news

Randgold. Below a summary of the headlines we're looking at:
Lloyds Bank to ban credit card owners from buying cryptocurrencies
Ryanair CEO warns of strikes, says some pilot demands 'laughable'
Lufthansa aims to replace top management at Brussels Airlines
Merck's consumer health sale at risk as Nestle bows out - sources
Infineon CEO sees no spin-offs, IPOs for units -Euro am Sonntag
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri takes control of STX France
Activist investor Elliott sheds most of Dufry stake
MEDIA-iPhone X owners report problems with incoming calls- FT
Heathrow terminals should be opened up to competition says IAG
Broadcom to raise Qualcomm bid in push for talks, sources say
Daily Mirror owner to clinch takeover of rival titles this week -Sky
Engie board puts four candidates forward for chairman role -report
Daimler, Bosch to test self-driving cars soon - Automobilwoche
Schaeffler has e-mobility orders worth $1.25 bln -Automobilwoche
MEDIA-SAP sees good chance for 30 pct margin in 2019 -Euro am Sonntag
Fitch: Unilever's Strong 2017 Results Do Not Rule Out Downgrade
Tesco says Booker's Wilson to be UK and Ireland boss after takeover
Engineering group Sandvik Q4 operating profit tops forecast
VW seeks delay in U.S. trial after lawyer references monkey testing,
EXCLUSIVE-Merck's consumer health sale at risk as Nestle bows out - sources
Randgold 2017 profit up 14 pct, doubles dividend
BRIEF-lastminute.com Expects For 2017 Net Loss Of EUR 8-9 Mln
German coalition negotiators may drop proposal to abolish air transport tax
ANALYSIS-Deutsche Bank gambles German goodwill with bonus bonanza
(Tom Pfeiffer and Danilo Masoni)
*****
FUTURES POINT TO SHARP SELL-OFF IN EUROPEAN STOCKS AS YIELDS RISE
(0721 GMT)
Futures have opened sharply lower across the main benchmarks, with drops of 0.7 to 1.1
percent. Meanwhile Germany's 10-year government bond yield has risen to its highest level
since
September 2015 - so the yield pressure looks like it's here to stay today as well.
(Helen Reid)
*****
EURO AREA PMIS COULD PUSH YIELDS HIGHER (0653 GMT)
Euro area PMIs today at 0900 GMT will provide a read on growth in the region, but
economists
at Societe Generale reckon stocks may not take the data well even if it points to strong
activity.
"These have the potential to maintain upward pressure on yields if they suggest strong
underlying growth momentum. Strong growth will provide little solace for equities or
commodities
if it pushes bond yields higher," write SocGen analysts.
They add that the sell-off in bonds has been more aggressive than they had anticipated.
The
past week was "a tough one for asset markets" and this one could be more of the same.
(Helen Reid)
*****
"EXTREMELY WELCOME NEWS FOR ACTIVE" (0638 GMT)
Bernstein's global quantitative analysis team finds a pick-up in performance for active
managers and signs they could continue to do well this year, a godsend after years of
disappointing returns for the industry.
European portfolio managers and global quantitative managers beat benchmarks by
3.3% and
1.9% on average in 2017, Bernstein finds, and this strong performance has continued into
2018.
Stock and factor correlations at multiyear lows create optimal conditions for active
management and stock picking. "Even if are unlikely to go lower from here, the
current levels suggest a rich opportunity set for stock pickers for the next 12 months," write
Alla Harmsworth and team.
Intra-sector correlations are at 20-year lows on both sides of the Atlantic, and valuation
spreads are wider than usual across the whole market and within sectors, they note.
"This suggests a heightened potential ability to identify idiosyncratic 'winners' even
amongst peers within narrow market segments," says Harmsworth.
It'll be interesting to see whether this low correlation environment continues even if the
stocks rally starts to peter out.