MORNING NEWS CALL

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MARKET VIEW Financial spreadbetters expect London's FTSE to open 8 points lower at 7,676 , Frankfurt's DAX to open 31 points lower at 12,656 and Paris' CAC to open 8 points lower at 5,409.

Crude prices rose but were set to drop for the week as concerns about oversupply and lower demand due to a possible economic slowdown caused by the trade conflict between the United States and China, the world's two biggest oil users.

The Chinese yuan skidded to one-year lows, shaking up Asian share markets and stoking concerns Beijing's currency management could become the next flash point in a fierce trade dispute with the United States.

MARKET SNAPSHOT AS OF 0445 GMT S&P 500 Index Mini Futures: 2800.00; down 0.19 pct; 5.25 points DJIA Mini Futures: 24972.00; down 0.35 pct; 87.00 points Nikkei: 22590.40; down 0.77 pct; 174.28 points MSCI Asia, Ex-JP: 532.94; down 0.05 pct; 0.24 point EUR/USD: 1.1652; up 0.08 pct; 0.0009 point GBP/USD: 1.3021; up 0.05 pct; 0.0006 point USD/JPY: 112.33; down 0.12 pct; 0.14 point Spot Gold: $1220.02; down 0.19 pct; $2.38 US Crude: $69.75; up 0.42 pct; $0.29 10-Yr US Treasury Yield: 2.8444 pct; 0.0020 point 10-Yr Bund Yield: 0.3245 pct; down 0.0020 point

GLOBAL TOP NEWS U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized Federal Reserve policy even though most economists believe the highest infla- tion in seven years and lowest unemployment in 40 years justify recent interest rate rises and a strong U.S. dollar.

Chinese policymakers are pumping more liquidity into the financial system and channelling credit to small and medium-sized firms, and Beijing looks set to further loosen monetary conditions to mitigate threats to growth from a heated Sino-U.S. trade war. Panasonic Corp said it was unable to determine how much of the cobalt used in batteries it makes for Tesla cars comes from Cuba, a country subject to U.S. sanctions, and that it had suspended relations with a Canadian supplier as a result of its concerns.

EUROPEAN COMPANY NEWS Airbus is stockpiling parts in case of a hard Brexit and Rolls-Royce is months away from doing so. But for smaller aerospace com- panies that supply them, Britain's departure from the EU could be much more challenging.

Comcast Corp dropped its $66 billion bid for Twenty-First Century Fox's entertainment assets on Thursday but said it would still try to expand its international footprint by acquiring 61 percent of European broadcaster Sky, the remainder of which is owned by Fox.

Technical and supply-chain issues with equipment made by Chinese firm Huawei have exposed Britain's telecom networks to new security risks, a government report said on Thursday.

TODAY'S COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENTS Acacia Mining PLC HY 2018 Earnings Release AB Q2 2018 Earnings Call Beazley PLC HY 2018 Earnings Call Boliden AB Q2 2018 Earnings Release Bravida Holding AB Q2 2018 Earnings Release Capio AB Q2 2018 (publ) Earnings Release CLX Communications AB Q2 2018 (publ) Earnings Call Compagnie Plastic Omnium SA HY 2018 Earnings Call Faurecia SA HY 2018 Earnings Call Gecina SA HY 2018 Earnings Call HomeServe PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting Huhtamaki Oyj Q2 2018 Earnings Release Kemira Oyj Q2 2018 Earnings Release Kinnevik AB Q2 2018 Earnings Call Koninklijke Wessanen NV HY 2018 Earnings Call International Cellular SA Q2 2018 Earnings Call Mr Green & Co AB Q2 2018 (publ) Earnings Call Nobia AB Q2 2018 Earnings Release Bank AB Q2 2018 Earnings Presentation Orange Belgium SA Q2 2018 Earnings Call Saab AB Q2 2018 Earnings Release Scandic Hotels Group AB Q2 2018 Earnings Call Scatec Solar ASA Q2 2018 Earnings Call SFS Group AG HY 2018 Earnings Call AB Q2 2018 Earnings Release SSAB AB Q2 2018 Earnings Release Stora Enso Oyj Q2 2018 Earnings Release AB Q2 2018 Earnings Call Tieto Oyj Q2 2018 Earnings Call Tobii AB HY 2018 Earnings Call

2 Topdanmark A/S Q2 2018 Earnings Release Trelleborg AB Q2 2018 Earnings Release Vattenfall AB Q2 2018 Earnings Release XXL ASA Q2 2018 Earnings Call

ECONOMIC EVENTS (All times GMT) 0600 Germany Producer Prices mm for June: Expected 0.3 pct; Prior 0.5 pct 0600 Germany Producer Prices yy for June: Expected 2.9 pct; Prior 2.7 pct 0830 United Kingdom PSNB Ex Banks for June: Expected 5.000 bln GBP; Prior 4.966 bln GBP 0830 United Kingdom PSNB for June: Expected 3.500 bn GBP; Prior 3.356 bln GBP 0830 United Kingdom PSNCR for June: Prior 4.507 bln GBP 1300 Belgium Consumer Confidence Index for July: Prior -3

DEBT AUCTIONS United Kingdom- Reopening of 1 month, 3 month and 6 month government debt auctions.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

A young man jumps into the Ljubljanica River to cool off in hot and humid weather in Ljubljana, Slovenia July 19. REU- TERS/Borut Zivulovic

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