Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
(Bloomberg) --
Good morning. Equities start the week in the red following an update on the U.S.-China trade war, hopes of a Brexit deal by Halloween continue to fade and Antonio Costa was victorious in Portugal’s election. Here’s what’s moving markets.
China Narrows Scope
Chinese officials on recent visits to the U.S. have indicated the range of topics they’re willing to discuss as part of a potential trade deal has narrowed considerably, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. That’s hurt optimism that a broad agreement could be reached ahead of Vice Premier Liu He heading to the U.S. capital for high-level talks Thursday. Asia stocks mainly slipped overnight, with the region also faced with flaring violence in Hong Kong and apparently fruitless North Korea denuclearization talks at the weekend.
Brexit Breakthrough Fades
With just under four weeks to go until the deadline, prospects of a Brexit deal faded after talks between the two sides stalled and European leaders cast doubt on reaching an agreement in time. France and Ireland both signaled they want progress by Friday, while U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sounds as defiant as ever. Accord to a Sunday Times report, Johnson wouldn’t leave Downing Street even if he was to lose a confidence vote, challenging the Queen to fire him instead. Here’s how U.K. markets could be impacted in each of the three current potential outcomes.
Portugal Proves its Stability
No surprises in Portugal. As polls had predicted, Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa won a parliamentary election on Sunday and will remain in the government for a second term. Costa boosted his number of seats but will be short of an outright majority. Addressing supporters on Sunday night he said he’s willing to renew his informal alliance with the Communists and the Left Bloc, the parties who helped him govern in his first term. The country’s PSI 20 shares benchmark is up 3.7% so far this year and Portuguese stocks and bonds could be in focus later.
Factory Data Eyed
German factory order data were not always particularly high on the agenda, but that changed last month after a weak reading gave weight to concerns that Europe’s biggest economy was teetering toward recession. Since then, statistics from other nations have followed suit, culminating with last week’s U.S. ISM Manufacturing shocker, which showed a contraction for the first time in three years. Investors will have a close eye on today’s release from Germany, while you can find out what other big numbers economists have their eyes on this week by reading this.
Coming Up...
Spain’s Repsol S.A. from the oil and gas sector is on the earnings calendar and HSBC is cutting up to 10,000 jobs in a cost-savings drive, according to an FT report. Elsewhere, Nobel prize season starts today, with medicine kicking things off. Economics isn’t due to be announced until next Monday.
What We’ve Been Reading
This is what’s caught our eye over the past weekend.
- Sell old Burberry online and the brand might invite you for tea.
- U.S. diplomat’s wife leaves U.K. after fatal road incident in U.K.
- Harvey Weinstein’s former assistant writes op ed.
- Glastonbury 2020 tickets sold out after half an hour.
- China is breeding giant pigs that are as big as polar bears.
- Saudi Arabia to allow unmarried foreigners to share a hotel room.
- Joker sets record for a film opening in October.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net
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