- Global Stocks Face Fresh Losses (WSJ)
- European stocks lick wounds after mauling, oil steady (Reuters)
- Hang Seng Index Sinks Below Net Assets for First Time Since 1998 (BBG)
- U.S. Hedge Funds Boast Lower Losses as Markets Tumble Further (NYT)
- Deutsche Bank Drops as Investment Bank Revenue Concerns Mount (BBG)
- Islamic State Uses Syria’s Biggest Dam as Refuge and Potential Weapon (WSJ)
- Goldman-run funds most popular with Republican candidates, disclosures show (Reuters)
- Trader Talk in Currency-Rigging Suit Draws Scrutiny From U.S. (BBG)
- Putin 'probably' approved Polonium murder of Litvinenko: British inquiry (Reuters)
- IEX's Exchange Quest Spurs a `Flash Boys' Fight With Citadel (BBG)
- Campaigner-in-Chief Bill Clinton Is Worried (BBG)
- France Backs Christine Lagarde for Second Term as IMF Chief (BBG)
- Florida Latinos Say Trump Hurts the GOP Brand (WSJ)
- Short Sellers Making an Even Bigger Killing Than You Think (BBG)
- Why Bank of East Asia Could Be Up for Grabs (WSJ)
- U.S. congressional committee subpoenas ex-drug CEO Shkreli (Reuters)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
- Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that assembles the bulk of the world's iPhones, has offered about 625 billion yen ($5.3 billion) to take over troubled Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp, according to people familiar with the matter. (http://on.wsj.com/1OHqOvV)
- Uber Technologies Inc is preparing to go live with a full-scale meal delivery service across 10 cities in the U.S., an expansion that will test the company's ability to use its drivers to move goods. (http://on.wsj.com/1Kry8dg)
- General Motors Co launched a car-sharing service on Wednesday that competes with Zipcar, Car2Go and similar companies that target students, city-dwellers and others who don't own vehicles but would rent one on occasion. (http://on.wsj.com/1V9ZDxo)
- Barclays PLC is closing its cash equities business in Asia and pulling out of two markets in the region, according to people familiar with the matter, and a letter sent out to clients Thursday and viewed by The Wall Street Journal. (http://on.wsj.com/1V9UMwn)
- Wal-Mart Stores Inc will give nearly all its U.S. hourly store employees-and not just minimum-wage earners-a raise next month, as the nation's largest private employer tries to combat a tighter labor market and the turnover endemic in the retailing industry. (http://on.wsj.com/1V9aI1P)
FT
'Theo T' Panamax oil tanker, the first oil tanker to sail from the United States after restrictions were lifted on the country's crude exports, docked at the French port of Fos on Wednesday, having left Texas almost three weeks ago.
Goldman Sachs has agreed to donate a "substantial six-figure sum" to Britain Stronger in Europe, a campaign to keep Britain in the European Union.
According to a report released on Wednesday by the Institute of International Finance, the flow of capital out of China and other emerging markets was significantly worse than previously thought in 2015.
NYT
- Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia said they indicted five people, including two research scientists, on charges of stealing trade secrets about drugs to treat cancer and other diseases from GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the British drug giant. (http://nyti.ms/1OHBB9a)
- Deutsche Bank AG reported a huge yearly loss of 6.7 billion euros ($7.30 billion) as the cost of past wrongdoing continued to weigh on its earnings. For the fourth quarter, the bank announced it had a net loss of 2.1 billion euros, in contrast to a net profit of 441 million euros a year earlier. (http://nyti.ms/1OHC5we)
- United States Treasury secretary, Jacob Lew, said the financial crisis in Puerto Rico was deepening and he urged Congress to act quickly to give the government the power it needs to restructure all of its debt. (http://nyti.ms/1OHCr5Z)
- Shares of Twitter Inc hit a record low early Wednesday before going on a wild ride and rising 4.1 percent for the day. The gain did little to erase Twitter's negative trajectory, with its shares off 25 percent this year. Square Inc , which went public last November, fell below its initial public offering price of $9 for the first time on Wednesday before recovering. (http://nyti.ms/1OHDRNV)
- California's attorney general is investigating Exxon Mobil Corp on whether the company lied to the public and shareholders about the risks of climate change, and whether the company's statements over the years constitute violations of securities laws and other statutes. (http://nyti.ms/1OHDaEf)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** The weak dollar and expectations of a stimulus-heavy federal budget led Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz to hold the line on interest rates as he waits to see what the government has in store for Canada's struggling economy. (http://bit.ly/1Udrg8N)
