What to Watch: Brexit Russian roulette, global growth, and trade fears dampen stocks

Here are the top business, market, and economic stories you should be watching today in the UK, Europe, and abroad:

Brexit’s economic ‘Russian roulette’ and major company fears and actions

During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a flurry of politicians, company executives, and former UK government officials have warned about the impact Brexit will have business and the economy.

Former UK chancellor George Osborne said delaying Brexit is “most likely” and that the possibility of a no-deal Brexit is playing Russian roulette with the economy. Osborne, who is now the editor of the Evening Standard newspaper in London, said that crashing out of the bloc without a deal in place meant “the gun is held to the British economy’s head.”

Adidas (ADS.DE) CEO Kasper Rorsted said the company’s “biggest concern is really the European impact of a potential Brexit because it’s very often discussed as an isolated event, but it will have an overall impact on the European economy. Europe is about 30% of our business. We’re getting most or entirely all of our growth outside Europe.” Hitachi’s chairman Hiroaki Nakanishi voiced his concerns over Brexit too.

Photo: Reuters

Meanwhile a number of companies have announced they are moving their headquarters away from the UK amid Brexit.

Electronics giant Sony (SNE) said it will be moving its European HQ to the Netherlands while vacuum cleaner and hair dryer maker Dyson is moving its headquarters from Britain to Singapore.

Growth and trade fears dampen stocks

European stocks slipped in early trading, following Asia’s weak run on news of slowing exports from Japan to China. The ongoing US-China trade war kept investors away from riskier assets too.

MSCI‘s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan stalled at -0.15%, after initially hitting a a seven-week high on Monday. The Shanghai Composite (^SSEC) Index fell by a similar amount while Japan’s Nikkei (^N225) shaved 0.1%.

In Europe, a range of data suggesting a slowdown in growth hurt share price performance. European companies listed on the STOXX 600 (^STOXX) are expected to slash fourth-quarter earnings estimates again while French business morale remains at a two-year low.

In early trading, Britain’s FTSE (^FTSE), Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI), and France’s CAC (^FCHI) are all down less than 1%.

Global growth concerns and the trade wars have dominated many Davos conversations so far this week.

Meanwhile…

• US Fed investigating Deutsche’s role in Danske money laundering

• Volvo recalls over 200,000 cars to fix fuel leak issue

• Pub chain Wetherspoon warns of £40m cost hit as Brexit looms