Good morning! Here are 10 things you absolutely need to know in markets today. Plunging Oil Prices Are Pushing BP Into A Round Of Job Cuts. BP is to axe middle managers and could freeze projects as it grapples with the plummeting oil price, The Sunday Times reported, citing finance director Brian Gilvary. European Investor Confidence Is Coming. The Sentix index of investor confidence is coming out at 9:30 a.m. GMT. Analysts are expecting that there will be a small improvement in the index, which is still in negative territory. Greece Passed Its 2015 Budget With A Midnight Vote. The budget, which predicts 2.9% economic growth for Greece next year, and a deficit of just 0.6% of GDP, was passed by 155 lawmakers to 134 overnight. Japan's Sales Tax Shock Was Worse Than We Thought. Japan's economic contraction in July-September was deeper than initially expected, according to revised data on Monday that backs Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent decision to delay a second sales tax hike. The annualised contraction was 1.9%, not 1.6% as previously thought. But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Is Set For An Even Bigger Landslide. Latest media projections show Abe's LDP winning 303-320 of 475 seats, up from the 294 he won in 2012. Germany's Industrial Production Ticked Up. Output rose 0.2% in October, slightly less than analysts had expected. That follows a 2.5% increase in factory orders for the same month. China's Latest Trade Figures Don't Look Healthy. China's imports fell unexpectedly in November while export growth slowed, adding to concerns the world's second-largest economy could be facing a sharper slowdown. Exports rose 4.7& in November from a year earlier, while imports dropped 6.7% - the sharpest decline since March. Asian Markets Are Up. Bad data from both Japan and China doesn't seem to have weighed too heavily on Asian investors. The Nikkei closed up 0.08% to start the week, the Hang Seng is currently up 0.48%, while the Shanghai Composite has surged again, and is currently up 3.44%. German Chancellor Angela Merkel Says France Should Be Reforming More Quickly. Crisis-hit France was urged Sunday by Germany and its own Nobel prize-winning economist to reform, days before Paris prepares to unveil a controversial set of measures to unblock its stagnating economy. The Founders Of India IT Firm Infosys ARE Selling Shares Worth $1.1 Billion. Four of the founders of Infosys are seeking to raise about $1.1 billion (£706.7 million) by selling stakes in the Indian IT outsourcing company, IFR reported on Monday.Join the conversation about this story »
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