Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Wednesday, June 7:
1. Spanish banking giant Santander rescues Popular for €1
Banco Santander (MC:SAN) rescued Spanish rival Banco Popular (MC:POP) for the symbolic price of €1 ($1.12) on Tuesday after the European Central Bank (ECB) deemed the smaller bank to be “failing or likely to fail”.
Popular’s collapse was blamed on “toxic” real estate assets that it was unable to get off its books and its incapability to cover a capital shortfall in the markets given the lack of investor confidence.
Santander announced that it would raise €7 billion to cover the capital shortfall and strengthen Popular’s balance sheet in a merger that will make it Spain’s largest bank.
Madrid-listed shares of Santander were down more than 2% in European trading.
2. Countdown to U.K. vote, Comey testimony and ECB decision
Wednesday marked off the 24-hour countdown to the week’s trio of market risk events with eyes in Europe on the U.K.’s general election.
Britons were set to vote throughout the day on Thursday with surveys largely predicting a victory for U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party although some there were some concerns of a hung Parliament as some polls showed that the Labour Party had narrowed the gap in the month leading up to the election.
Sterling appeared to be in pause mode ahead of the vote with cable slipping just 0.04% at 5:22AM ET (9:22GMT) and the pound gaining just 0.06% against the euro.
Also on the market’s radar for Thursday, former FBI Director James Comey will give testimony to a Senate committee, while the European Central Bank will announce its latest policy decision.
3. Global stocks mixed ahead of risk events
Global stocks traded mixed on Wednesday ahead of the week’s major risk events.
European stocks showed no clear direction as market players digested the latest bank rescue in Spain. The benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 advanced 0.25% by 5:59AM GMT (5:59GMT), while Germany’s DAX slipped 0.01%. In the U.K., London’s FTSE gained 0.15%.
Earlier in Asia, China's Shanghai Composite surged 1.23%, but Japan's Nikkei showed caution, slipping just 0.02%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 also ended flat, though a positive read on the country’s GDP pushed the aussie higher against the dollar.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat open with mixed signs on Wall Street as investors preferred to wait on the sidelines. At 6:00AM GMT (10:00GMT), the blue-chip Dow futures slipped 0.05%, S&P 500 futures dropped 0.03% and the Nasdaq 100 futures inched up 0.05%.
4. Oil drops on profit-taking, U.S. inventories on tap
With no major reports on the U.S. economy scheduled for publication Wednesday, market participants will focus on the weekly data from the U.S. on stockpiles of crude and refined products.
Oil prices edged lower Wednesday with investors taking profit after crude managed to settle higher in the prior session for the first time in three days as Kuwait oil minister Essam al-Marzouq and Russia Energy Minister Alexander Novak assured markets the supply-cut agreement would not be jeopardized by the recent diplomatic row between Qatar and several Arab states.
After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. oil inventories fell by 4.62 million barrels in the week ended June 2.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its official weekly oil supplies report at 10:30AM ET (14:30GMT) Wednesday amid expectations for a draw of 3.4 million barrels.
U.S. crude oil futures fell 0.35% to $48.02 at 6:01AM GMT (10:01GMT), while Brent oil traded down 0.44% to $49.90.
5. OECD cuts U.S. growth estimate despite expectations for best global growth in 6 years
Though the OECD hiked its forecast for the global economy to growth of 3.5% this year, its best reading in six years, from the prior 3.3% estimate, it was more downbeat on recent developments in the U.S.
The Paris-based thinktank warned that the U.S. faced “sizeable” economic risks due to delays in the Trump administration pushing ahead with planned tax cuts and infrastructure spending.
In that light, the OECD cut its forecast to 2.1% growth in the American economy in 2017 from the prior 2.4% and to 2.4% in 2018 from the previous 2.8%.