FTSE falters but European markets move higher
It was a mixed day for stock markets, with the FTSE 100 returning after the Bank Holiday weekend with an uncertain performance. Dragged down by mining shares, it ended the day marginally lower. Elsewhere though, European markets ended the day in positive territory, even shrugging off an early fall on Wall Street.
Following the EU demand that Apple pay €13bn in Irish taxes, the US technology group has seen its shares dip 0.6%, helped drag the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 56 points or 0.3%. The closing scores in Europe showed:
- The FTSE 100 fell 17.26 points or 0.25% to 6820.79
- Germany’s Dax climbed 1.07% to 10,657.64
- France’s Cac closed 0.75% higher at 4457.49
- Italy’s FTSE MIB finished 1.42% better at 16,891.42
- Spain’s Ibex ended 0.8% up at 8685.4
- In Greece, the Athens market added 0.48% to 564.37
On that note it’s time to close for the evening. Thanks for all your comments, and we’ll be back tomorrow.
The US has said it is concerned about Europe’s unilateral approach over international taxation in the wake of the Apple decision, according to Reuters.
The White House said if the Europeans have concerns about taxation, they should work jointly with the US. It added that the Apple ruling could hurt the US by allowing the company to deduct European tax payments from US taxes.
Former Finnish finance minister Alexander Stubb has weighed in on the Apple debate:
Interesting to see how this Apple tax-case will unravel. A multitude of angles and paradoxes involved. An ex of globalisation in action.
— Alexander Stubb (@alexstubb) August 30, 2016
More from Irish finance minister Michael Noonan. Speaking to CNBC he said:
Apple paid all the tax that was due for their activities in Ireland. The OECD who have been at the forefront of reforming corporation tax say the tax should apply where the economic activity occurs, which generates the profit.
Now, on my...the back of my Aplle iPhone, it says, designed in California, manufactured in China. So I can’t see how the Irish authorities would have a tax liability for economic activity, that takes place in other juridictions....
We stand by the legitimacy of what was done in the past. Nobody did a deal with Apple and we stand over that. Secondly, we think the commission is getting involved in what is the competence of sovereign governments in Europe. The Europe treaties say that individual countries are responsible for taxation policy. And this is an approach through the back door, to try and influence tax policy, through competition law, and we don’t agree with that. But more importantly we think they’re in breach of international tax practice, where tax liability follows economic activity, and the economic activity on which they’re raising the tax assessment in Ireland, did not occur in Ireland.
Apple shares are currently down just under 1% following the EU tax ruling ordering the company to pay back up to €13bn in Irish taxes, helping push the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.25% lower. Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets, said:
The risk for Ireland is that by taking €13bn from Apple, there will be a mass exodus of American firms and a resulting loss of jobs and investment.
Nobody would dispute that corporations need to pay their fair share of tax, but a retroactive cash-grab creates uncertainty and could impact investment in Europe.
Apple’s troubled tax situation will cast a long shadow over the revenue-boosting hopes of [its] new product launch on September 7.
Meanwhile Apple-supplier ARM is set to complete its £24bn takeover by Japan’s SoftBank after its shareholders voted overwhelmingly to back the bid.
At a court meeting, scheme shareholders voted 95.12% in favour of the deal, while a general meeting later saw 94.92% of votes cast by ordinary shareholders also backing the takeover.
Back with Apple, and Ireland needs the US technology group more than the other way round, according to Brad Badertscher, professor of accountancy at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business:
I think this will have significant effects on Ireland and the rest of the EU countries. Apple will appeal the ruling and likely pay the taxes many years from now and Apple will do fine going forward but Ireland relies upon Apple for tax revenue (obviously the EU wants them to collect more but at some point more causes Apple to leave and that is likely to happen).
Ireland needs Apple more than Apple needs Ireland. Many EU countries used low tax rates to attract large (often US) multinational firms. This door is now closing very quickly and the countries themselves are not happy that the EU is imposing such rules. One of the reasons the UK left the EU was because of the ever increasing power of the EU and this is another example of that power.
The strong US consumer confidence figures come despite concerns about the global economy, says Dennis de Jong, managing director of UFX.com, but this may not last:
The slight uptick in US consumer confidence for August will have surprised many. Considering the growing global uncertainty on the financial markets, Fed Chair Janet Yellen should be very happy with the results.
