Reuters/Jason Reed
A model takes a sip of her drink during a fashion show for the label Romance Was Born on the waterfront of Sydney Harbour.
Oil is getting ever closer to the $50 per barrel mark. "With oil continuing to suffer from supply disruptions... EIA inventory data will be key to price action. Any further decline in stockpiles could see oil's run higher continue," ANZ bank said, according to Reuters. Around 6:45 a.m. BST (1:45 a.m. ET) both Brent and WTI are up by between 0.3% and 0.4%.
Yet another car company might be dragged into the emissions testing scandal. Suzuki Motor Corp is suspected of using improper fuel economy testing methods in Japan, domestic media reported on Wednesday.
The Japanese economy has returned to growth. GDP in the world's third largest economy expanded by 0.4% in Q1, according to the preliminary GDP estimate released by the Japanese government. The increase, well above the 0.1% gain forecast, saw the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) accelerate to 1.7%, again well ahead of the 0.2% level expected.
The world's biggest bank just bought a 'secret' gold vault in London. China's ICBC Standard Bank agreed to buy one of Europe's largest gold vaults from Barclays, according to Bloomberg The vault is in a " secret " location and can hold up to 2,000 metric tons of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. It was opened by Barclays in 2012.
Deutsche Bank's chairman is about to get a rough ride from shareholders. Paul Achleitner faces sharp criticism at the bank's annual general meeting on Thursday, as shareholders consider launching an investigation into management's response to scandals that have cost it billions of euros in fines.
Brazil's stated owned oil company has returned to the debt markets. Petróleo Brasileiro, better known as Petrobras, raised $6.75 billion on Tuesday from a sale of five- and 10-year dollar-denominated bonds, in a closely watched return to global capital markets after the suspension of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
Some of America's biggest banks are pushing for changes to the security measures used by SWIFT. Major U.S. banks are pushing the SWIFT messaging network to boost security following cyber attacks in Bangladesh and Vietnam involving fraudulent transfer requests, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain will not hold a second referendum on whether or not to leave the European Union if the vote on June 23 is close. "You can't have neverendums, you have referendums," he said at an event hosted by the World Economic Forum.
Wall Street's traditional power base is shifting away from investment banks. That is the takeaway from a big report out from Boston Consulting Group on the capital-markets and investment-banking industry. Investment banks are getting crushed. Their collective return on equity, an important mark of profitability, was 6% in 2015, according to BCG.
MPs have dismissed founder Mike Ashley's offer of visiting a Sports Direct warehouse. "You don't do a deal with parliament," one member of the Business, Innovation, and Skills Select Committee said, according to the Financial Times. Yesterday, Ashley said he would face the committee, as long as members come to see Sports Direct's warehouse facility in Shirebrook, Derbyshire the day before.