Morning Briefing: World markets generally higher to end the week

World markets generally higher to end the week... Samsung takeover approved despite US investor’s campaign... Google stocks climb on better results... Fed could raise threshold for systemic importance...

Steve Randall
World markets generally higher to end the week
Global stock markets are broadly higher so far Friday as the Greek situation settles and regional issues dominate. Wall Street closed higher in the previous session with earnings pushing the Nasdaq to a new high. The optimism spread to Asia where Shanghai advanced more than 4 per cent before closing up 3.5 per cent. The only major Asian market to suffer losses was South Korea where investors reacted to the agreed takeover of Samsung by its sister firm Cheil Industries. European markets are currently down slightly from opening highs but the mood is generally positive with the Greek deal and regional earnings in focus.

US stock futures are flat. Oil is trending higher (Brent $57.11, WTI $50.91 at 4.15am ET) Gold is trending lower.
 
Today’s data
Consumer price index at 8.30am ET
Housing starts at 8.30am ET
Consumer sentiment at 10am ET
Autoliv, Empire Bancorp and WW Grainger are among the companies reporting earnings today.
 
Samsung takeover approved despite US investor’s campaign
A US fund almost stopped the takeover of electronics giant Samsung by its de-facto holding company Cheil Industries. Bloomberg reports that Paul Elliot-Singer had waged a 6-week campaign against Cheil’s takeover on the basis that the offer was not good value for Samsung C&T shareholders. However the takeover by the controlling Lee family was narrowly approved, leading to a drop in Samsung’s share price. Elliot Associates issued a statement saying that it was “disappointed” with the result and “reserves all options at its disposal.”
 
Google stocks climb on better results
Google exceeded market expectations Thursday and reported earnings of $6.99 per share with revenue of $17.73 billion on sales of $15.96 billion. CNBC reports that analysts were expecting $6.70 per share and stock surged more than 11 per cent on the news.
 
Fed could raise threshold for systemic importance
The threshold used to determine a bank’s systemic importance could be raised. The Fed chair Janet Yellen said in her speech Thursday that financial institutions were making progress in their ‘living wills’ and that she would be open to the idea of a “modest” increase in the current threshold of $50 billion in assets, above which a bank is seen as ‘too big to fail’. 
 

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