Nissan-Mitsubishi’s $1.8 billion tie-up

Nissan Motor Co is set to take a third stake in Mitsubishi, becoming its largest shareholder, according to local media reports.

The $1.8 billion tie-up is designed to boost Mitsubishi’s brand name in the wake of an emissions scandal, as well as enlarging the market share of Nissan. Trading in Mitsubishi Motors’ shares was suspended on Thursday before the announcement, jumping 16.6 percent on the news once trading resumed.

Mitsubishi became embroiled in an emissions scandal last month, which caused shares to plunge 40 percent and wiped $3 billion off its value.

Early on Thursday reports suggested that the two companies were discussing “various matters including capital cooperation”, later confirming a joint press conference.

Gloomy day for global markets

Asian markets fell on Thursday after a poor Wall Street session, a trend set to continue into Europe.

Toyota and Nissan shares brought down the market in Tokyo, edging down 0.1 percent before recovering at close. The Shanghai Composite closed up 0.4 percent down, with the Hang Seng down 0.78 percent.

European markets seem to have followed suit, with the FTSE opening down 0.4 percent and the DAX down 0.3 percent.

Bank of England’s Super Thursday

The Bank of England are set to publish its latest assessment of the UK economy today, dubbed ‘Super Thursday’.

After a spate of less-than-positive UK economic figures over the past few weeks, the Bank of England is expected to cut its previous forecasts; from the 2.2 percent expected growth in 2016 to 2 percent. The upcoming EU referendum continues to have an impact of forecasts, making it more unlikely that the bank will vote to raise interest rates from their low of 0.5 percent today.

12/05/2016