Reuters Insider - Reuters Today: UK to call on EU to increase sanctions on Russia
21/08/2018 13:59
Click the following link to watch video: https://share.insider.thomsonreuters.com/link?entryId=1_i3g8gscu&referenceId=1_i3g8gscu&pageId=ReutersNews Source: Reuters Insider Description: UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is set to say that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the world a more dangerous place and the European Union should apply more pressure on Moscow to ensure Russia sticks to international rules. BHP Billiton shares fell after the miner's underlying profit fell short of expectations. European stock markets opened cautiously as Sino-U.S. trade talks loom. Short Link: https://reut.rs/2N5P2Xj Video Transcript: Good morning and welcome to Reuters Today. I'm Angeline Ong. Britain will today call on the European Union to boost sanctions against Russia. UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is expected to say that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the world a more dangerous place. Hunt's likely to press that after the chemical weapons attack in England, the bloc should apply more pressure on Moscow and stand shoulder to shoulder with the US, which has just hit Russia with economic curbs this month. Hunt is speaking in Washington today in his first major speech since his appointment in July. Meanwhile, Britain is today expected to set out its plan to become an export superpower. British trade minister Liam Fox will today outline the government's aim to boost exports to 35% of GDP. br/ Fox's comments, expected later today, come at a time when the UK government is upping plans for a no-Brexit deal. Now with just months to go, there is still no exit agreement between the EU and Britain, increasing the chances of a disorderly exit from the bloc. To the broader markets now and European stocks have opened cautiously higher. The FTSEurofirst 300 is up around 0.2%. Germany's DAX is up almost 0.5% while the FTSE 100 is just managing to eke out a gain. Now these levels have been supported by hopes of a breakthrough in trade talks between China and the US, though comments from the US president about the Yuan and Federal Reserve policy capped gains. Trump reiterated he was not happy about the Fed's rate hikes, saying the central bank should do more to help him boost the US economy. Trump also said China was manipulating its currency to make up for having to pay tariffs imposed by Washington on some imports from China. He also added he did not expect much progress from trade talks with China this week in Washington. This outcome could weigh further on markets. CEBR's Vicky Pryce explains why. br/ br/ Chinese growth matters for the rest of us. We're now so interconnected. There's no doubt about it that there would be a huge sigh of relief if there is some positive outcome from the stocks. It may not happen immediately but we had seen China, already before, being quite prepared to relax some of its own rules, particularly in the financial sector. And US banks have been quite keen to do more in China as a result. Now some of that will be withdrawn which is going to happen, if the agreement doesn't take place, that's all. So the fact that there are talks is good news. br/ br/ Well, let's take a look at the movers and shakers for you. And Bayer tops the DAX leaderboards this morning after Berenberg upgraded the stock to "buy", saying the big sell-off after the Glysophate ruling makes the shares a bargain. Persimmon rising. The housebuilder reported a 13% rise for the first half and says it expects to post more growth. The oil services company Wood Group, is leading the STOXX 600 after its first-half results came in at the higher end of its forecast and it raised its cost-savings target. BHP Billiton posted a 33% jump in annual underlying profit, but flagged a delay in future savings as well as cost pressures at some of its operations. br/ The European Central Bank has fined French lender Credit Agricole and several subsidiaries for breaching its rules on how certain capital items should be classified. And HSBC says any material pick up for the Dutch real estate developer DLF is still some quarters away. And finally, Atlantia shares continue to recover today. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the Italian government is working on penalties it could apply against Atlantia - which owns Autostrade. Autostrade operates the bridge in Genoa which last week collapsed and killed more than 40 people. The Italian toll-road operator has vowed to rebuild the bridge, but stopped short of apologizing for the disaster. And that's it for now. I'm Angeline Ong, and this is Reuters