Good morning, New York...
FT ALPHAVILLE
The China flash HSBC PMIs missed for April, staying barely positive at 50.5 and providing little encouragement for those hoping that the first quarter GDP growth was an anomaly. Click through to Kate's post for a table of main index components and further discussion.
Depressing eurozone and German PMIs: The eurozone composite was bleakly steady at 46.5 while the German composite hit 48.8 from 50.6 in March — its worst level in six months. The only real good news is that this might increase the chances of an ECB refi cut in the near future. David has the full breakdown and more.
NEWS
Europe may have hit the political limits of how far it can go with austerity-led economic policies because of the growing opposition in the eurozone's recession-hit periphery, the European Commission's president said on Monday. José Manuel Barroso said that while he still believed in the need for sweeping economic reforms and drastic cuts in budget deficits, such policies needed to have "acceptance, politically and socially", which was now at risk. (Financial Times)
US plans to force foreign banks to hold more capital are a threat to harmonious global regulation and risk "a protectionist reaction", the EU commissioner in charge of financial services has warned. Michel Barnier told Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, that plans to force higher capital requirements on the US subsidiaries of European banks could lead to retaliation against US banks. (Financial Times)
Italy's president warns of deadlock: Giorgio Napolitano, Italy's 87-year-old head of state elected by parliament for a second term, has delivered a powerful message to the country's political parties to end two months of "fatal deadlock" and agree on a coalition government within days. Choking back tears in his inauguration address on Monday as he expressed his reluctance to accept an unprecedented second mandate, Mr Napolitano slammed the parties for their failure to reach agreement and for the "unforgivable" lack of political reforms. He implicitly threatened to resign if no government materialised. (Financial Times)
Twitter has signed its biggest advertising deal with one of the world's leading ad-buyers, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal with Publicis's Starcom MediaVest Group is worth hundreds of millions of dollars over several years and reflects both the growing importance of Twitter in media and marketing, and new thinking on its relationship with television. (Financial Times)
The concentration of US oil imports from its top-five suppliers rose last year to a 15-year peak, as the country imports more crude from Canada and Saudi Arabia. Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela, and Iraq "accounted for almost 72 per cent of total US net crude oil imports", the highest since 1997, said the US Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the US Department of Energy. (Financial Times)
Brazil's two largest private tertiary education companies have agreed to combine in a private equity-backed deal that will create the world's biggest for-profit operator by market capitalisation. Kroton Educacional, part-owned by US-based private equity firm Advent International, will pay $2.48bn for rival Anhanguera Educacional Participações, part-controlled by BlackRock of the US, to create a company with 1m students and a pro forma market value of R$12bn (US$5.9bn). (Financial Times)
Netflix shares rose almost 25 per cent in after-market trading as the film and TV subscription service beat forecasts for the first quarter and added 3m new subscribers. The company, which now rivals Time Warner's HBO for the number of subscribers it has in the US, launched House of Cards , starring Kevin Spacey – the first of several original series to be released by Netflix this year. (Financial Times)
News Corp looks set to reap a sizeable payout from the $139m settlement of a class-action lawsuit that alleged that directors harmed shareholders by letting Rupert Murdoch use the company he chairs as "his personal fiefdom". The nature of the "derivative" litigation, in which shareholders sued board members on behalf of the company, means that insurers will pay $139m to News Corp under its director and officer indemnity policies. (Financial Times)
Walmart directors working on the retailer's investigation into bribery allegations in Mexico had their cash pay doubled to at least $120,000 last year because of the extra work. The world's largest retailer by sales said four members of its audit committee were paid an extra $60,000 last year on top of their $60,000 annual retainers and equity awards worth $175,000. (Financial Times)
CP All has made a 787 baht ($27.34) per share offer for control of cash-and-carry retailer Siam Makro, valuing the Thai-based company at $6.6bn, well above its market value of about $5.7bn. CP All is Thailand's largest convenience store chain and the world's third-largest operator of 7-Eleven stores. (Financial Times)
Google's Motorola unit has lost another key battle over intellectual property against Apple after the US International Trade Commission ruled that a smartphone sensor patent was invalid. The termination of Google's final outstanding case against Apple at the ITC raises fresh questions about its $12.5bn acquisition of Motorola, which was intended to bolster its patent armoury in the litigious smartphone market. (Financial Times)
Markets: Stocks, commodities and growth-sensitive currencies are on the back foot, while perceived havens such as the yen and Treasuries are in demand after disappointing readings on Germany's and China's manufacturing sectors added to concerns about the outlook for the global economy. Corporate earnings also will be a feature in the session as traders absorb a swath of European and US results that will be topped off with Apple's numbers, delivered after the Wall Street closing bell. (FT's Global Market Overview)
