10 things you need to know in markets, December 6

Good morning! Here’s what you need to know in markets on
Thursday.

REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

1.
Global stocks are
falling again.  European and UK markets both
fell more than 1%, amid lingering fears over US-China trade and a
flattening US yield curve. US markets were closed to mark the
funeral of former President George H.W. Bush.

2. China has confirmed major details about the
Trump-Xi trade deal. While the statement was light on
specifics, the Chinese official attempted to assuage skepticism
about the deal that helped contribute to a major selloff in US
stocks. The Chinese also made a concrete step toward addressing
US concerns by releasing a new set of punishments for
intellectual property theft. But confusion over the deal and
ineffective communication by the Trump
team has
left many worried.

3.Nissan has found more cases of improper testing of
vehicles in Japan and is considering recalling affected
cars, the Nikkei reported on Thursday. Nissan has
already revealed a few cases of improper inspections over the
past year. 

4. Facebook is in hot water, again, after the UK
Parliament published a trove of top-secret Facebook executive
emails on Wednesday. The hundreds of pages of documents provide
an unprecedented window into Facebook leadership’s approach to
competition and growth. Here
are the 7 biggest revelations you need to know about.

5.
Private equity firm Blackstone Group is readying an IPO of Alight
Solutions,a US provider of healthcare and retirement
benefits services that could be valued at more than $7 billion,
including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.

6.
The Northern Irish party that props up Theresa May’s Conservative
government would not vote to topple her in a confidence vote even
if she loses a key vote on her Brexit deal next
week, DUP lawmaker Sammy Wilson said.

7.
Tesla has opened a tender process to build its Shanghai
Gigafactory and at least one contractor has started buying
materials, the clearest indication that construction
is imminent.

8. The Australian dollar fell
sharply on Wednesday, losing ground on the back of a big
undershoot on Australian economic growth in the September quarter
and dovish remarks from the Bank of Canada which resulted in
broad-selling in commodity-linked
currencies. At
8.10am AEDT, the Aussie was down 0.94% to 0.7268.

9.
The number of electric vehicles in the region of 100 million
people stretching from Poland in the north to Bulgaria in the
south is expected to surge when tighter European
Union emissions rules come into force in 2020.

10. Put down your avocado
toast. A Michelin-starred chef says
restaurants should stop serving avocados because they’re “the
blood diamonds of Mexico”. Read why here.