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Deutsche Bank's new strategy, China's growth target, and it's a huge week for investors. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.
Cryan's about-turn
Deutsche Bank AG's management approved plans yesterday that include raising about $8.5 billion in an equity sale. The measures, which amount to an abandonment of Chief Executive Officer John Cryan's own turnaround plan, also mean that Germany's largest lender will put its investment banking and trading units back together. Shares in the bank were down 6.1 percent at 5:10 a.m. Eastern Time. In other European financial corporate news, Standard Life Plc agreed to buy Aberdeen Asset Management Plc in an all-share deal that will create an $811 billion money manager. Both companies gained more than 5 percent in trading this morning.
March looks like a lock
Comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Friday pushed the market-implied odds of a rate hike at the FOMC meeting this month close to 100 percent. With Fed speakers now in a blackout period until their March 14-15 meeting, traders will pay attention to economic data — particularly Friday's jobs report — to discern changes to the outlook.
China growth
Premier Li Keqiang said at Sunday's National People's Congress in Beijing that China's 2017 growth target is "around 6.5 percent," close to the 2016 target of 6.5 - 7 percent. He warned of profound changes in the international political and economic landscape, citing rising protectionism and the undoing of globalization as key challenges for policy makers. Credit growth is expected to continue this year, with the country predicted to add an amount equivalent to Germany's GDP to the stock of total social financing this year.
Markets slip
Overnight, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4 percent, while Japan's Topix index slipped 0.2 percent as the yen strengthened against the dollar and after North Korea fired four ballistic missiles into nearby waters. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.5 percent lower at 5:36 a.m. as Deutsche Bank and miners dropped. U.S. market futures were also losing ground.
Huge week
While the key economic event this week is Friday's U.S. jobs report, there is a lot to watch ahead of that. On Wednesday, the U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond will present his budget as he seeks to cushion the fallout from the Brexit vote. On Thursday, the European Central Bank will hold its policy meeting as rising inflation is likely to put pressure on Mario Draghi's asset-purchase plan. At 10:00 a.m. today U.S. factory orders data is released, with expectations for 1 percent growth.
What we've been reading
This is what's caught our eye over the weekend.
- Odd Lots Podcast: The incredible true story of the real life 'Trading Places.'
- Clapper denies Trump wiretapped as White House demands probe.
- Geopolitical risk visited South Korean markets today.
- China is finally falling in love with dairy.
- Stock market rally is helping the art market bounce back.
- Bird flu found in Tennessee, near top U.S. chicken states.
- The topsy turvy world of political science in Trump's America.
To contact the author of this story: Lorcan Roche Kelly in Dublin at lrochekelly@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Isobel Finkel at ifinkel1@bloomberg.net, Tracy Alloway
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