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Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
People Outside the RBI Headquarters in Mumbai (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) --

RBI Governor Urjit Patel shocked markets by quitting, while Theresa May faced yet more Brexit drama. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.

Patel Is Out at RBI

Urjit Patel’s shock exit as governor of the Reserve Bank of India dealt investors another bout of monetary policy uncertainty when they were already bracing for an electoral test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Patel, who was nine months from the end of his three-year term as governor, roiled financial markets and surprised the government by quitting on Monday, citing “personal reasons.” Reaction was swift, with rupee non-deliverable forwards heading for the steepest drop in four years. Futures on the Nifty 50 Index lost as much as 2.2 percent.

Brexit Vote Deferred

Faced with a humiliating defeat of her Brexit deal, embattled U.K. prime minister Theresa May announced to the House of Commons she would defer a vote and return to Brussels to seek “assurances” from European Union leaders. Her words signal that she doesn’t expect much of substance will be changed. Nor would she be drawn on when the government will put her unpopular deal to a vote. That raises the prospect that May will be back in Parliament in January with virtually the same deal, relying on tanking markets and frightening no-deal preparations to convince lawmakers to back her. The parliamentary arithmetic won’t have changed — only an election can do that.

Huawei CFO Seeks Freedom

Meng Wanzhou suffers from hypertension and struggles to eat solid food. She has a sleep disorder. She’s willing to put up a couple of multi-million-dollar homes as collateral. Those are some of the arguments lawyers are wielding in a closely watched attempt to free the Huawei Technologies Co. finance chief. Her arrest Dec. 1 unsettled global markets and thrust China’s largest technology company into the heart of sensitive negotiations between the world’s two largest economies. In court filings, her attorneys paint a picture of a cancer survivor who’s undergone multiple surgeries and needs daily medication to cope with a plethora of health issues, while outlining how her entire family has deep roots in Vancouver, where she’s being held.

China, Qualcomm and the iPhone

Qualcomm Inc. said it won a ruling in China against Apple Inc. that bans the sale of several iPhone models in that country. The Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court ruled that Apple is infringing two Qualcomm patents and issued injunctions against the sale of the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus and X, the San Diego, California-based chipmaker said in a statement Monday. The most recent models introduced in September, the iPhone XS, XR and XS Max, are not covered by the ban. Apple shares fell when the initial announcement was made but recovered after analysts shrugged off the report as a headline risk.

U.S. Automakers Push Back on Japan

A trade group representing U.S. automakers urged the Trump administration to hold off further opening the American market to Japanese cars until Tokyo shows it’s committed to returning the favor. “We recommend the administration avoid making any concessions that would further open the U.S. market to Japanese imports unless and until there is evidence that Japan is truly committed to opening its auto market to U.S. vehicles,” said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler.

What we've been reading

This is what’s caught our eye over the last 24 hours.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Jeffrey at pjeffrey@bloomberg.net

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