• Mark Carney will stay on as the BoE (Bank of England) governor until the end of January 2020 to help the UK through any Brexit turbulence.
• Unilever laid out plans for it's December listing as a new Dutch entity, initiated originally due to Brexit risks.
• China is set to request the World Trade Organization (WTO) to hit the US with good duties. Dollar slips.
• Oil prices have risen following a report that the US crude inventories are set to decline.
• Whilst top oil producer Russia warns of a fragile global oil market, sanctions on Iran are expected to tighten supply.

Asian overnight: Trade war concerns continue to loom over Asian markets, with the Hang Seng providing the one outlier within a wider bearish story for overnight indices. Chinese stocks suffered in particular, as the two sides refuse to back down amid claims of further impending sanctions. Oil prices managed to push higher, as Hurricane Florence continues to bear down upon the East coast. Meanwhile, in Australia we saw a further deterioration in the Westpac Consumer Sentiment survey, sending AUDUSD lower yet again. Global markets are looking a little healthier this morning with US Index Futures extending overnight gains in US equity markets.

UK, US and Europe: Looking ahead, crude inventories will ensure that WTI and Brent remain at the forefront of the investor mindset. However, apart from the US PPI inflation figure, we are looking at a relatively quiet day for the European and US session calendars. Keep an eye out for an appearance from Fed member Brainard later in the day. 

South Africa: The Jse Allshare Index is in turn expected to trade slightly firmer on open. The dollar has recouped some of yesterday's losses which see's precious metal prices trading slightly lower this morning. The trade war narrative continues to weigh on base metal prices which were under significant pressure yesterday, although they are posting a marginal recovery this morning. Tencent Holdings is trading 0.45% higher in Asia, suggestive of a positive start for major holding company Naspers. BHP Billiton is trading 0.61% lower in Australia this morning suggestive of a softer start for local diversified resource counters. 

Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST)

Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar

1.30pm – US PPI (August): producer prices to rise 0.2% MoM from 0%, and core PPI to rise 0.2% from 0.1%. Market to watch: USD crosses

3.30pm – US EIA crude inventories (w/e 7 September): stockpiles expected to fall by 3.4 million barrels from a 4.3 million drop a week earlier. Markets to watch: Brent, WTI

Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades

• SSE has issued a profit warning, saying that adjusted operating profit for the first half will be down 50% compared to a year earlier, due to warmer weather and higher prices that have hit demand. 
• Sports Direct said it continued to trade in line with expectations, with underlying EBITDA to rise between 5% and 15%, excluding the acquisition of House of Fraser. 
• Clover Industries FY18 results showed normalised headline earnings earnings per share to have increased by 224.7%.

LSE Upgraded to Buy at AlphaValue
Taylor Wimpey Upgraded to Overweight at Barclays
Anglo American Upgraded to Buy at HSBC
Gestamp Upgraded to Overweight at JPMorgan
Moody's has placed MTN on review for downgrade 

Telefonica Downgraded to Underweight at JPMorgan
Crest Nicholson Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays

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