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Good morning. Two women have been nominated for the top positions in European institutions, the outlook for the economy looks rocky and Conservative candidates are promising a lot. Here's what's moving markets.

Changing of Lagarde

After a longer-than-anticipated bout of horse trading and wrangling among European leaders, Christine Lagarde has been nominated to replace Mario Draghi as the president of the European Central Bank. Lagarde, boss of the International Monetary Fund, is not a career central banker and could well bring a very different style of leadership to the ECB compared to Draghi, most notably the star quality that goes with being a prominent political figure. Market observers like the choice. Ursula Von Der Leyen, Germany's defense chief, was nominated for the other top job at the EU, heading up the European Commission.

Bleak Outlook

The economic outlook, according to most corners of the market you look to, seems pretty bleak. Oil markets could have been expected to rally more on the extra output cuts OPEC and its partners agreed to, but crude slipped back on concerns about future demand and did so ahead of U.S. inventories on Wednesday. Gold regained its momentum as investors sought out havens. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney also sounded a warning on the risks trade tensions pose and the Federal Reserve's Loretta Mester has said cutting rates now would reinforce the negative sentiment on the economy. Oh, and earnings forecasts keep getting worse.

Sin Taxes

It may not be hugely surprising during a leadership campaign, but the kind of giveaways the two candidates vying to be atop the Conservative Party are touting look surprising given the party they are battling to lead. Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt are promising a tax-cutting and spending spree which is sparking growing concern from Tories and which would be generous even for the Labour opposition. Johnson at least has targeted one area to raise revenue: “sin taxes” on salt, fat and sugar.

Cyber Deal

Chipmaker Broadcom Inc. is holding advanced talks to buy cybersecurity outfit Symantec Corp, another move by the former into the more profitable software business as its core semiconductor operations contend with a slowdown in demand and trade war-related headaches. The deal could reverberate through a few different stock sectors on Wednesday, opening up the possibility of more M&A activity from the chipmaking sector and the potential that software and cybersecurity names will become targets.

Coming Up...

Asian stocks were lower as investors took a breather after four weeks of gains. European futures look a touch inconclusive on the day ahead and U.S. Treasury yields hit a two-year low. Note, too, that German bund yields are on the verge of hitting the ECB's deposit rate. Sweden's central bank will announce its latest interest rate decision, with Riksbank-watchers  not expecting any dovish turn and questioning whether the bank missed its chance to hike. Euro area and U.K. services PMIs are due, a particularly essential data point for the latter.

What We've Been Reading

This is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours.

• Scotch and Irish whiskey are caught up in the trade war.
• Hedge funds tracking private jets to find mega-deals.
• Lee Iacocca, the man who saved Chrysler, has died.
• A cybersecurity boss has waived his salary and bonus, forever.
• #MeToo is keeping London lawyers busy.
• Bankers to the ultra-wealthy are facing a “Kodak moment.”
• The benefits of being bored at work.

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