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Monday, April 20, 2015

10 things you need to know before European markets open

Good morning! Here are 10 things you need to know in markets today. Greece says if it leaves the euro, others will follow. Greece's Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that if Greece were to leave the eurozone, there would be an inevitable contagion effect. At the end of this week, the eurozone's finance ministers meet, and Greece will be the main topic of conversation, though a bailout deal by Friday now looks unlikely. Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Pakistan for a spending spree. Chinese president Xi Jinping is due in Pakistan on Monday where he will launch $46 billion (£30.76 billion) in projects linking the old allies, a figure that far exceeds US spending in Pakistan and underscores China's projection of power in Asia. HSBC and Standard Chartered may leave London. HSBC and Standard Chartered are looking at the viability of quitting London for a new home in Asia because a big jump in a tax on UK banks makes staying in Britain increasingly painful. Several investors told Reuters they want the two banks to do a thorough analysis on whether it makes sense to move after Britain raised the bank tax by a third last month.  Eurozone construction output is coming. It's a quiet day for data, and the eurozone's construction spending in February is the only significant data on this side of the Atlantic. Output rose 3% year-on-year in January, with a 1.8% month-on-month boost from December.  China's central bank slashed a requirement for banks, to try and stimulate the economy. China's central bank on Sunday cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, the second industry-wide cut in two months, adding more liquidity to the world's second-biggest economy to help spur bank lending and combat slowing growth. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) lowered the reserve requirement ratio for all banks from 19.5% to 18.5%. Morgan Stanley is in talks over paying $500 million to settle a probe. Morgan Stanley is in discussions to pay $500 million (£334.37 million) to settle an investigation by New York's attorney general into whether the Wall Street bank misled investors in taking mortgage bonds that lost value during the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday in its online edition, citing people familiar with the matter. Some banks reportedly tried to renege on deals made when the Swiss Frank surged. After the Swiss National Bank abandoned its price cap on the franc in January, some dealers such as Bank of America Corp , Barclays Plc and Goldman Sachs Group Inc approached customers about changing some trades, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the discussions. Toyota is releasing two hybrid cars in China this year. Toyota Motor Corp , the world's largest automaker by sales volume, plans to launch two hybrid cars in China this year as part of efforts to launch vehicles that will help to reduce pollution in the country. The gasoline-electric hybrid cars, called Levin Hev and Corolla, will be launched in China in the second half of the year. Asian markets are mixed. Japan's Nikkei is up 0.13%, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down 0.47%. The Shanghai Composite is up 1.18% after China's reserve ratio cut. The International Monetary Fund sees big risks to the global recovery. World finance officials said Saturday they see a number of threats on the horizon for a global economy still clawing back from the deepest recession in seven decades, and a potential Greek debt default presents the most immediate risk. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 9 animated maps that will change the way you see the world


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT uk.businessinsider.com