Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
(Bloomberg) --
Good morning. The U.K. central bank updates on policy, chipmakers could be lifted by Micron Technology Inc.’s bullish forecast and the U.S. House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power. Here’s what’s moving markets.
BoE Day
The pound’s having a tough week, falling almost 2% since Sunday as traders ramp up bets for the Bank of England to lower interest rates at the end of next year, with money markets now seeing an 80% probability of the central bank cutting by 25 basis points in December 2020, up from 30% as recently as Friday, while Deutsche Bank AG predicts the BOE could cut rates as soon as January. The BoE is set to keep rates on hold today, at least, but the vote split could be interesting. In separate U.K. news, also note that there’s more downbeat commentary on the housing market.
Micron’s Forecast
One sector that might get a boost today is tech, as Micron Technology Inc. gave a strong sales forecast for the current quarter and told investors it’s through the worst of a slump in the memory-chip industry. The stock rose about 5% in after-hours New York trading, and the report comes after analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded U.S. chipmakers to “in-line” from “cautious” this week, seeing signs that fundamentals are bottoming despite continued uncertainty surrounding the economy and international trade.
Impeachment
The House impeached President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstructing Congress, the culmination of an effort by Democrats that further inflamed tensions in Washington and deepened the nation’s divide. The historic votes make Trump only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached -- and is likely to make him the only impeached president to win his party’s nomination for re-election. The Senate will hold a trial early next year to decide whether the president should be convicted and removed from office.
Stocks Steady
The lackluster week in stocks continues, with equities dipping overnight in Tokyo and Hong Kong. They were largely unchanged in Shanghai after China’s central bank injected liquidity again. At least emerging markets are ending 2019 with a spring in their step, amid a jump of almost $3 trillion in stock-market valuation this year, currency volatility at a five-year low and bond spreads at their narrowest level in almost three years.
Coming Up…
It’s not just the U.K. central bank updating today. Sweden’s central bank — the world’s oldest — is likely to raise rates by 0.25% to zero. A hike could have wider implications, signalling that central banks are willing to admit there’s a downside to too-low interest rates. Elsewhere, your macro data comes in the form of French manufacturing and U.K. retail sales, while the earnings schedule is light once again.
What We’ve Been Reading
This is what’s caught our eye over the past 24 hours.
- SoftBank’s Vision Fund employees depict culture of recklessness.
- Ultra-rich can pay $2,500 to watch a new movie at home.
- Wall Street’s faux meat bet faces fresh questions.
- Here comes the alternative to alternative dairy.
- Fox Corp. won’t advertise film about harassment at Fox News.
- Hacking your way into business class.
- It’s been a rough year for diamonds.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.