Morgan Stanley plans Asia job cuts, China most affected- Bloomberg

Investing.com-- Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) plans to start cutting about 50 investment banking jobs in Asia, excluding Japan, this week, with a bulk of the cuts aimed at Hong Kong and China, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The planned cuts will see more than 40 reductions in Hong Kong and mainland China, the report said, and will affect about 13% of the 400 bankers in the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan. 

The planned cuts also mark Morgan Stanley’s second such reduction in China this year, after reports in March said the firm had laid off about 9% of its staff at its asset management business in China. 

Morgan Stanley had last year also cut several key banking jobs in China, as an economic and stock market downturn stifled dealmaking activity in the country. 

A year-long rout in Chinese stocks, coupled with middling signs of a recovery, have severely dampened prospects for Chinese markets. 

But reports of job cuts come even as Morgan Stanley booked a better-than-expected first quarter profit on a sharp rebound in its investment banking unit. 

A bulk of this rebound came from increased movement towards the U.S., as Wall Street remained strong even as other major stock markets weakened this year.

In Asia, Australia, India and Japan have also so far remained robust, while other stock markets in the region, particularly China, have struggled.