5 Things You Need To Know, Today, on Wednesday 5th of December 2018
Five financial stories trending today, including palladium hitting an all-time high
5. Brexit legal advice to be published today
The UK government's full legal advice on Brexit will be published today at 11:30am after MPs voted yesterday to hold the government in contempt for not complying with earlier requests for full access to the advice.
4. Yet, money managers seem to be unshaken by the prospect of a Brexit vote in the Commons
Aberdeen Standard Investments, Allianz Global Investors, and Investec Asset Management-- managing nearly $1.5 trillion among them-- have kept long positions on the sterling. The bet they are making here is that UK lawmakers will eventually act to avoid the economic damage of a no-deal Brexit; so the "best route to agreement is by raising the probability of no deal."
3. Palladium hits record high, briefly surpassing gold price
Propelled by speculative and tight supplies of the autocatalyst metal, palladium rose 2.3% to $1,230.70 per ounce. Earlier it jumped to an all-time high of $1,239.50.
2. Zimbabwe's government is considering letting foreigners own majority stakes in diamond mines
The nation's local-ownership legislation may be waived on the condition that part of any new foreign majority-stake owner reserve part of their output for domestic downstream industries. The move would be an encouraging signal that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is acting on his pledge to revive mining.
1. Scotland weighs imposing higher income tax rates
Scotland has scope to raise income tax rates on the wealthy to be higher than those in other parts of the UK. Finance secretary Derek Mackay said, "I want Scotland to have a competitive tax regime and I will always follor the evidence to understand the tolerable levels of divergence. However, I do not think that now is the time to pass on tax cuts to the richest in society."
