayhem in D.C. Off Limits Senior U.S. officials are debating whether to bar investments in Alibaba and Tencent, according to people with knowledge of the talks, potentially expanding a Wall Street blacklist that's already cost shareholders billions of dollars. Alibaba and Tencent tumbled on the news, pulling down other Chinese stocks that trade in the U.S., where authorities have been ramping up efforts to deprive Chinese companies of American capital. Hasty measures have at times sown confusion in markets and prompted price swings, such as when the New York Stock Exchange reversed course twice this week on a decision to delist three Chinese telecommunications companies. Markets Rally Asian stocks looked set to rise as Democrats took control of the Senate and U.S. equities held gains even as protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Treasuries tumbled. Futures pointed higher in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. The S&P 500 trimmed an advance of as much as 1.5% but closed in the green. The Democrats' win in the Senate boosted speculation of more spending to revive growth. Small caps and banks outperformed, while technology shares lagged. The 10-year Treasury yield at one point surged close to 10 basis points to more than 1.05%. Elsewhere, the dollar retreated against peers. Oil pared gains late in the session amid the protests in Washington. Gold dropped. State Of Emergency Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is set to declare a state of emergency Thursday, seeking to stem coronavirus infections that are hitting record highs. The declaration will cover the capital and the surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba, and is likely to take effect from Friday, according to domestic media. Restrictions could last months, with both government advisers and critics of its strategy calling for broader steps than current proposals. Japan's emergency doesn't imply the kind of lockdowns seen in some parts of Europe.  Tesla Jumps Tesla shares rallied on Wednesday, extending a recent advance that has brought the electric-vehicle company's market value within striking distance of matching Facebook's. Shares of Tesla rose 4.8%, giving it a market capitalization of more than $730 billion. The Wednesday moves in Tesla and Facebook came after Democrats edged closer to taking control of the Senate, an outcome that was seen as supportive for electric-vehicle companies and a risk for tech given the prospect of new regulation. The surge in the shares has boosted Elon Musk's wealth to the point where it could surpass that of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. What We've Been Reading This is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours: The world's super-rich families want more hedge funds. NYSE reverses course again with plan to delist China telecom firms One of China's top health experts defends the delay in confirming the Covid threat. China wants to build a $306 billion used car market from scratch. Environmental debt risk is  bigger than Japan's GDP. Make way for the 'One-Minute City'. Oscar-winning producer taking on Hollywood's biggest managers. And finally, here's what Tracy's interested in today "We at Unnamed Credit Rating Agency are downgrading the U.S. credit outlook from stable to negative. The decision reflects our assessment that the ongoing attempt to overturn the results of a democratic election represents a deterioration in institutional and governance strength as well as growing domestic division over the reliability and independence of the country's electoral college system, and political division that is likely to be a drag on future policy decisions." Sometimes I like to imagine what credit rating statements about the U.S. might look like if they were written like the credit rating statements we see for emerging market countries. It's not a completely theoretical exercise. After Donald Trump won the presidency back in 2016, Fitch Ratings published a statement warning that it had resulted in more volatile U.S. policy and the overturning of long-held norms in international relations that threatened the world economy, highlighting the importance of institutional strength and some level of predictability from policymakers when it comes to evaluating the reliability of U.S. assets (like its debt). No one is saying that the big news overnight — the Trump supporters who overwhelmed Capitol Police and stormed the halls of Congress — is going to impact the U.S. credit rating. But it's interesting to imagine how such an event could be considered by market participants if it took place without the benefit of the U.S.'s privileged place in the global financial system. You can follow Tracy Alloway on Twitter at @tracyalloway.   All Things Wall Street and Finance Join the many Matt Levine subscribers and sign up for the Bloomberg Opinion columnist's daily newsletter here. Trust us, your inbox will thank you for it. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Five Things - Asia newsletter. Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022