10 things you need to know today
Reuters/KCNA
Here is what you need to know.
Brazil's president could be impeached. In a 38-27 vote, an impeachment committee in Brazil's lower house of Congress has voted in favor of moving ahead with the impeachment proceedings of President Dilma Rousseff. She is accused of breaking budget laws to help in her 2014 reelection bid. Reuters reports that the proceedings will move to a full lower-house vote. A two-thirds majority vote in favor of impeachment would send the proceedings to the upper house, which would just need a simple majority to oust Rousseff.
Italy's weakest banks are getting a bailout. The Financial Times reports that Italy's struggling lenders will receive a €5 billion ($5.7 billion) bailout. The rescue fund, named Atlas after the mythological god, will be backstopped with funds from the country's largest banks, insurers, and asset managers, and it is designed to "mop up unsold shares from cash calls demanded by European regulators at several distressed smaller lenders," FT says. Italy's 10-year yield is up 2 basis points at 1.35%.
UK prices rose more than expected. The Office for National Statistics said the UK's consumer price index rose 0.5% year-over-year in March, outpacing the 0.4% growth that was expected. Stripping out the more volatile food and energy, prices were up 1.5% compared with the same period last year. The price gain was propelled by more people staying in hotels and eating out. Airfares surged 22.9% as Easter fell in March this year. The British pound is stronger by 0.6% at 1.4326.
Alcoa posts an earnings beat. The aluminum maker announced adjusted earnings of $0.07 a share, topping the $0.02 gain that was expected by the Bloomberg consensus. Revenue slumped 15% to $4.95 billion, shy of the $5.2 billion that analysts were anticipating. "Upstream segments maintained profitability in a persistently low pricing environment," CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said in the earnings release. Shares of Alcoa are down more than 4% in premarket trade.
Alibaba is making its biggest overseas bet yet. Reuters reports that the Chinese online retailer announced it was buying a controlling stake in the Singapore-based Lazada Group for about $1 billion. The acquisition will allow Alibaba to take advantage of growth opportunities in Southeast Asia. While the size of the stake is unknown, Reuters says it appears to be about a two-thirds holding.
Barclay's is dropping its headline sponsorship of the Premier League. Barclay's has been the headline sponsor of the top English soccer league for the past 15 years, but that's about to end, Bloomberg says. The deal cost the bank $57 million in 2015, and now that Barclays is shifting its focus away from Europe and toward the UK and the US it doesn't think the sponsorship is worth it. Despite no longer being the headline sponsor, Barclay's will still be the "official bank" of the league.
Nomura is restructuring. The Japanese bank said it would eliminate as many as 1,000 jobs and shut down its European equities business, according to Bloomberg. "This exercise will deliver significant efficiencies and cost savings for Nomura, refocusing the firm's activities and reallocating resources towards its areas of expertise and most profitable business lines," COO Tetsu Ozaki said. Nomura will explain its plan in more detail when it releases its full-year results on April 27.
Stock markets around the world are bid. Spain's IBEX (+1%) leads the advance in Europe after Japan's Nikkei (+1.1%) paced the gains in Asia. China's Shanghai Composite (-0.3%) underperformed. S&P 500 futures are higher by 6.50 points at 2,040.75.
Earnings reports trickle out. CSX will report after the closing bell. Wall Street analysts are expecting adjusted earnings of $0.37 a share on revenue of $2.68 billion, according to the Bloomberg consensus.
US economic data is light. Import/export prices will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, and the Treasury budget will cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is up 3 basis points at 1.76%.
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