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10 things you need to know before European markets open
Here's what you need to know.
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1. Investment bankers working on emerging market dealmaking will reap record fees in 2017 thanks to unprecedented levels of debt issuance and stock market flotations across the developing world. Fed by cheap global borrowing costs and a blistering rally in asset prices, EM fees will this year top $20 billion for the first time, data compiled by Thomson Reuters shows.
2. Chinese conglomerate Fosun International is taking a large chunk of Tsingtao Brewery after Japan's Asahi Group said it would sell its entire 19.9% stake for a total of 106 billion yen ($937 million). Asahi said in October it was considering selling its stake in Tsingtao, China's second largest brewer which was founded in 1903 by German and British merchants.
3. Canada's BlackBerry beat third-quarter earnings forecasts, sending its Toronto-listed shares surging 12% to a four-year high. The company secured 36 deals with US federal government agencies in the quarter, seven of which were each worth more than $1 million, Chief Executive John Chen said.
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5. Global cryptocurrency markets are now averaging the same daily trading volumes as the New York Stock Exchange. Twenty-four-hour trade volume in the cryptocurrency market passed the $50 billion mark on Wednesday,according to the data provider CoinMarketCap.com.
6. An Italian judge has ordered former executives from oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and Eni to stand trial over an alleged $1.1 billion bribery scheme. Mrs Justice Barbara handed down the ruling on Wednesday, stating top executives are to be tried on charges of aggravated international corruption for their role in a $1.1 billion deal for Nigerian oil block OPL 245 in 2011.
7. Leaving the European Union has "the potential to reshape the structure" of the British economy as the UK's future relationship with the EU becomes more clear, the International Monetary Fund said. The IMF said that it sees the potential for a shift in the way Britain's economy is structured as Brexit alters the sectors that are most important to the UK's growth.
8. Uber is a transport service, according to Europe's top court, a decision that is a massive blow for the firm.The European Court of Justice issued its ruling Wednesday morning, opening up the possibility for European Union governments to regulate Uber much more closely at a local or national level or even to ban it altogether.
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9. UBS has reiterated its view that bitcoin, and wider cryptocurrency markets, are in a bubble. The Swiss investment bank said: "High turnover, against limited real-world use, suggests that many buyers are seeking speculative gain. And while the supply of Bitcoins is limited, the broader stock of cryptocurrencies is not, with thousands of potential substitutes."
10. The US passed the final version of the tax bill on Wednesday, capping off a furious seven-week push to bring about the most sweeping change to the US tax code in decades.The nearly $1.5 trillion tax cut requireda second vote in the Houseafter aSenate rule forced Republicansto remove three minor details from the bill on Tuesday.
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