On the whole, the US consumer has remained a robust proposition within an international context of weakening demand, and the positive data may put the long-speculated interest rate hike further up Yellen’s agenda.
The real test, however, is whether this confidence begins to waver as we enter what will surely be the most contentious US presidential race in living memory.
Updated
Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, said:
Consumer confidence improved in August to its highest level in nearly a year, after a marginal decline in July. Consumers’ assessment of both current business and labor market conditions was considerably more favorable than last month. Short-term expectations regarding business and employment conditions, as well as personal income prospects, also improved, suggesting the possibility of a moderate pick-up in growth in the coming months.
US consumer confidence stronger than expected
More positive US economic data, with August consumer confidence figures coming in better than expected.
According to the Conference Board, the consumer confidence index rose from 96.7 in July to 101.1, better than the 97 forecast and the highest level since September 2015.
USA Consumer Confidence announcement - Actual: 101.1, Expected: 97.0 pic.twitter.com/NziWWkavwv
— Spreadex (@spreadexfins) August 30, 2016
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Elsewhere the Bank of England bought another £1.17bn of long dated bonds - maturing in 15 years or more - as part of its quantitative easing programme.
It received offers representing 2.08 times the number of bonds it wanted to buy, up from 1.54 a week ago.
Apple decision "bizarre" - Ireland's Noonan
German economy minister Sigmar Gabriel has backed the EU ruling that Apple has to pay up to €13bn in Irish taxes, and named another target. Reuters reports:
Gabriel said it was important that companies like Apple and Alphabet Inc’s Google are made to pay their taxes.
Meanwhile Irish finance minister Michael Noonan, who earlier said the country would appeal against the EU decision, has been making a few more comments. He told broadcaster RTE:
As far as I am concerned there is no economic basis for this decision. It’s bizarre and it’s an exercise in politics by the Competition Commission.
They don’t have responsibility for taxes and they are opening a back door through state aid to influence tax policy in European countries when the European treaties say tax policy is a matter for sovereign governments.
Updated
Wall Street opens roughly flat
Only small moves in US markets in early trading on Tuesday, following gains on Monday:
- Dow Jones: -0.01% at 18,502
- S&P 500: +0.01% at 2,181
- Nasdaq: -0.05% at 5,230
US house prices dip in June
US house prices dipped by 0.1% in June on a seasonally adjusted basis according to the latest Case-Shiller index.
The report, which measures property prices in 20 cities, showed the annual pace of growth slowed to 5.1% from 5.2% in May.
Portland, Seattle, and Denver reported the strongest annual rises in June.
David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said:
Home prices continued to rise across the country led by the west and the south. Overall, residential real estate and housing is in good shape.
Almost time for Wall Street to open. IG is forecasting a very slight fall in US markets:
US Opening Calls:#DOW 18497 -0.04%#SPX 2180 -0.03%#NASDAQ 4784 -0.13%#IGOpeningCall
— IGSquawk (@IGSquawk) August 30, 2016
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Hollande throws TTIP trade deal into doubt
The French president Francois Hollande has thrown the TTIP free trade deal further into doubt by saying it will not be completed before Barack Obama leaves office in January.
Hollande said discussions between Europe and the US over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership had become “bogged down”.
Addressing French ambassadors, Hollande said:
The negotiations are bogged down, positions have not been respected, it’s clearly unbalanced.
It followed comments over the weekend from German economy minister Sigmar Gabriel, who said talks had failed:
In my opinion, the negotiations with the United States have de facto failed, even though nobody is really admitting it.
The FTSE is lagging its European peers this afternoon.
- FTSE 100: -0.01% at 6,837
- Germany’s DAX: +1% at 10,649
- France’s CAC: +0.8% at 4,460
- Italy’s FTSE MIB: +1.4% at 16,882
- Spain’s IBEX: +0.8% at 8,688
- Europe’s STOXX 600: +0.6% at 345
German inflation slows unexpectedly
In other news, German inflation slowed unexpectedly in August, suggesting price pressures remain weak in Europe’s largest economy.
The EU harmonised annual rate of inflation fell to 0.3% from 0.4% in July. Economists polled by Reuters were expecting the rate to pick up to 0.5%.
Consumer price inflation on the national measure was unchanged in August at 0.4%.
