10 things you need to know in markets today
It's Super Thursday at the Bank of England.The central bank will announce its latest interest rate decision at 12.00 p.m. BST (7.00 a.m. ET), as well as publish minutes, a monetary policy summary, and figures on its asset purchasing drive. The Bank is expected to leave rates unchanged at 0.25% after cutting from 0.5% last month.
The Bank of England has appointed one of its top executives to coordinate preparations for Brexit and the impact it will have on the country's massive financial services sector. Reuters reports that Phil Evans will be responsible for co-ordinating work across the bank relating to withdrawal from the European Union. He was named director for financial policy within the BoE's Prudential Policy Directorate (PPD).
Federal prosecutors are in the early stages of an investigation into sales practices at Wells Fargo, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Wells Fargo said last week it would pay $185 million (£139.5 million) in penalties and $5 million (£3.7 million) to customers that regulators say were pushed into fee-generating accounts they never requested.
BP does not plan to increase annual investments this decade but still expects to bring nine new projects online in 2017 as it focuses on improving efficiency, Chief Executive Bob Dudley said in an interview on Wednesday. Reuters reports that Dudley met with government officials during an investment forum in Argentina and said BP is testing in the Vaca Muerta shale area, where US rivals Exxon and Chevron have invested, and expects results next month.
China's housing frenzy is still very much alive. Credit growth roared back, with medium and long-term new loans to households in August, which are comprised of mostly mortgages, jumping 32.2% year-over-year.
The UK government has told France it's approved EDF's controversial plan to build two nuclear reactors for £18 billion ($24 billion) in southwest England, according to an official familiar with the matter. Bloomberg reports that the person said the approval is subject to some conditions, without elaborating and asking not to be identified because the decision is not yet public.
Asian markets are mixed. Japan's Nikkei is down 1.39% at the time of writing (6.30 a.m. BST/1.30 a.m. ET), while the Hong Kong Hang Seng is up 0.46%. China's mainland financial markets are closed for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
More than 2,000 companies pre-registered interest in hot fintech startup Revolut's soon-to-be-launched business offering in just 24 hours, according to its founder and CEO. The international money card service announced the service in an email to customers on Monday and CEO Nikolay Storonsky confirmed to Business Insider that more than 3,000 businesses have signed up since then.
Salesforce has bought another company, its 3rd this month, after spending $4 billion (£3 billion) on acquisitions over the past year. Salesforce's latest acquisition is called Gravitytank, a Chicago-based consulting agency. The deal was announced through Gravitytank's website.
Apple and Alphabet's Google engage in practices that undermine competition in the smartphone app market, Nikkei said, citing a report by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The report looked at how the two US technology giants, as well as others that control platforms through which smartphone applications are sold, use their positions of power to decide what app developers can and cannot do, Nikkei reported.