- Trump’s first G7 expected to be ‘challenging’ (Reuters); Trump Saves Worst for Last on Foreign Trip (BBG)
- Trump Blasts German Carmakers’ U.S. Sales and Threatens Barriers (BBG)
- Trump directly scolds NATO allies, says they owe ‘massive’ sums (Reuters)
- Trump Likely to Maintain Obama’s Russia Sanctions (WSJ)
- Juncker says Trump was not aggressive on German trade surplus (Reuters)
- Republican wins Montana special election despite assault charge (Reuters)
- China Considers Changing Yuan Fixing Formula to Curb Swings (BBG)
- China Exerts More Control Over Its Currency With Tweak to Yuan Fix (WSJ)
- China’s teapot refiners set to slow crude imports as tanks overflow (Reuters)
- China’s reforms not enough to arrest mounting debt: Moody’s (Reuters)
- China central bank denies reports it told banks to deposit dollars (Reuters)
- Chinese foreign minister urges Seoul to resume talks with North Korea (Reuters)
- Amazon’s Brush With $1,000 Signals the Death of the Stock Split (WSJ)
- Waiting for ‘The Big One’ to Shake San Francisco (BBG)
- Philippine president urges IS-linked rebels to halt siege, start talks (Reuters)
- Why All CEOs Need to Be Tech CEOs (WSJ)
- Tesla’s Model X Is Missing the American SUV Craze (BBG)
- Major UK parties restart election push, under shadow of security threat (Reuters)
- Indonesia makes arrests as Islamic State claims Jakarta attacks (Reuters)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– China vowed to further build up military capabilities after a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed near a Chinese-built artificial island in the South China Sea, the first such patrol under U.S. President Donald Trump. on.wsj.com/2s1rdF3
– Moody’s Investors Service is facing a backlash in China against its decision to cut the country’s credit rating, a move that has come just as foreign ratings firms are set to receive greater access than ever to China’s economy. on.wsj.com/2rWiBQT
– United Parcel Service Inc is teaming up with Chinese express delivery firm SF Holdings, in a bid to tap surging demand for deliveries from China to the U.S. on.wsj.com/2qlywqN
– General Motors was accused in a lawsuit by owners of diesel-powered trucks of using illegal emissions software that allowed the vehicles to bypass government emissions tests and pollute far beyond legal limits on the road. on.wsj.com/2qpNtr3
– Wells Fargo & Co is sweetening its signing bonuses for veteran brokers, a move to capitalize on Morgan Stanley’s and Bank of America’s retreat from the industry’s costly recruiting practice known as “prisoner exchange.” on.wsj.com/2rnhWe4
– The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Thursday renewed an agreement with 10 other crude-oil producers to withhold output through March 2018, striking a deal of last resort among countries reeling economically and politically from low prices. on.wsj.com/2qTNve0
FT
– PepsiCo it selling all of its long-held 4.5 percent stake in British soft drinks company Britvic, its UK bottler. It said the disposal would not affect its “longstanding and valued bottling relationship with Britvic.”
– Jeremy Corbyn in a campaign relaunch on Friday will link terrorist attacks on British soil to wars fought by the UK overseas. Corbyn will address the terrorist threat during a speech in central London. He will call for an end to the “war on terror”, saying it is not working, and demand a “smarter way” to tackle terrorism.
– OPEC agreed to extend its production cuts into next year and the agreement will see the 1.8 million barrel a day cuts, first agreed in November, extended to the end of the first quarter of 2018.
– Exane BNP Paribas analysts said BT’s chairman-elect Jan du Plessis should cut dividend payout by 30 percent. BT this month scrapped its 10 percent dividend growth target in favour of a “progressive” policy, but still faces an 800-million-pound cash shortfall over the next three years to deliver just 2 percent growth, Exane said.
NYT
– The Trump administration is considering moving responsibility for overseeing more than $1 trillion in student debt from the Education Department to the Treasury Department, a switch that would radically change the system that helps 43 million students finance higher education. nyti.ms/2qpAh5a
– A Seattle law firm that specializes in suing automakers has filed a class-action lawsuit against General Motors Co , accusing the company of programming some of its heavy-duty pickup trucks to cheat on diesel emissions tests. nyti.ms/2qpz4es
– Companies are sticking by Fox News’s Sean Hannity as he promotes his conspiracy theory surrounding the murder of a DNC staff member, claiming he is not violating their core values. nyti.ms/2qpLL8X
– Saudi Arabia’s largest sovereign wealth fund will make a $20 billion investment in a new Blackstone Group LP infrastructure project, which could then double in size. nyti.ms/2qpA8io
– The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) extended oil production cuts through March 2018, after a meeting in Vienna on Thursday. The move follows a decision this month by Saudi Arabia and Russia to do so. nyti.ms/2qpKqPp
Britain
The Times
The Manchester bomber is believed to have planned the attack for at least a year and bought nails and screws for the atrocity in two trips to DIY stores in the city. bit.ly/2rmDgAz
The Guardian
A group of “diehard” shareholders determined to see former Royal Bank of Scotland Chief Executive Fred Goodwin in court are refusing to accept a settlement in their 700 million pounds ($904.89 million)legal claim against the bank. bit.ly/2rmoytc
The TUC has urged the next government to take action to boost pay as it warned that borrowing to top up wages was poised to breach the record levels hit just before the financial crisis of a decade ago. bit.ly/2rmKNiT
The Telegraph
The chairman of Lloyds Banking Group has dismissed a warning made by his counterpart at HSBC that the City could collapse like a Jenga tower following Brexit and predicted that financial services firms would cope if the UK left the EU without a deal. bit.ly/2rmBH5l
A key associate of mining magnate Beny Steinmetz has declined to testify at an arbitration hearing in Paris at the last minute, on the advice of his lawyers. bit.ly/2rmzWVS
Sky News
Fever-Tree boss Charles Rolls sold 3.9 percent stake in the company for 73 million pounds. bit.ly/2rmFBLM
Jeremy Corbyn is making a controversial return to election campaigning after the Manchester bomb attack with a speech blaming UK foreign policy for terrorism at home. bit.ly/2rmU76f
The Independent
Theresa May is urging the world’s leading industrial nations to come together to pressure tech companies to remove “harmful” extremist content from the web. ind.pn/2rmsNVQ
via http://ift.tt/2r3Bstd Tyler Durden