Anything For You All: 10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Jumat, 13 Desember 2019

10 things you need to know before the opening bell


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10 Things Before the Opening Bell

Boris Johnson

Here is what you need to know.

1. Global stocks and the pound soar as euphoric traders cheer a US-China trade deal and a landslide UK election result. Britain's FTSE 250 hit a new high on Friday, and Europe's Stoxx 600 broke its intraday record. The pound held onto big gains. US futures are set to rally.

2. Trump agrees to slash China tariffs and scrap new duties — a sign there may be a huge climbdown in the trade war. The president could scrap tariffs on $160 billion of Chinese imports set to go live on Sunday, and halve existing duties on another $360 billion. Whether China agrees is another matter.

3. Apple has narrowly avoided a 15% tariff on the iPhone after Trump's trade deal with China. The tariffs were set to come into force on December 15 – one analyst told BI they would have reduced iPhone demand by 6% to 8%.

4. Joe Biden and his allies are seizing on the left's crushing defeat in the UK as proof that only a centrist can beat Trump. Centrists such as Biden will argue that the election has stark messages for Democrats, but progressives will draw totally different conclusions.

5. Jeremy Corbyn announces his resignation as Labour Party leader. Corbyn led the party to its worst defeat in nearly 100 years as Boris Johnson won a crushing majority.

6. Broker group warns of investor risks posed by US direct share-listing proposal. The SEC risks weakening investor protections if it allows companies to raise money in the public market through a direct listing without the support of underwriting banks, an influential broker group said.

7. Supreme Court justices set to tackle Trump financial records dispute. President Donald Trump's fight to keep his personal financial records private reaches a new stage on Friday when US Supreme Court justices meet to consider up to three hotly-contested cases pitting Trump against congressional Democrats and a New York prosecutor.

8. Stocks are soaring. European stocks are soaring with the DAX (+1%) and the Euro Stoxx 50 (+1.2%) up. Asian stocks closed higher with the Nikkei (+2.6%) and Hang Seng (+2.7%) rising. US futures underlying the Dow, S&P 500, and the Nasdaq are about 0.2% higher.

9. There are no major earnings on the docket today.

10. There is some data released today. Import price index data and retail sales are due.