Record-Setting Sessions and Activist Investors - This is What You Need to Know

Elliott Management has reportedly built a stake in U.K. medical device maker Smith & Nephew

Author:: Edward Hardy
Publish date:: Oct 11, 2017 3:50 AM EDT

This is what you need to know on Wednesday:

1. European stocks open higher again Wednesday after markets in Asia approached the highest levels in a decade following an upgrade of global growth forecasts by the International Monetary Fund and a temporary easing of separatists tensions between Barcelona and Madrid.

2. Overnight in Asia, the broadest measure of regional shares prices, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index, nearly a December 2007 high as sentiment flowed through from another record-setting session on Wall Street and stronger-than-expected economic data. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 58 points, or 0.28%, into the final stretch of trading to close at the highest level since late 1996.

3. The dollar index, a measure of the greenback's strength against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.05% lower at 93.24 points into the start of European trading, near the lowest in about two weeks, as investors trimmed bets on near-term tax reform from the United States owing to the escalating war of words between President Donald Trump and Republican Senator Bob Corker.

4. Elliott Management has reportedly built a stake in U.K. medical device maker Smith & Nephew.

5. Wall Street futures are again looking solid after last night's triple-set of record closes, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average expected to gain 70 points, or 0.31%, at the opening bell and the broader S&P 500 looking at a 5.9 point, or 0.23% pop at the start of trading.

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