Yahoo Finance Markets calmed by open-armed Xi Jinping speech easing trade tensions
Chinese president Xi Jinping promised to open up economy and lower tariffs
Global stocks climb on hopes conciliatory speech at the "Asian Davos" will cool trade tensions
Xi vowed to slash car import tariffs and strengthen intellectual property rights, two key Trump gripes
Bank of England policymaker warns MPC not to "dally" on raising interest rates
China’s rise as a power is inevitable – and the West can benefit from it
Where did it go wrong for Deutsche Bank's British boss John Cryan?
Oil prices pop on report that Saudi Arabia is targeting $80 per barrel
Oil prices have popped back above $70 per barrel after Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia signalled that it wants to lift prices to the $80 per barrel mark ahead of the huge Saudi Aramco IPO.
After geopolitical tensions in the Middle East boosted prices 2.3pc yesterday, crude extended its rally after Bloomberg revealed the kingdom's $80 target despite higher prices leaving the door open to a surge in supply in the US shale region.
Floating its national oil company, Saudi Aramco, is part of the country's plan to modernise its economy and move away from its reliance on oil.
Aluminium prices climb after US sanctions ignite supply squeeze fears
Aluminium prices have extended their climb after US sanctions on major Russian producer Rusal ignited fears of a supply squeeze.
Prices on the London Metal Exchange advanced 0.5pc to hit $2,157.50, a five-week high.
ING noted that a huge 36pc of LME aluminium stocks are from Eastern Europe and likely to be from sanction-hit Rusal, the world's second largest producer of the metal.
Ousted Deutsche Bank chief John Cryan in line for £6m payout
Deutsche Bank’s ousted British chief executive John Cryan is in line for a payout of nearly €7m (£6.1m) after being ditched with two years left to run on his contract.
Three years of losses and consistent poor performance at the German lender’s investment bank saw Mr Cryan replaced with Deutsche Bank lifer Christian Sewing on Sunday.
Under the severance terms for executives at the bank, set out in its annual report, Mr Cryan is entitled to a “payment upon early termination” of “two annual compensation amounts”.
Read Iain Withers' full report here
Haldane: UK growth would be 8pc lower were it not for loose monetary policy
The pound has reached a two-week high against the dollar after hawkish Bank of England policymaker Ian McCafferty urged his fellow MPC members to hike interest rates at next month's meeting.
Meanwhile, the central bank's chief economist Andy Haldane has defended the use of ultra low interest rates to kickstart an economic recovery since the financial crisis, arguing that UK GDP growth would be 8pc lower and unemployment 4pc higher without the monetary stimulus.
At a speech in Australia, he said that the MPC's monetary policy has added £9,000 to household incomes with the lion's share of this boost from the "positive effect of looser policy at jobs and wages".
Sterling rises to its highest level in two-weeks against the dollar on afterBank of England policy maker Ian McCafferty said U.K. interest rates should be raised again without delay. pic.twitter.com/94xsvWv1qq
— Peter Hoskins (@PeterHoskinsTV) April 10, 2018
Xi Jinping speech gives markets 'a new lease of life'
China's President Xi Jinping speaks out on trade, addressing what @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk care most about.
"China doesn’t seek a trade surplus. We have a genuine desire to increase imports...This year we'll significantly lower the tariff on imported vehicles." #Boao2018pic.twitter.com/Zoju89sjg4— Krystal Hu (@readkrystalhu) April 10, 2018
President Xi Jinping has set the stage for a possible effort to resolve a worsening conflict with Washington over technology and trade by promising to cut auto import taxes, improve intellectual property protection and boost imports.
— Benjamin Wood (@BenjaminWoodPHX) April 10, 2018
President Xi Jinping has given troubled markets "a new lease of life" in the wake of his trade tensions-easing speech overnight, according to ING's Chris Beauchamp.
The FTSE 100 is slightly underperforming its peers on the Continent on a 0.5pc gain but has still climbed to its highest level since February.
Xi has batted the ball back into the US's court and traders will be nervously awaiting the White House's response, Mr Beauchamp said.
He added:
"If Mr Trump nods his approval of this first step towards negotiation we might see stock markets edge up once more. Now is not the time to chase equities, particularly with earnings season just days away, but those who bought into last week’s lows will be keeping their fingers crossed that this bounce has a bit more life in it yet."
Russian-linked stocks rebound from US sanctions slump
Russian-linked companies are enjoying a modest rebound after sliding yesterday in the wake of US sanctions on seven Russian tycoons and 12 of the companies they own.
London-listed miners Evraz and Polymetal tumbled yesterday despite their owners avoiding the sanctions. UK companies controlled by Vladimir Putin's inner circle are clawing back lost ground today with Roman Abramovich owned Evraz climbing 2.2pc.
Aluminium miner Rusal, which is controlled by sanction-hit oligarch Oleg Deripaska, has plunged a further 8.7pc in Hong Kong while his London-quoted energy company EN+ is stuck in flat territory this morning.
British Gas to hike energy bills for 4.1 million customers
British Gas is hiking the price of its dual fuel tariff by an average of 5.5pc, or £60 a year, in a move that will hit 4.1 million households
Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, said its decision has been driven by "rising wholesale and policy costs".
