The FTSE 100 is called to open 13
points higher at 7385
UK Gilt 10 Year Yield 1.357 Spot
Gold $1274.55 -5.74 Brent Crude $56.55 -0.22
$ per £ 1.3358
€ per £ 1.1355
$ per € 1.1765
U.S. stocks surged to all-time
highs while Treasuries slumped amid reports that President Donald Trump and
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with former Federal Reserve governor
Kevin Warsh to discuss the role of Fed chair. The S&P 500 Index, Nasdaq Composite
Index and Russell 2000 Index all set records, with the S&P 500 closing out
its eighth straight quarterly gain. Trump, who also reportedly met with former
Fed governor Jerome Powell, said he expects to make a decision on the central
bank’s leadership in two to three weeks. Financial shares, which would stand to
benefit from Warsh’s views on deregulation, helped spearhead the stock market
gains as the KBW Bank Index leaped to the highest since March. But despite the enthusiasm, some investors
predicted that Warsh’s nomination would hurt equities.
PRESS COMMENTARY
• Financial Times: Wall Street
investors have started trying to hedge against a possible deal to cut US
corporate tax rates by buying up the stocks of companies that currently pay the
highest effective rates, and therefore stand to benefit the most.
* Osirium Technologies New Buy at
Stifel, PT 200p
COMPANY NEWS
RH-Close to acquiring US Cement
maker Suwannee for $750m(B'berg)
Deutsche Bank to Pay $190 Million
to Resolve Forex Claims.
Daily Mail 11-Month Revenue Gains
5%; FY Outlook Unchanged
Subsea 7 Says Subsea Integration
Alliance Wins $150M-$300M Deal.
AstraZeneca May Move Some
Operations in Case of Hard Brexit: DN
Daimler to Produce Mercedes
Vehicles in France, Echos Says
Zurich Insurance CEO Says RSA
Wouldn’t Be Good Buy Now: FT
Air France Says ‘Serious
Incident’ Forced Diversion of A380
Numis M&A Speculation Builds
After Povlsen Buys Stake: S.Times
Volkswagen Stops Sale of Ducati
Unit, Fiom Union Leader Says
Vontobel Has Up to CHF600m for
Swiss Acquisitions, NZZ Reports. Source Quilter Cheviot.
