Good morning! Here's what you need to know in markets on Wednesday.
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10 things you need to know in markets today
Here's what you need to know on Wednesday.
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Apple also announced a hefty, $50 billion, four-quarter expansion of its plan to return capital to shareholders, helping to mitigate investor disappointment to weaker-than-expected revenue results in its most recent quarter.The bulk of the plan is an additional $35 billion in stock buybacks, bringing the company's total share repurchase plan to $210 billion. Apple also said its board has approved a 10.5% increase in the company's quarterly dividend. Overall, Apple said it plans to spend $300 billion by March 2019.
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On Tuesday, North Korea accused the United States of pushing the Korean peninsula to "the brink of nuclear war" with the latest move by the US of performing military drills with a pair of bombers along with the South Korean and Japanese Air Forces in a show of strength. The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) made the accusations after the two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers were deployed Monday night.
Crude oil prices bounced back on Wednesday as a decline in U.S. inventories underpinned the market, although a dip in compliance with OPEC efforts to reduce output capped gains.U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 37 cents, or 0.76% to $48.02 a barrel by 6.50 a.m. BST (1.50 a.m. ET). On Tuesday, the market slid 2.4 percent to its lowest close since March 21.
The US Senate on Tuesday confirmed Jay Clayton, the Wall Street attorney chosen by President Donald Trump to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.The vote was 61-37 to give the job of running the independent agency that oversees Wall Street and the financial markets. Ten Democrats joined 51 Republicans in backing the nominee.
France's presidential rivals, centrist Emmanuel Macron and the far-right's Marine Le Pen, go head-to-head on Wednesday in a televised debate in which sparks are sure to fly as they fight their corner in a last encounter before Sunday's runoff vote.Opinion polls still show Macron, 39, holding a strong lead of 20 points over the National Front's Le Pen with just four days to go to the final vote, in what is widely seen as France's most important election in decades.
The UK's manufacturing sector is moving at "such a pace that suppliers are struggling to keep up with demand," according to the latest PMI survey from IHS Markit.IHS Markit's PMI survey for April, a measure of growth in the sector, hit a level of 57.3, bouncing back from a poor March, and hitting its highest level in three years.
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