Morning Briefing: Is a Greek tragedy looming?

Is a Greek tragedy looming?... JP Morgan forecasts interest rates at 2 per cent by end of 2016... Court will rule on US hedge fund’s bid to block takeover... Russian gas firm in alliance with Shell...

Steve Randall
Is a Greek tragedy looming?
World markets are watching the unfolding story of the Greek debt crisis with interest and caution. The possibility of Greece exiting the Eurozone and most likely the EU too is causing concern that won’t ease much until Monday at the earliest when Eurozone finance ministers hold an emergency summit. With little in the way of major data Friday the situation may dominate sentiment. In Asia most of the major indexes tracked Wall Street’s higher close Thursday but China suffered a correction which saw equities fall more than 6 per cent after a sell-off. European markets have so far shaken off the Greece issue and are trading higher.
US stock futures are trending higher. Oil is trending lower (Brent $63.48, WTI $59.75 at 6.15am ET) Gold is trending lower.
 
Today’s data
Atlanta Fed business inflation expectations at 10am ET
John Williams’ speech at 11.40am ET
Carmax, Liberty Star and T-Rex Oil are among the companies reporting earnings today.
 
JP Morgan forecasts interest rates at 2 per cent by end of 2016
A forecast by JP Morgan suggests that the Fed’s interest rate hikes could see 2 per cent by the end of next year. The Fed’s dovish tone this week has led to a broad consensus that there will be some movement in rates by the end of 2015, probably in September. JP Morgan economist Michael Feroli believes that the rate rises could happen at “every other meeting” of the Fed.
 
Court will rule on US hedge fund’s bid to block takeover
A US hedge fund wants the South Korean court to impose an injunction to stop a shareholder vote which could lead the way to Samsung C&T Corp being taken over by Cheil Industries. Elliot says that the move is not in the shareholders’ best interests and is a move to secure leadership succession in the family run conglomerate. The South Korean court will rule on July 1.
 
Russian gas firm in alliance with Shell
A report suggests that Russia’s Gazprom is building a strategic alliance with Royal Dutch Shell which will open up new markets to the Russian firm. Reuters says that the deal will include asset swaps. Although Gazprom is under US sanctions it has not been included in sanctions from the EU, where Shell is based.
 

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