Todays Markets

Bloomberg: Stocks Drop in Asia as Oil, Metals Extend Slide: Markets Wrap
Declines in energy and mining stocks led Asian shares lower after oil and metal prices extended a drop, and Chinese equities’ losses deepened. The dollar was steady amid uncertainty over the U.S. tax bill. [more...]

Bloomberg: Bitcoin to Be Tested for Digital Wallets at South Korean Bank
Bitcoin may be about to take another step toward mainstream acceptance as South Korea’s biggest bank by assets prepares to embrace the cryptocurrency. [more...]

Bloomberg: Brexit Means Camping as U.K. Leisure Stocks Get Staycation Boost
The U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union last year is proving a boon for companies that accommodate Brits holidaying at home. [more...]

Bloomberg: Saudi Prince Who Wooed West Finds Few Friends in Tough Times
For more than a quarter-century, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has been making investments and building relationships in the West. He bailed out Citigroup Inc., helped refinance the ill-fated Euro Disney and backed Rupert Murdoch during the U.K. phone-hacking scandal. [more...]

Bloomberg: Why the World-Beating Won Is Likely to Escape Intervention
Won bears looking for the government to stop the currency strengthening may be in for a long wait. [more...]

Bloomberg: Market's Numbness to Risk Reminds of Calm Before Storm: Axioma
There’s “somewhat of a numbness” to risk among investors right now that’s reminiscent of pre-crisis periods in the past, according to Olivier d’Assier, head of applied research for Asia Pacific at Axioma Inc. [more...]

Bloomberg: SoftBank Bids to Buy Uber Shares for 30% Less Than Current Value
SoftBank Group Corp. and a group of investors are trying to buy a stake in Uber Technologies Inc. at a sizable discount to the company’s $69 billion valuation, seeking to clinch what would be one of the largest purchases of stock in a private company. [more...]

Reuters: Sterling briefly hits eight-week high in nervous markets
Sterling briefly hit an eight-week high on Monday before gains were checked as investors consolidated bets ahead of a key EU summit and against the backdrop of a brewing political crisis in Ireland. [more...]

Reuters: Markets get wake-up call from China's post-congress deleveraging moves
The pace at which Beijing is announcing deleveraging reforms following last month’s Communist Party Congress is a wake-up call for investors in Chinese markets: risk just got real. [more...]

CNBC: Britain's major banks would prop up UK economy in hard Brexit scenario, BOE says
Britain's major banks would be able to withstand a "hard Brexit" scenario, according to the Bank of England's (BOE) annual stress test of the U.K. financial system. [more...]

CNBC: North Korea and Syria are growing closer: That's bad news for the US
Closer ties between two of the world's most acute political powder kegs — North Korea and Syria — are fanning fears of deeper cooperation on missile technology and chemical weapons. [more...]