Reuters/Anindito Mukherjee
Chinese manufacturing is on a bit of a roll. China's manufacturing sector expanded for the third month in a row in May, albeit at a marginal pace of growth. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) held steady at 50.1 during the month, bucking expectations for a decline to 50.0.
Australian GDP expanded for a record 20th consecutive quarter. Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.1% in Q1 in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms, seeing the year-on-year growth rate accelerate to 3.1%, the fastest pace seen since the September quarter 2012.
Apple is planning on selling bonds in Taiwan. For the first time Apple is planning to issue bonds in Taiwan, home to its supply chain, with the goal of raising $1 billion in funds, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
Toyota wants to buy parts of Alphabet. The Japanese automaker is discussing an acquisition of Alphabet's Boston Dynamics - known for the Cheetah, which is claimed to be the world's fastest-legged robot - and Schaft, a venture that was led by two former Tokyo University professors, a report from Nikkei said.
Tata Steel has completed the sale of part of its European business. The Indian firm's long products business, which includes the steelworks in Scunthorpe and two mills on Teesside, as well as a mill in France, has been sold to Greybull Capital, for a nominal fee believed to be £1, according to the Financial Times.
Saudi Arabia is about to issue a bond. The Kingdom is thinking about a sale of as much as $15 billion of bonds this year in light of the investor demand for Qatar's recent issue, report Bloomberg's Ambereen Choudhury, Dinesh Nair, and Ruth David. This would be Saudi Arabia's first bond sale in international capital markets.
The price of oil is slipping. Around 6:50 a.m. BST (1:50 a.m. ET) both major benchmarks have dropped, with US WTI crude off by 0.86% to $48.68 per barrel. Brent crude, the international is down 1% to $49.39. The falls come ad production from the major Middle East exporters was expected to remain high or even increase just as concerns over the state of China's economy weighed on its fuel demand outlook, Reuters reports.
Carl Icahn has a big new position. The legendary investor has announced a new position in Allergan Pharmaceuticals.
Jose Cuervo, the world's largest tequila producer, is planning a $1 billion IPO.Like the US, Mexico hasn't seen much IPO action this year.
It is manufacturing PMI day in Europe. From 8:15 a.m. BST (3:15 a.m. ET) we'll get readings on the state of manufacturing in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Greece, the