Good morning! Here’s what you need to know.
1. The International Monetary Fund warned that US President Donald Trump’s new import tariffs threaten to undermine the global trading system, prompt retaliation by other countries and damage the US economy.“Let us not understate the macroeconomic impact,” IMF Director Christine Lagarde said, saying the tariffs will have a larger economic toll if they prompt retaliation from trading partners like Canada and Germany.
2. Mexico could strike at $4 billion in annual imports of US corn and soybeans if President Donald Trump escalates a trade spat with new tariffs. Earlier this month, Mexico swiftly retaliated when Trump imposed metals tariffs, hitting dozens of American imports including steel, apples and pork.
3. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission urged a federal judge to conclude that an obscure virtual currency called My Big Coin is a commodity subject to its oversight. US Judge Rya Zobelq questioned a CFTC lawyer about the extent the regulator had jurisdiction to pursue a lawsuit against the operators of the coin.
4. The U.S. government and AT&T agreed on conditions that would allow the wireless company to close its deal for Time Warner. In a joint filing, the two sides asked the judge to authorize the companies to close their $85 billion merger pending a potential appeal.
5. Ofcom said it was concerned by the involvement of BT Group in developing the strategic plans of its networks business Openreach, despite splitting the operations.In a report on Thursday, Ofcom said the progress toward the legal separation of BT and Openreach has been "broadly satisfactory", but some steps were yet to be completed such as the transfer of Openreach employees to the new Openreach Ltd due to complexities with BT's pension scheme.
6. Adobe topped analysts' profit and revenue estimates for the eighth straight quarter driven by strength in its digital media business, which houses its flagship product Creative Cloud. Revenue from Adobe's digital media business that includes Creative Cloud jumped to $1.55 billion.
7. Being exposed to a noisy workplace all day may cause stress that carries over into the evening and reduces sleep quality, suggests a small study from Taiwan.Researchers found that when workers had higher occupational noise exposure, they had higher blood pressure and higher levels of the stress-hormone cortisol after work, and got less restful sleep that night, compared to days with lower daytime noise exposure.
8. Deutsche Bank has found a buyer for the bulk of its bad ship loans as it seeks to draw a line under sour investments in the sector and to start a fresh push in transport lending. Germany's flagship lender has agreed to sell a non-performing ship loan portfolio with a notional value of $1 billion to investors Oak Hill Advisors and Varde.
9. Shares of Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE Corp fell as much as 10% on Friday. It continues a slide that has wiped more than $4 billion off its market value in the past three days.
10. Italy's new Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday. Conte, who was a little-known law professor before taking office this month at the head of an anti-establishment coalition, is already scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday.
