10 things you need to know in markets today
The pound is continuing to fall. Overnight, sterling has dropped around 0.9% against the dollar to trade at $1.2905 - a fresh 31-year low, surpassing the low seen during trading on Tuesday.
Gold could more than triple in value. After the post-Brexit, face-ripping comeback in gold prices, Christopher Wood at CLSA believes that the precious metal is set up to more than triple in price and climb as high as $4,200 per ounce.
Oil is marginally higher. Oil prices were up slightly in early Asian trading on Wednesday after sharp falls in the prior session, but gains were limited by ongoing concerns about the economic impact of Britain's vote to leave the European Union and a glut of crude.
Forget Brexit - Italy is poised to tear Europe apart. Italy is on the cusp of tearing Europe apart but the economic and political crisis brewing in the nation is largely going unnoticed.
Asian shares are tumbling. Asian shares wilted on Wednesday as the European Union's economic outlook darkened in the Brexit gloom. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5% while Japan's Nikkei dropped more than 2%.
Goldman Sachs took Libyan officials on a £22,000 expenses-paid trip to London. A former Goldman Sachs salesman entertained three officials from Libya's sovereign wealth fund on a £22,000 ($29,000) expenses-paid trip to London in 2008 to help cement client relationships, a London court heard. Goldman Sachs paid for the officials' accommodation, according to evidence cited by the Libyan Investment Authority's lawyer, as part of a two-week training trip with the bank.
Theresa May has taken a convincing lead in the first Conservative party leadership ballot. May, who is tipped to be David Cameron's most likely successor, was the victor on the night as expected. The current Home Secretary received votes from 165 Tory MP out of a possible 329 (just over 50%). Former Defence Secretary Dr. Liam Fox was eliminated with just 16 votes.
Even Apple might feel a hit from Brexit. Citi issued a note on Tuesday in which it said it is cutting its projections for Apple's sales and margins when it reports earnings later this quarter. In the note, Citigroup Global Markets analyst Jim Suva wrote that macroeconomic uncertainty following the British vote earlier this month was one major reason why he cut his projections for iPhone sales this quarter.
Things are about to get messy in Africa's largest oil producer, Angola. "We've long held a below-consensus view on Angola, but Luanda's decision to abandon an IMF bailout has increased the risk of a messier crisis," argued Capital Economics' Africa economist John Ashbourne in a note to clients. "A recession and accompanying debt crisis are now possible."
It is the day of the Chilcot Report. The long-awaited investigation into the much criticised war in Iraq in 2003 is published at 11:00 a.m. BST (6:00 a.m. ET). Business Insider will have full coverage of the report's findings all day.