Energy companies have come under pressure over the use of standard variable tariffs which are often more expensive for customers than fixed-term deals.
Read Ayesha Javed's full report here
Chinese President Xi Jinping cools trade tensions at "Asian Davos" - key takeaways
Xi bump: US futures rose after China President Xi Jinping pledged greater openness in response to escalating trade disputes w/ the U.S in a speech that also warned against returning to a “Cold War mentality”. S&P 500 futures jumped as much as 1.5% while markets in Asia also rose. pic.twitter.com/wT6ETnP4lA
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) April 10, 2018
#China’s President Xi Jinping Boao forum comments very positive towards a negotiated resolution to trade dispute with US. China will: cut auto tariffs; ease foreign equity rules re car industry; open shipping, aviation, finance to more foreign inv; strengthen prop rights.
— Shane Oliver (@ShaneOliverAMP) April 10, 2018
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Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to lower tariffs on car imports and ease restrictions on foreign ownership in the car industry.
He also pledged to open up the shipbuilding, aviation and financial sectors to foreign investment.
Xi promised to strengthen intellectual property rights, a key Trump criticism of China.
The President warned against adopting a "Cold War mentality", arguing that "zero-sum-game thinking" is outdated.
Hawkish Bank of England policymaker warns MPC not to "dally" on interest rates
Bank of England policymaker Ian McCafferty has warned the Monetary Policy Committee not to delay on raising interest rates.
In an interview with Reuters, the hawkish rate-setter said that the central bank "shouldn’t dally when it comes to tightening policy modestly".
The Bank is widely expected to raise rates for a second time at its meeting in May. Mr McCafferty was one of the central bank's policymakers that voted for an increase to 0.75pc last month but was outnumbered by seven votes to two.
He argued that a pick-up in wage growth could put upward pressure on inflation, adding that the strong global economy also paves the way for a May hike.
Where did it go wrong for Deutsche Bank's British boss John Cryan?
Just before the Easter holidays, John Cryan, the embattled Yorkshire-born boss at the helm of Deutsche Bank, sent a memo to the lender’s 98,000 staff saying: “I am absolutely committed to serving our bank”.
Less than a fortnight later the CEO had been ousted. After a four-hour meeting of the board on Sunday, Germany’s biggest bank ditched Cryan in favour of one of his deputies, the Deutsche Bank lifer and rising star Christian Sewing.
Corporate depositions are frequently savage, but Cryan’s was still wince-inducingly brutal.
Read the full analysis by Iain Withers here
Xi speech will provide 'short-term relief' for markets battered by trade row
Markets LOVED what Xi Jinping said about opening up China to the world. S&P futures up. Asia up. USD-JPY up. Hang Seng up. pic.twitter.com/DkWu3vc9Ho
— David Ingles (@DavidInglesTV) April 10, 2018
Risk appetite has bounced back on markets after Chinese President Xi Jinping struck a conciliatory tone at the "Asian Davos" with trading screens in the City awash with green this morning.
The long-planned appearance had always been earmarked as an opportunity for Xi to signal a more open China but he also used the speech to cool tensions with Washington.
Lee Hardman at MUFG said that the speech has provided "short-term relief" for markets but offered "little in the way of new policy".
He added:
"The main focus overnight has been a speech from Chinese President Xi Jinping in which he pledged a “new phase of opening up”. The speech offered little in the way of new policy, but did reiterate the pledge to open up the financial sector as well as supporting an accelerated process to join the WTO’s government-procurement agreement.
"A White House official who watched the speech has stated that the reference to autos appeared to be an opportunity to develop trust between the two sides."
Agenda: Markets calmed by open-armed Xi Jinping speech easing trade tensions
Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to usher in a "new phase of opening up" and promised to "significantly" cut import tariffs on cars amid simmering trade tensions with the US.
The closely-watched appearance at the Boao Forum pandered to a number of Donald Trump's gripes over Chinese trade with Xi pledging to strengthen intellectual property rights and slash tariffs on certain products.
The Chinese President also set out China's stall for future foreign investment, indicating that he will ease restrictions on foreign ownership in the car industry.
Asia stocks rally as Xi calms jitters over US-China trade row. #China President backs globalization in key speech. He promised to lower import tariffs on products including cars this year. Haven assets like US treasuries decline w/ gold, yen. Oil holds advance. Bitcoin stuck <$7k pic.twitter.com/X33BZHAup7
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) April 10, 2018
Global stocks jumped higher after Xi's open-armed keynote speech at what has been dubbed the "Asian Davos" warned against returning to a Cold War mentality.
Xi's conciliatory appearance boosted shares across the globe with the FTSE 100 gaining 0.5pc and the DAX in Frankfurt jumping 1.2pc in early trading. As risk appetite flooded back on markets, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong advanced 1.7pc while Dow Jones index futures pointed to a strong start on Wall Street this afternoon.
Full-year results: Card Factory, Eddie Stobart, Hostelworld
Interim results: Robert Walters
Economics: British Retail Consortium sales (UK), PPI (US), Wholesale inventories (US)
