23 October: Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

Just enough

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has won a second term, securing enough seats to form a stable government with support from smaller parties. His Liberal Party’s progressive policies will likely continue with the backing of the New Democratic Party, giving the coalition an 11-seat majority in Parliament. Initial market reaction to the result has been relatively muted as the country’s economy performed strongly under the first Trudeau administration.

This again

A vote in Parliament today will let Prime Minister Boris Johnson know if he has any chance of getting his Brexit deal secured, and if it can be achieved ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline. The vote to allow the legislation for the country’s exit from the European Union to proceed is scheduled for 7 p.m. London time, and should that pass, Johnson has until Thursday to secure final approval in the House of Commons before it goes to the Lords. That progress is far from certain, so as usual with Brexit, there may be some volatility over the coming days.

Corporate news

It is a mammoth day for earnings. UBS Group AG saw shares rise more than 2% after the bank reported a stronger-than-expected performance from its wealth management unit. Coming up later (deep breath), UPS Inc., McDonald’s Corp., Procter & Gamble Co., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Whirlpool Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., Harley-Davidson Inc., Snap Inc., Texas Instruments Inc. and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. are among the many, many companies announcing results.

Markets rise

Overnight the MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index gained 0.4% as trade deal optimism was maintained by President Donald Trump’s comments that talks remain on track. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.1% higher by 5:50 a.m. Eastern Time as investors digested earnings in the region. S&P 500 futures pointed to a flat open, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 1.780% and gold a little higher.

Coming up…

Existing U.S. home sales data for September is published at 10:00 a.m., with the Richmond Fed manufacturing index released at the same time. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan meet in Sochi today, with the fate of Syria’s Kurds possibly decided by the talks. The top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, William Taylor, will testify today in the House, and his text message exchanges with Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, will form a crucial part of the inquiry.

What we've been reading

This is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours.

• Emerging markets are the next asset bubble.
• China’s central bank boosts liquidity ahead of tax payment surge.
• Three words, 11 million jobs: Draghi’s euro-area economic legacy.
• London investment bankers charged in insider-trading ring.
• Half the world’s banks are too weak to survive a downturn, McKinsey says.
• U.S. air quality was improving, now it is getting worse.
• Plasma guns firing supersonic jets of ionized gas for controlled nuclear fusion.