** The Justin Trudeau government says it reserves the right to suspend or cancel exports in the controversial C$15-billion ($10.37 billion) arms deal with Saudi Arabia if events warrant, a shift in message after weeks of framing the contract as a done deal. (http://bit.ly/1Ksr3sV)
** Taking center stage at the annual World Economic Forum and in the midst of economic upheaval both at home and abroad, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was remarkably upbeat as he called upon global billionaires and leaders of worldwide corporations to invest in Canada, saying the country has more to offer than oil and natural gas. (http://bit.ly/1PhES4R)
** Refugee settlement officials in Toronto have joined those in Ottawa and Vancouver in asking the federal government to stop sending more Syrian refugees their way for a few days until they can house the large number of people who have already landed at their door. (http://bit.ly/1PGFqeD)
NATIONAL POST
** German multi-billionaire Klaus-Michael Kuehne is close to a deal to buy one of Vancouver's largest office towers, which houses Royal Bank of Canada's British Columbia head office, the Financial Post has learned. The deal, reportedly worth C$425 million, but which has yet to close, is another sign of weakness in the Canadian loonie, making real estate acquisitions an attractive opportunity for foreign buyers.(http://bit.ly/20fvjoF)
** A Conservative foreign affairs critic, Peter Kent, says the Liberal government shouldn't lift sanctions or reopen its embassy in Iran because of continuing threats to foreign diplomats. (http://bit.ly/1T7NISv)
** For more than a decade, the media has reported the soaring cost of real estate in Canada's big cities, especially in Vancouver. Now a group of academics from the area have proposed a solution: a tax on properties left vacant, or held by those with "limited economic or social ties to Canada". (http://bit.ly/23gyZcb)
Britain
The Times
Barclays set to axe another 1,000 jobs in investment bank
Barclays Plc is expected to cut more than 1,000 jobs across its investment bank, with its Asian operations being hit particularly hard as Jes Staley, the new chief executive, begins to implement his strategy. (http://thetim.es/1WvJ4xd)
Nestle raises bar in KitKat trademark dispute
Nestle SA has decided against taking a break in its long-running battle to register a trademark for its four-fingered KitKat chocolate bar in Britain. The Swiss confectionery group said that it would appeal a High Court decision yesterday that its KitKat bars were not distinctive enough to consumers to be trademarked. (http://thetim.es/1Jj94de)
The Guardian
Asda plans put more than 1,000 store and staff canteen jobs at risk
Asda is considering cutting more than 1,000 store jobs under plans to close hundreds of staff canteens and shopfloor services such as photo processing units. (http://bit.ly/1QmXLlV)
The Telegraph
Vatican wants UK to remain in the European Union
The Vatican wants Britain to stay in the European Union, the Pope's foreign secretary has declared. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, secretary for relations with states within the Holy See, suggested "Brexit" could weaken Europe. (http://bit.ly/23fMXeu)
Airline chiefs join forces to cut airport charges
Europe's five biggest airlines, which are normally the fiercest of rivals, have teamed up to urge the European Union to stop the "fleecing" of their passengers by "excessive" airport charges. The bosses of British Airways-owner International Airlines Group, easyJet Plc, Ryanair Holdings Plc, Air-France KLM and Lufthansa put aside their differences in Amsterdam today to launch a new lobbying group, called Airlines for Europe. Their first action was to call on the EU to bring down costs for their customers by overhauling regulation. (http://bit.ly/1P6WdeR)
FCA chiefs deny Treasury interfered to stop bank culture probe
The Financial Conduct Authority has denied the Government has compromised its independence following the controversy over its decision to abandon a review of banking industry culture. (http://bit.ly/1KrPcQb)
Sky News
KPMG Braced For Probe Into HBOS Audit Work
The accounting watchdog is to fire the starting gun on a formal examination of the auditing of HBOS prior to the bank's catastrophic failure in 2008. The Financial Reporting Council is expected to announce on Thursday that it is to begin making enquiries into the work undertaken by KPMG, one of the 'big four' accountancy firms. (http://bit.ly/1T64Pnv)
Goldman To Help Bankroll EU 'In' Campaign
Goldman Sachs Group Inc has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the campaign to keep Britain in the European Union, underscoring City firms' concerns about the implications of 'Brexit'. Goldman has agreed to give what insiders said was a "substantial six-figure sum" to Britain Stronger in Europe, the group chaired by the former Marks & Spencer boss Lord Rose. (http://bit.ly/1T5u6yf)