Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
(Bloomberg) --
Good morning. Yet further Brexit votes are on the slate, albeit not meaningful ones. There is further optimism on the trade talks between the U.S. and China, elections are looming in Spain and production of the world’s biggest passenger jet is ending.
Here’s what’s moving markets this morning.
Alternative arrangements
U.K. lawmakers will get the chance to vote on a series of alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan, effectively in an attempt to take control of the process and force the government to rule out a no-deal scenario. Indeed, European Union history shows pushing things to a last-minute summit, as May appears to want to do, doesn’t tend to go well. Note too that MPs will come together after U.S. auto giant Ford Motor Co. said a no-deal Brexit would put 7,000 U.K. jobs at risk.
Trade deadline delay
The U.S. rally was knocked back a little on Wednesday by a tweet from a U.S. politician who isn’t Donald Trump, with Marco Rubio releasing a plan that would curb incentives for companies to buy back stock. The president took the reins again later in the day by encouraging more optimism on the trade picture. Trump is said to be considering pushing back the deadline of March 1 for the imposition of higher tariffs on Chinese goods by 60 days, a further indication that the U.S. does indeed want to reach a deal and end the trade war.
Spanish turmoil
Spain’s socialist government saw its budget plans blocked on Wednesday, raising the chance that snap elections will take place in the country. Markets reacted, albeit in a relatively muted fashion in comparison to the impact other European political turmoil has had in the past, but eyes will be trained on Madrid today for some clarity on the way forward, particularly if this will include early elections. All this as Catalan nationalism continues to show its influence on the country.
End of an Era
Airbus SE has scrapped the slow-selling A380 superjumbo jet that had once been its flagship program following only a dozen years of service, creating a clear path for its new CEO when he starts in April. It’s a bumper earnings day in Europe, however, so Airbus isn’t the only game in town. Banks will be particularly active, with Credit Suisse Group AG’s trading revenue ahead of estimates, trading revenue dropping at France’s Credit Agricole SA’s and Commerzbank AG confirming it will resume paying a dividend.
Coming up…
GDP figures for the euro area and for Germany are coming up, following a slew of bad data and warnings that Europe could prove to be the weak link in the global growth story. We’ll also get unemployment data from France, still rife with tension from the impact of the Yellow Vest protests. And in addition to those earnings already out, we’ll have numbers from U.K. pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca Plc.
What We’ve Been Reading
This is what’s caught our eye over the past 24 hours
- European fund managers are expected to have seen outflows of about $100 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018.
- Saudi Arabia is quietly allowing Valentine’s Day to happen.
- Getting Venezuelan military to defect from the country’s president is proving tough.
- Silicon Valley is using trade secrets to obscure its problem with race.
- Cryptocurrency start-ups are aiming to tap wealthy buyers.
- Take a look at the wealthiest towns in the U.S.
- Scientists are rethinking the concept of whether animals having feelings.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net
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