10 things you need to know about worldwide markets today

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July 16, 2015 10:22 AM

All over the world, national economies are very busy. Greece is still in the news, and Intel beat revenue expectations by a slim margin. These and many others make up the 10 ten things going on in markets all around the world today that you need to know.

Billionaire businessman, Carl Icahn.

1. Greece's parliament has approved the bailout package presented by prime minister Alexis Tsipras, which was agreed with European creditors on Monday. Of the 300 seats, 229 lawmakers voted for the deal, and 64 against it.

2. The ECB is coming. At 12:45 p.m London time (7:45 a.m. New York) the European Central Bank makes its latest decisions on interest rates, followed by a press conference by Mario Draghi 45 minutes later. Few analysts expect a change in monetary policy, but markets will be listening out for any comments on the ECB's treatment of Greek banks.

3. The Asian Development Bank cut its growth forecasts for developing Asia. Developing Asia is now expected to grow 6.1% and 6.2% this year and in 2016 against the ADB's March forecast of 6.3% for both years, the bank said in its 2015 outlook supplement released on Thursday. The cut is in large part down to lower expectations for China.

4. Carl Icahn called out BlackRock. Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn said on Wednesday that BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, was an "extremely dangerous" company because of the prevalence of its exchange-traded fund products, which Icahn deems illiquid.

5. China's debt is still growing more rapidly than the economy. According to Bloomberg, outstanding loans for companies and households stood at a record 207% of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of June, nearly double the 125% level seen in 2008.

6. Asian markets are mixed. The Shanghai composite is up 0.86% as of 6:50 a.m. London time (1:50 a.m. New York), while Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down 0.09%. Japan's Nikkei is up 0.66%.

7. eBay is selling its enterprise unit. E-commerce company eBay is nearing a deal to sell its enterprise business to a consortium led by private equity firm Permira for about $900 million (£576.54 million), the Wall Street Journal reported.

8. Intel beat revenue expectations slightly. Intel reported quarterly revenue slightly above analysts' expectations on Wednesday, as growth in its data centers and Internet-of-Things businesses helped offset weak demand for personal computers that use the company's chips.

9. Honda will pay out over claims that it overcharged minorities. A US auto finance arm of Honda will pay $24 million (£15.37 million) in restitution over allegations that its loan pricing practices caused minority customers to pay higher interest rates than white borrowers did, US regulators said on Tuesday.

10. Mining giant Rio Tinto cut its iron ore target. The mining giant said it now expects to ship around 340 million tonnes during the 2015 calendar year after unseasonal weather, including two cyclones, in Western Australia reduced capacity at its Pilbara operations by seven million tonnes. It had previously forecast annual shipments of around 350 million tonnes.

Source: Business Insider.

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