Carsten Brzeski, ING’s chief economist in Germany, say the European Central Bank has a tough job at its policy meeting next week:
Today’s German inflation data will not make the ECB’s already difficult life any easier. Ahead of next week’s policy meeting, available data has been too inconclusive to justify any (significant) change to the ECB’s current monetary policy stance.
Normally, the staff projections have a so-called cut-off date some ten days ahead of the ECB meeting. This would mean that this week’s set of macro data will not have any impact on the ECB’s staff projections, leaving the projections with a rather benign reaction to the Brexit vote and no hard macro data after the second quarter.
Consequently, we expect only very few changes to the ECB staff’s outlook for inflation and growth. Against this background, the ECB will probably try to buy some additional time before making another move. In order not to come entirely empty-handed at next week’s press conference, the ECB could drop the current deposit rate floor for its purchases of government bonds. This would address the increasing problem of bond scarcity and would also buy some time.
A Cabinet meeting will be held in Dublin tomorrow to discuss the fallout from the EU’s ruling against Apple’s tax arrangements with the Irish state.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan has already briefed his counterpart in the Fianna Fail party, Michael McGrath, about the government’s course of action in appealing against the decision in Brussels.
At the heart of the Fine Gael led administration’s objections to any potential €13 billion tax windfall from Apple is that it would cause Ireland “reputational damage” in the eyes of other - mainly US - multi-nationals thinking of establishing their European base in the Republic.
Left-wing parties in Ireland have criticised the government’s position on not wanting to force Apple to pay up what the EU says it owes the Irish exchequer . They have demanded that the €13 billion be channeled into either the Irish health service - the figure is exactly the amount spent each year on public health - or invested in public housing, especially in Dublin where there is a major lack of homes.
However, Fine Gael, the main opposition party Fianna Fail, and a host of independent deputies serving as ministers in the coalition government support the policy of a low taxation regime for multi-nationals because they have created hundreds of thousands of jobs in the state.
Margrethe Vestager the EU commissioner in charge of competition has spoken to CNBC, and admitted the Apple case is not done and dusted:
We have a strong obligation for equal treatment to any country in the EU single market.
I think it is more likely that Ireland will continue to appeal the case to the European court system and then of course they will also look at it but that is the most probable situation looking forward.
Outlining Apple’s long-standing commitment and economic contribution to Ireland, where it employs almost 6,000 people, Cook goes on to say:
- Apple is the largest taxpayer in Ireland, the US and the world
- The company neither sought nor received special tax deals in Ireland
- Apple is being asked to pay taxes “retroactively” to a government that says it is not owed any money
- The ruling undermines the sovereignty of EU member states and their ability to deal with their own tax matters
- Apple will join Ireland in appealing the decision
Cook also fires a warning shot on the implications for jobs and investment in Europe:
Beyond the obvious targeting of Apple, the most profound and harmful effect of this ruling will be on investment and job creation in Europe.
Using the Commission’s theory, every company in Ireland and across Europe is suddenly at risk of being subjected to taxes under laws that never existed.
Apple says it will fight EU ruling on Irish tax
Apple has published a strongly-worded statement from chief executive Tim Cook in response to the EU’s ruling that the company must pay up to €13bn in back-dated tax to the Irish government.
In a statement entitled ‘a message to the Apple community in Europe’, Cook rejects the EU’s findings and says the US tech giant will appeal the ruling.
The European Commission has launched an effort to rewrite Apple’s history in Europe, ignore Ireland’s tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process. The opinion issued on August 30th alleges that Ireland gave Apple a special deal on our taxes. This claim has no basis in fact or in law.
We never asked for, nor did we receive, any special deals. We now find ourselves in the unusual position of being ordered to retroactively pay additional taxes to a government that says we don’t owe them any more than we’ve already paid.
Cook goes on to say the commission’s move undermines the sovereignty of EU member states:
The Commission’s move is unprecedented and it has serious, wide-reaching implications. It is effectively proposing to replace Irish tax laws with a view of what the Commission thinks the law should have been. This would strike a devastating blow to the sovereignty of EU member states over their own tax matters, and to the principle of certainty of law in Europe.
Ireland has said they plan to appeal the Commission’s ruling and Apple will do the same. We are confident that the Commission’s order will be reversed.
