10 things you need to know before European markets open
Property investors are nervous. Henderson Global Investors and Columbia Threadneedle suspended all trading in their property funds, becoming the fourth and fifth firms to do so as investors flee for the exits in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the European Union.
France is making a play for London's financial crown. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he wanted to improve the tax and legal framework to "welcome even more companies and make Paris the capital of smart finance," confirming plans to cut France's corporate tax rate to 28% from 33%.
P&G is under investigation for tax irregularities. Italian authorities are investigating whether Procter & Gamble routed revenue through its Swiss and other units to avoid paying taxes in the country, Bloomberg reported.
Barclays got fined in the US. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered Barclays to pay $560,000 (£433,433) on Wednesday, saying the bank failed to submit accurate reports on large traders' positions for physical commodities swaps.
Italy's 5-Star Movement is now number one. The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) is now Italy's most popular party and would easily win power if a national election were held now, opinion polls show.
Negative yielding bonds could be hurting not helping growth. Noted bond investor Bill Gross of Janus Capital Group said Wednesday that with yields at near zero and negative on $10 trillion of global government credit, the contribution of money velocity to GDP growth is coming to an end and may even be creating negative growth.
Germany is exporting arms. The German government was criticized on Wednesday for overseeing a doubling of arms exports last year which detractors say shows a two-year-old policy aimed at curbing sales of weapons to volatile regions has failed.
Deutsche Bank is looking for buyers of shipping debt. Deutsche Bank is looking to sell at least $1 billion of shipping loans to lighten its exposure to the sector whose lenders face closer scrutiny from the European Central Bank.
The strong dollar is hitting America's trade deficit. The US trade deficit widened 10%, more than expected in May, as rising oil prices helped to push up the import bill and exports remained constrained by the lingering effects of a strong dollar.
The EU is battling the US on bank rules. European Union finance ministers will issue a statement at their meeting next week urging bank regulators to avoid imposing a disproportionate increase of costs on European banks, draft conclusions of the meeting said.