Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
(Bloomberg) --
Good morning. Another front in the trade war sparks back into life, OPEC’s meeting enters day two and the wrangling over the top jobs at the EU is getting tense. Here’s what’s moving markets.
Trade Fronts
Having managed to get a temporary truce sorted at the G-20, the U.S. has turned its attention back to the European Union with the release of a list of further goods that may be targeted with retaliatory tariffs as part of a long-running battle over subsidies between plane makers Airbus SE and Boeing Co. Expect that to take some sheen off the optimism the U.S.-China detente brought on Monday, a front on which President Donald Trump says talks have already started.
OPEC Cuts
Oil prices didn’t quite get the fillip one might have expected from OPEC and its allies agreeing to a nine-month extension to output cuts, with crude ultimately pulling back from the five-week highs it hit on Monday as the fundamental drivers for higher prices clashed with weakening economic sentiment. OPEC+ will meet again on Tuesday to ratify the agreed production curbs. One of the attendees, Iran, will also be watching whether its breach of its nuclear deal limit increases tensions with the European Union.
EU Jobs
The wrangling among European countries about where the top jobs in the EU are going to go will enter a third day with an increasing number of participants expressing distinct annoyance that the process is taking so long. The attempt to appoint Dutch Socialist Frans Timmermans as the head of the European Commission is facing fierce opposition and until that job is agreed upon, appointing people to other positions, most notably atop the European Central Bank, may be delayed. On the EU’s other key wrangling front, U.K. MPs were blocked in their attempt to remove the no-deal option from the Brexit equation.
Protests
The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong ramped up on Monday and officials were left cleaning up the mess of tear gas canisters and umbrellas littering the streets on Tuesday, in addition to promising to push back against further unrest. It solidifies another concern for global investors and, in Europe, particularly for luxury-goods merchants exposed to Hong Kong upscale shoppers and to Asia-exposed banks like HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc, both of which underperformed otherwise green markets on Monday as the protests sparked up again.
Coming Up...
Asian stocks were mixed, with Hong Kong’s market rising after a holiday as it caught up with Monday’s exuberance. European futures are pointing to another positive open. The EU may decide to open disciplinary procedures against Italy for breaking fiscal rules, just as the country’s revenue is booming. U.K. house price data is due and car manufacturers will report their U.S. sales for June and the second quarter.
What We’ve Been Reading
This is what’s caught our eye over the past 24 hours.
- France’s richest get richer quicker than others.
- Warren Buffet donated $3.6 billion worth of stock.
- The Saudi cultural revolution comes to Scotland.
- Goldman’s “rainmaker” trying to bring back the trading glory days.
- Japan’s Shiseido has launched the Netflix of beauty.
- Nearly half the cars sold in Norway are electric.
- Why tennis players at Wimbledon wear white.
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