Updated
A few more quotes from Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for competition who announced the Apple ruling:
Member states cannot give unfair tax benefits to selected companies, no matter if they are European or foreign, large or small, part of a group or not.
[In 2011], for every million in profits, it [Apple] paid just €500 in taxes. This effective tax rate dropped further to as little as 0.005% in 2014 which means that even less was paid in taxes - it was €50 euros per €1m in profits.
I have the feeling that if my objective tax rate were 0.05% falling to 0.005%, maybe I should have had a second look at my tax bill.
Our decision concludes that splitting the profits [between different Apple companies] did not have any factual or economic justification.
The company’s head office - or so called head office as it only existed on paper - had no employees, no premises and no real activities.
Anneliese Dodds, a British member of the European parliament, says the EU ruling on Ireland’s sweetheart tax deal is a “watershed moment” in the fight against tax avoidance and evasion.
Once again the EU is showing that it leads the way in the fight for tax justice. If the commission has found that the Irish government arranged a special sweetheart deal for Apple in the early 1990s, then it is absolutely right to call an end to this practice and demand that Apple repay the money that it has avoided in taxes for over twenty years.
The Tory government in the UK should take note of today’s landmark decision when it approaches Brexit negotiations. Today’s decision should mark a watershed moment in the fight against tax avoidance: the race to the bottom on tax must stop, and we must make sure all companies – whatever their size – are able to compete in a fair environment.
It is important that the Commission continues to resist interference from the US Government when dealing with tax affairs in Europe. All multinationals, regardless of their country of origin, must abide by EU competition law if they wish to access the European market.
The European Commission has provided a graphic to try and help explain Apple’s tax affairs in Ireland:
Noonan: Ireland will appeal EU ruling on Apple
Ireland does not want the money from US tech giant Apple.
Michael Noonan, Ireland’s finance minister, says the government will appeal the EU ruling, adding that he disagrees “profoundly” with the decision in Brussels:
The decision leaves me with no choice but to seek cabinet approval to appeal the decision before the European Courts.
This is necessary to defend the integrity of our tax system; to provide tax certainty to business; and to challenge the encroachment of EU state aid rules into the sovereign member state competence of taxation.
It is important that we send a strong message that Ireland remains an attractive and stable location of choice for long-term substantive investment. Apple has been in Ireland since the 1980s and employs thousands of people in Cork. The company has continued to expand its operations in Ireland in recent times.
Updated
To put Apple’s Irish unpaid tax bill in context, the Guardian’s Henry McDonald in Dublin says €13bn is the equivalent of one year’s spending in the Irish health service budget...
This is real change, and it is change for the better.
- EU commissioner Margrethe Vestager on the Apple tax ruling.
The commission found fault with two tax rulings issued by Ireland to Apple that have “substantially and artificially lowered the tax paid by Apple in Ireland since 1991”.
It says almost all profits recorded by two Irish incorporated companies of the Apple group were attributed to a “head office”. However, the commission found these head offices existed only on paper, and could not have generated such profits.
These profits allocated to the “head offices” were not subject to tax in any country under specific provisions of the Irish tax law, which are no longer in force.
As a result of the allocation method endorsed in the tax rulings, Apple only paid an effective corporate tax rate that declined from 1% in 2003 to 0.005% in 2014 on the profits of Apple Sales International.
The European Commission’s investigation into Apple’s tax affairs began in June 2014.
It concluded on Tuesday that Ireland has been giving the US tech giant illegal state aid since 1991, adding:
The commission can order recovery of illegal state aid for a 10-year period preceding the commission’s first request for information in 2013. Ireland must now recover the unpaid taxes in Ireland from Apple for the years 2003 to 2014 of up to €13 billion, plus interest.
The tax treatment in Ireland enabled Apple to avoid taxation on almost all profits generated by sales of Apple products in the entire EU Single Market. This is due to Apple’s decision to record all sales in Ireland rather than in the countries where the products were sold.
This structure is however outside the remit of EU state aid control. If other countries were to require Apple to pay more tax on profits of the two companies over the same period under their national taxation rules, this would reduce the amount to be recovered by Ireland.
UPDATE: Apple shares down 1.6 percent in premarket trade after EU orders Apple to pay 13 billion euros in tax.
