WSJ City: Brexit Talks Should 'Accelerate,' U.K. to Strengthen Takeover Rules

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MUST READS FROM WSJ CITY

Prime Minister Theresa May dined with top European Union officials in Brussels on Monday night and agreed that Brexit talks should 'accelerate' over the coming months.

TheCityUK, the City of London lobby group, has urged the U.K. government and European Union to wrap up a legally-binding transition agreement by the first quarter of 2018 at the latest, arguing that the value of a deal is ‘disappearing by the day.’

The U.K. government has announced plans to strengthen its oversight of foreign takeovers of U.K. companies, unveiling proposed new powers to block deals on national security grounds.

After an eight-year bull market and the cheapest borrowing costs in history, the big surprise isn’t that the stock market’s high, but that it isn’t higher still, writes WSJ's James Mackintosh in his Streetwise column.

Plane maker Airbus announced plans to partner with Bombardier in what could be the biggest shake-up of the commercial jetliner business in 30 years, challenging a crippling tariff ruling pushed by Boeing and the U.S.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy gave the leader of Catalonia until Thursday to cease his bid for independence or face the loss of some regional powers at the hands of the central government.

Investors might want to rethink the oil rally if Saudi Arabia shelves its float of Saudi Aramco. The giant flotation of the state-owned company was thrown into doubt last week. If that happens, the oil rally could get the legs kicked out of it.

Investors can’t get enough of emerging markets. Demand for high-yielding assets and a pickup in global economic growth has driven a surge in emerging-market stocks, bonds and currencies. But does the rally have further to run?

IN THE PAPERS

Credit Suisse has been targeted for a three-way split by activist hedge fund RBR amid growing investor impatience with the bank’s turnaround progress. FT (£)

More than 90% of U.K. commercial property deals in the third quarter involved overseas investors, with Asian buyers pouring record sums into London offices. FT (£)

Donald Trump plans to meet on Thursday with Janet Yellen to discuss the possibility of nominating her for a second term as central-bank chief. WSJ

Netflix’s wagers on original programming and international expansion are paying off as the streaming service again posted strong subscriber growth amid an increasingly competitive streaming video market. WSJ

MARKETS TODAY

European stocks edged higher at the open, following a mixed session in Asia and gains in New York. London's FTSE 100 was flat, with the health and tech sectors lagging.

Investors will be looking ahead to key inflation data in the U.K., as well as an appearance by BOE Governor Mark Carney at the Treasury Committee.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday, with all three major indexes logging another round of records, as investors awaited key corporate earnings reports that could set the tone for trading and determine whether the lofty levels of the equity market are justified. A host of big names are due to release numbers today, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

In Asia, many indexes were little changed ahead of the start of the Chinese Communist Party’s congress.

COMING UP

U.K. inflation figures, including consumer and producer prices for September; U.K. House Price Index data; Mark Carney testifies to the Treasury Select Committee.