Economy

The crowds of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong decreased sharply today after the territory's chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, agreed to meet with demonstrator leaders over their demands for electoral reforms. It is still unclear if shrinking crowds will continue, or if it was a temporary lull before renewed demonstrations this weekend. Protesters have been pushing for open nominations for Hong Kong's first election to choose the territory's leader in 2017.

Gold miners have the greatest exposure to the Ebola outbreak, says Deutsche Bank. Iron ore and aluminum miners, and oil drillers also have some exposure. Randgold's exposure is most acute, with 100% of its NPV in the affected region. AngloGold has 53% NPV exposure. ArcelorMittal has some exposure through its iron-ore mine in Liberia (6.5% of its output). BHP Billiton and Anglo American aren't exposed to the region.

Stocks

JPMorgan says its data breach this summer exposed the contact information of some 76M households and 7M small businesses, making it one of the largest data breaches in history. Names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses were compromised, although there was no evidence that hackers gathered detailed information, such as account numbers, passwords, Social Security numbers or dates of birth. JPMorgan reiterated that it hadn’t seen unusual levels of fraud since the attack and that customers do not need to change their passwords or account information.

UBS could be hit with a fine as large as CHF6B ($6.3B) for tax evasion in France, Le Temps says. The report cites a legal document dated July 23 written by the investigative judges leading the case, who suspect UBS incited French residents to open accounts in Switzerland between 2004 and 2011. UBS has criticized the French investigation as a “highly politicized process” that hasn’t followed “elementary facets of the rule of law.” UBS -2.6% premarket.

Following on the heels of Apple and Google, Facebook is planning its entry into the field of healthcare, Reuters reports. The company is exploring several areas, such as creating online "support communities" that would connect users suffering from various ailments, and new "preventative care" applications that would help people improve their lifestyles. Meanwhile, EU antitrust regulators have approved Facebook's $19B offer for WhatsApp, stating the proposed acquisition "would not hamper competition in this dynamic and growing market."