Good morning! Here's what you need to know in markets today. Russia Hiked Interest Rates From 10.5% to 17% To Defend The Crumbling Ruble. This surprise announcement from the central bank comes after the ruble got absolutely crushed on Monday, losing more than 10% of its value against the US dollar, falling to below 64 against the dollar on Monday. Earlier this year, one dollar bought about 35 rubles. China's Slowdown Looks Even Worse. HSBC's purchasing managers index (PMI) for China's dominant manufacturing sector came in at 49.5, analysts expected a read of 49.8. Any reading below 50 indicates that a sector is contracting. This is the worst reading the country has had in seven months. The Oil Rally Reversed. After rising earlier in the day, oil prices fell back into a slump as trading went on. Around 8:30 p.m GMP on Monday, WTI futures were flirting with $55, falling as low as $55.09 after a more than 4.5% sell off. One Bank Just Failed The UK's Stress Tests. The Co-operative Bank came in well below the required standards in the Bank of England's 2014 stress tests, while the seven other major banks assessed passed, though two more were told to strengthen their capital positions. Manufacturing PMIs Are Coming. Today we'll get more business surveys today, for the eurozone at 9 a.m. GMT and the US at 2.45 p.m. GMT. For the eurozone, analysts are expecting an overall score of 51.5 in December, up from 51.1 last month. Anything above 50 signals growth. Standard Chartered Is Selling Its Consumer-Facing Arm In Hong Kong. Standard Chartered has agreed to sell its Hong Kong-based consumer finance business to a consortium that includes Pepper Australia Pty Ltd and a Chinese group, in a deal estimated between $600-700 million (£384-448 million), two people with knowledge of the deal said. Asian Markets Were Mixed. Japan's Nikkei took another kicking, losing 2.01% at the close. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is also currently down 1.27%, while China's Shanghai Composite is up by 1.35%. Greece's Leftist Radicals Are Still Leading In Polls. The survey conducted by GPO pollsters for MEGA TV showed support for Alexis Tsipras' Syriza at 28 percent versus the centre-right New Democracy, which would get 23.1 percent, if elections were held now. The poll comes a day ahead of the first round of a presidential vote among Greece's legislators, which could trigger snap elections. Boeing Just Boosted Its Share Buyback To $12 Billion. The plane manufacturing giant raised its share repurchase authorization to $12 billion (£7.67 billion) from $10 billion and said it would increase its quarterly dividend. Sony is Trying To Reassure Its Employees After A Massive Hack. Executives at Sony Corp's Hollywood movie studio sought to reassure employees on Monday that the studio would recover from a massive cyber attack that exposed internal emails and sensitive employee data.Join the conversation about this story »
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