Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
(Bloomberg) --
Good morning. May seems set to seek a long delay to Brexit, France is clamping down on Yellow Vests and IPOs are making a triumphant return. Here’s what’s moving markets.
Bercow Bombshell
Just when Theresa May thought it was safe, her plans to avoid a long delay to Brexit would appear to have been blown out of the water. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said on Monday that May cannot bring the same deal that’s already been rejected back for another vote. She is now reportedly planning to ask for a delay of 9 to 12 months, allowing her opponents more time to push for a rethink of the whole strategy. The upshot is more uncertainty for pound traders, U.K. stock investors, carbon markets and a set of southern African nations to negotiate. At least a deal’s been done with Norway.
Clamp Down
The latest iteration of the Yellow Vest protests left the Champs Elysees nursing more broken windows, French retailers licking their wounds and President Emmanuel Macron facing intensifying pressure to find a way to quell the demonstrations. The response is a clamp down and strengthening of security laws, including banning some protests and permitting the continued use of rubber bullets. In a more staid attempt to shore up its economy, France is also forcing banks to put aside more capital to cope in a downturn.
IPOs Are Back!
It's been a very disappointing year for new stock listings but signs of life are emerging. The IPOs announced on Monday by car-sharing firm Lyft Inc. and Italian payments firm Nexi SpA follow Middle East payments company Network International last week and are expected to be a prelude to a flood of listings. Keep your eyes peeled for any hints about Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft’s bigger rival in the gig economy, for the deal that will confirm a listings boom is really underway.
Commodities Corner
Oil has touched its highest this year as traders take heart from the OPEC+ group re-committing to output cuts to prop up crude prices. That’s despite some signs of strain showing up in the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Keep an eye on copper too, where a surge in options trading indicates some supply concerns are creeping into the market. And rounding out the commodities watch list is iron ore as the latest twists in the saga around Brazil’s Vale SA are still being digested.
Coming Up...
A steady dollar, gains for the yen and modest losses in Asian stocks all point to markets entering in a pre-Fed drift. We have a few closely watched stocks in the U.K. scheduled to report, including grocery delivery firm Ocado Group Plc and online clothing retailer Asos Plc. U.K. employment data is coming and a meeting is due to take place between U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro, just as Brazilian stocks hit a record high but a stalling economy cools rate-hike expectations.
What We’ve Been Reading
This is what’s caught our eye over the past 24 hours.
- These are the world’s most expensive cities.
- The hedge fund that owns Trump’s secrets.
- Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop is making a killing in the wellness market.
- Odd Lots on how the online brokerage business has changed.
- British Airways has added a door to its business class seats.
- Could Google create the Netflix of gaming?
- MySpace has lost over 50 million songs.
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