10 things you need to know before European markets open
It's Autumn Statement day. At 12.30 p.m. GMT (7.30 a.m. ET) Chancellor Philip Hammond will deliver the government's first major update on economic and fiscal policy since taking power, and importantly since the Brexit vote. Hammond is expected to announce a major shift away from the austerity-based policies of former Chancellor George Osborne. Check out a full preview here.
Hammond is also expected to announce a ban on lettings agents fees, according to several media reports. Tenants can currently be charged fees for a range of administration, including reference, credit and immigration checks. These fees are often deeply unpopular and have been frequently criticised as unfair.
Britain 'wants to STAY in the single market.' Cabinet minister David Davis allegedly told a powerful EU parliamentarian that Britain wants to stay in the European Single Market as part of its Brexit deal. Davis, who was appointed by Theresa May to head the newly-formed Department for Exiting the European Union (DexEU), reportedly revealed the UK government's intention in a meeting with German politician Manfred Weber.
It's PMI day in Europe. IHS Markit will release its preliminary monthly readings on how the eurozone economy performed during October. That includes readings for both the manufacturing and services sectors in the continent's largest individual economies, as well as composite readings. Eurozone-wide numbers are released at 9.00 a.m. GMT (4.00 a.m. ET).
The dollar is trading within sight of a 13 and a half-year peak on Wednesday. Against a basket of six major currencies, the dollar last stood at 100.98. That was up from Tuesday's low of 100.65 and not too far from Friday's high of 101.48 - the highest for the dollar index since April 2003. The greenback is being bolstered by strong U.S. housing data that further cemented expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike in December and more tightening next year.
US equities broke fresh highs again on Tuesday. Stocks once again topped all-time highs for the second day in a row as the winning streak for equities continued. Of special note, the Dow Jones Industrial Average cracked the 19,000 level for the first time in its history.
A U.S. banking regulator is considering whether to harden sanctions against lenders that abuse their clients or violate banking laws. According to a draft plan, seen and cited by Reuters, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency - the chief regulator for national banks expects tougher scrutiny on when to issue exemptions - such as the one given to Wells Fargo - in the future and senior officials should be involved in any decision.
Trumps disavows the "alt-right." President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday disavowed the "alt-right," the group consisting of self-described white nationalists who overwhelmingly supported his presidential bid, while asserting that his White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon, is not among their ranks. "I don't want to energize the group, and I disavow the group," Trump said in a meeting with staff at the New York Times. "It's not a group I want to energize, and if they are energized, I want to look into it and find out why."
DeepMind, an AI lab acquired by Google for £400 million, has secured a landmark deal with the NHS, paving the way forward for the company's growing healthcare division. Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust announced on its website on Tuesday that it will start rolling out DeepMind's Streams app to clinicians at its hospitals from early 2017.
Speculation is mounting that Jony Ive has checked out at Apple. People who know the company well are starting to suggest that design guru Ive has been taking more of a back-seat role, and may not even be deeply involved in product design anymore, which was where he made his biggest mark on the company.