— Reuters Business (@ReutersBiz) August 30, 2016
A few facts about Apple in Ireland from the Guardian’s Henry McDonald:
- The late Steve Jobs opened Apple’s first base in Ireland in 1980.
- Apple employs 6,000 people in the Republic, mostly at its main site in Cork.
- Even with the EU ruling on its tax affairs looming, Apple went ahead with planning permission to expand its facility at Holyhill in Cork which will create an extra 1,000 jobs.
- Even if Apple pays back millions to the Irish state under EU rules, the windfall gains in 2016 or 2017 will only be allowed to further reduce Ireland’s national debt.
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, says the EU is sending a clear message that illegal state aid will not be tolerated.
Member States cannot give tax benefits to selected companies – this is illegal under EU state aid rules. The Commission’s investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years.
In fact, this selective treatment allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of 1 per cent on its European profits in 2003 down to 0.005 per cent in 2014.
It is now up to Ireland to recover the tax from Apple.
The Commission says:
The European Commission has concluded that Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13 billion to Apple.
This is illegal under EU state aid rules, because it allowed Apple to pay substantially less tax than other businesses. Ireland must now recover the illegal aid.
The full statement on Apple’s Irish tax bill can be found here.
Breaking: EU rules Apple must pay up to €13bn in Irish taxes
Ireland must recover up to €13bn in taxes from Apple according to an EU ruling.
EU regulators say Apple’s unpaid Irish tax bill could be cut if other countries including the US order the company to pay more.
The pound is down 0.2% against the dollar this morning at $1.3083.
It is roughly flat against the euro at €1.1710.
Eurozone confidence falls more than expected post Brexit vote
Confidence in eurozone countries edged lower in August, suggesting the Brexit vote has started to take its toll in the single currency bloc.
The European Commission’s economic sentiment indicator fell to 103.5 in August from 104.5 in July. It was weaker than the 104.1 forecast by economists.
The business climate indicator fell to a near three-year low of 0.02 this month from 0.38 in July.
Jack Allen, European economist at Capital Economics, says the indicators signal a slowdown in the eurozone:
August’s fall in the eurozone economic sentiment indicator supports our long-held view that growth in the currency union will slow in the second half of this year.
The sectoral breakdown confirmed the fall in consumer confidence and revealed declines in the services, retail and industrial indices.
Meanwhile, among the euro-zone’s four largest economies, France was the only country in which the ESI rose. Italy’s index fell to an 18-month low, probably reflecting political uncertainty and concerns about the country’s banks.
But the general weakness of ESIs across the euro-zone suggests that more fundamental forces are weighing on growth, such as the fading boost from previous declines in oil prices and the euro exchange rate.
Allen says the data suggests quarterly eurozone growth of just 0.1% to 0.2%, from 0.3% in the second quarter.
The European Commission is expected to deliver its verdict on Apple’s back-dated Irish tax bill at 11am UK time.
Howard Archer at IHS Markit says the weaker-than-expected mortgage data reinforces his expectation that house prices will drop by about 3% towards the end of this year, and by 5% in 2017.
We believe housing market activity is likely to be limited over the coming months and prices will weaken as heightened uncertainty following the UK’s vote to leave the EU weighs down on consumer confidence and willingness to engage in major transactions, and also hampers economic activity.
The fundamentals for house buyers look likely to soften over the coming months with unemployment rising and purchasing power softening.
Scott Bowman, UK economist at Capital Economics, says the drop in mortgage approvals is likely to accelerate in the post Brexit vote environment.
July’s UK money and credit figures provided more evidence that the housing market is cooling down. With Brexit uncertainty having driven new buyer enquiries lower in recent months, we suspect that mortgage approvals have further to fall over the rest of the year.
There were some initial signs that the Brexit vote has effected consumers too. Indeed, net consumer credit only rose by a monthly £1.2bn, well below the consensus expectation for a £1.7bn increase.
UK consumer lending growth slows
The Bank of England figures also revealed a cooling in the amount of credit borrowed by UK consumers.
Consumer credit, including credit cards and personal loans, increased by £1.181bn in July, the weakest increase since August 2015.
It took the annual rate of growth down to 10.1% from 10.3% - the first drop in growth since December 2014.
The figures are contrary to other recent reports that suggest British consumer have shrugged off any uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote.
UK mortgage approvals fall more than expected after Brexit vote
UK banks approved the lowest number of mortgages in July since January 2015 according to the Bank of England.
