(Bloomberg) --
Good morning. The U.K. Parliament took control of Brexit away from Prime Minister Theresa May, Hollywood royalty attended Apple's latest launch event, Asia markets shrugged off a profit warning from Samsung, and one of Britain's favorite tonic water brands is about to release results. Here's what's moving markets.
Outta Control
U.K. lawmakers decided to take Brexit matters in to their own hands, stripping Theresa May of control after the prime minster was forced to concede that there wasn't enough support for her divorce agreement to bring it back to the House of Commons for a vote. Parliament will now hold indicative votes on alternatives, ranging from a second referendum to leaving without a deal. The pound jumped as the government's defeat was announced, but has since erased the rise.
Spielberg, Aniston
The cream of Hollywood, including director Steven Spielberg and actress Jennifer Aniston, were on stage in California on Monday as Apple Inc. unveiled its latest assault on the television world, including an original content service called Apple TV+. The stars couldn't stop Apple's stock falling however, with Bloomberg Intelligence saying the event “yielded few surprises.” A revamped subscription-based news app, and a new credit card offering 3 percent back on Apple purchases were among the most notable revelations from the event beyond TV, BI writes. Nasdaq futures are slightly higher this morning.
Barely Blinked
When the world's biggest chipmaker issues a profit warning, you would expect investors to take note. But the fallout was minimal from Samsung Electronics Co.'s warning that first-quarter results will miss estimates due to a decline in prices for memory chips and displays, as investors remain hopeful that the sector is near to bottoming out. Samsung itself was trading down less than 1 percent, while Asian stocks more broadly gained. That could bode well for Europe this morning, although keep an eye on financials in Germany after Bloomberg reported that Deutsche Bank AG's plan to merge with Commerzbank AG is facing resistance from Qatari backers who don't want to see their investment diluted in the event of an equity raise.
Gin O'Clock
It's officially been spring for almost a week, which means afternoon gin and tonics in the garden are socially acceptable again. One of the companies to benefit most from the G&T boom of the past few years has been Fevertree Drinks Plc, a maker of higher-end bottles of tonic water whose share price has rallied 1,400 percent since its 2014 initial public offering. The U.K. stock market outperformer reports full-year numbers before the open, and while we're talking drinks companies, also look out for results from A.G. Barr (no, not this guy), another British beverage-maker, this one best known for producing the Scottish favorite Irn-Bru.
Coming Up…
A final reading of French fourth-quarter economic growth is due to be published after the euro zone-nation's central bank trimmed its growth outlook this month. In the U.K., Bank of England's Ben Broadbent testifies to lawmakers after last week's minutes emphasized a continued Brexit overhang. In emerging markets, Hungarian rate-setters will give their monthly monetary policy update with the central European country's current-account deficit at its widest for a decade, and as Prime Minister Viktor Orban makes new enemies in the European Union. In the U.S., consumer confidence is scheduled for release after it snapped a three-month losing streak last time.
What We've Been Reading
This is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours.
- What brought Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Michael Jordan together last year?
- Watching vegan YouTubers come unstuck is a new kind of schadenfreude.
- Want to buy a fake Range Rover in China? Hard luck.
- One country's fight to keep physical cash in existence.
- Billionaire dynasty faces up to its past support for the Nazi regime.
- Pack your bags if no-deal Brexit happens, JPMorgan tells 300.
- This failed initial coin offering is yours for just $60,000.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net
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