Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
(Bloomberg) -- Want to receive this post in your inbox every morning? Sign up here
Fallout as U.S. withdraws from Iran nuclear deal, oil rises, and it’s a big day for deals. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.
U.S. exit
President Donald Trump said the U.S. will withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and impose the “highest level” of sanctions on the country. Leaders of the U.K., France and Germany, also signatories to the agreement, issued a statement saying they remained committed to the accord, while Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggested his country would continue to abide by the deal. Among the first companies hit by Trump’s decision are Boeing Co. and Airbus SE, with almost $40 billion in aircraft deals imperiled as new sanctions mean the loss of export licenses.
Oil, yields jump
Following a volatile session yesterday, confirmation that the U.S. is going for a hard exit from the Iran deal has seen crude rebounding today. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate for June delivery was trading at $70.96 at 5:45 a.m. Eastern Time, with Brent at $76.86. Should oil average $70 a barrel this year, it would constitute a drag on U.S. growth equal to about half the 0.7 percentage-point GDP boost expected from the U.S. fiscal package, according to Oxford Economics. The 10-year Treasury yield is back above 3 percent this morning, hitting 3.012 percent ahead of a $25 billion bond auction at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
More deals
Vodafone Group Plc has agreed to buy European units from Liberty Global Plc in an 18.4 billion-euro ($22 billion) deal, signaling a retreat from the region by U.S. billionaire John Malone. Masayoshi Son, chief executive officer of SoftBank Group Corp., confirmed that Walmart Inc. has agreed to buy control of Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart Online Services Pvt in a transaction valuing the online retailer at about $20 billion. Walt Disney Co.’s Robert Iger said he is not afraid of a bidding war with Comcast Corp. for 21st Century Fox’s assets, adding that a tie-up with Disney offered the best prospects for Fox shareholders.
Markets mixed
Overnight, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.3 percent, while Japan’s Topix index closed 0.4 percent lower despite the yen weakening against the dollar. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.2 percent higher at 5:45 a.m. with energy-related shares by far the best performers on the back of rising crude prices. S&P 500 futures pointed to a gain at the open and gold slipped.
EM headaches
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has convened a meeting of economic decision makers, including the head of the central bank, to address the slide in the lira, which fell to another all-time low this morning. Argentina is facing similar problems with the peso selloff deepening yesterday, defying the central bank’s rate hike to 40 percent on Friday. President Mauricio Macri said in a televised address that he has asked the International Monetary Fund for financing help to stem the rout, a move IMF chief Christine Lagarde welcomed in a statement.
What we've been reading
This is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours
- Russian oligarch tied to Trump lawyer in Stormy bombshell.
- Hasenstab joins Dimon in betting Treasury yields heading for 4 percent.
- Libor’s an unkillable “cockroach” because credit risk is no bug.
- Sterling outlook to hinge on Carney keeping 2018 rate hike alive.
- U.K. retail misery endures as sales decline most on record.
- ‘Privatization’ is no longer a dirty word in Brazil, even in election year.
- One of the Milky Way’s fastest stars is an invader from another galaxy.
To contact the author of this story: Lorcan Roche Kelly in Dublin at lrochekelly@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sid Verma at sverma100@bloomberg.net, Samuel Potter
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.