Mortgage approvals fell to 60,912 in the month after the Brexit vote, from 64,152 in June.
Economists polled by Reuters had predicted a smaller drop to 61,900 in July.
#UnitedKingdom Mortgage Approvals at 60.91K https://t.co/Lcxqqr618S pic.twitter.com/fXnDlYrgKC
— Trading Economics (@tEconomics) August 30, 2016
Updated
Yellen keeps markets guessing on timing of US rate hike
When Janet Yellen gave her highly anticipated speech at Jackson Hole on Friday, commentators initially felt the US Fed chair was sending a hawkish message.
But with a bit more time to digest the message, investors appear to have shrugged off concerns that a hike might be coming at the Fed’s September meeting. The probability of a September move increased to 36% from 30%, so there was no huge swing.
Yellen said the case for rate rises had “strengthened”- essentially leaving the door open to a hike before the end of the year - but she gave markets little guidance on timing, saying they would be “gradual” and happen “over time”.
Investors will look to the latest US monthly jobs report on Friday for any clue as to whether it makes a September hike more or less likely.
Updated
Brian Lucey, a professor in finance at Trinity College Dublin, says the EU’s expected ruling on Apple is politically difficult for the Irish government.
He told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme:
Bizarre as though it may seem, on a day when we have been told we have that we have a record level of homelessness among children, the Irish government is going to say no no, we don’t want your filthy money.
The reason of course is that they feel if they were to accept the ruling ... that would basically fly in the face of 20/25 years of denials. There are political ramifications from this that they don’t want to face up to.
They also feel that were that to be the case they might find themselves under increased pressure in Europe at a time when post Brexit we’re likely to need all the friends we can get in Europe to allow us to cut any special deals regarding the UK’s position with Ireland etc. So they’re in a bit of a bind.
Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex, gives an insight into the markets this morning:
Kicking things off after its Bank Holiday break the UK index rose 20 points after the bell, an upwards move that puts it on track to recover at least some of last week’s gradual losses .
If anything the FTSE can feel pleased with any gains at all considering the redness of its mining sector, the likes of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto down 2.8% and 3.4% respectively.
The eurozone was the source of the biggest movers this morning. The DAX surged by 1%, with the CAC not far behind; this meant the former could once again approach 10,650, while the latter held strong at 4,470.
European markets rise in early trading
European markets are up in early trading, following rises in the US on Monday.
- FTSE 100: +0.1% at 6,842
- Germany’s DAX: +0.5% at 10,595
- France’s CAC: +0.5% at 4,444
- Italy’s FTSE MIB: +1.1% at 16,845
- Spain’s IBEX: +0.3% at 8,644
Spanish deflation eases in August
Spanish deflation on the EU harmonised measure of consumer prices eased in August to -0.3% from -0.7% in July.
The figure, published by Spain’s statistics office, was in line with expectations.
Deflation also eased on Spain’s national measure of consumer prices to -0.1% in August from -0.6% in July.
The data come ahead of the flash estimate for eurozone inflation on Wednesday. It is expected to pick up to 0.3% in August from 0.2% in July.
Also today...
There will be more clues on how well business and consumer confidence is holding up in the eurozone following the Brexit vote in June, with the latest sentiment indexes for August.
The Bank of England will publish mortgage approvals and consumer credit data for July, which again will offer some insight into behaviour immediately after the EU vote on 23 June.
German inflation data for August will be published ahead of the flash estimate for the wider eurozone on Wednesday.
And later in the US the Case-Shiller house price index will be published, as well as the latest consumer confidence report.
Europe’s major markets are expected to open higher this morning, with the exception of the FTSE.
Our European opening calls:$FTSE 6828 down 10
— IGSquawk (@IGSquawk) August 30, 2016
$DAX 10572 up 27
$CAC 4440 up 15$IBEX 8622 up 6$MIB 16697 up 42
The agenda: EU rules on Apple's Irish tax bill
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
Apple is facing a potentially huge bill for back taxes in Ireland, with the European commission expected to give its ruling on the matter today.
The commission has been investigating whether Apple’s tax deals with Ireland, which have allowed the company to pay very little tax on income earned throughout Europe, amounted to illegal state aid.
We will bring you the decision and reaction when it comes.
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