China increased interest rates on the medium‐term loans it uses to manage liquidity

• European eke out some very modest gains in a sideways oriented session, helped by the Brexit judgment. Telecom is worst performer after BT plunged 15% on write‐down at Italian unit. US equities open marginally higher.

• Britain's Supreme Court ruled that PM May must seek approval from Parliament before triggering the country's withdrawal from the EU, potentially complicating her path out of the bloc. In a victory for the government, the court ruled that May didn't need to consult with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

• The EMU composite PMI remained in growth at 54.3 in January, slipping a tad from the 54.4 recorded at the end of the year. Manufacturers had their best month since April 2011, helped along by a weaker euro, rising new orders and healthy levels of optimism about future business.

• Alibaba blew through analysts' earnings estimates, lifting revenues 54% to Rmb53.25B ($7.7B) in the last three months of the year and raising its forecasts for full‐year revenue growth. Verizon, the largest US telecoms group by customers, posted mixed Q4 results, sending its stock lower in pre‐market trading.

• Turkey's central bank pushed up the cost of borrowing but left its main interest rate (8%) on hold, disappointing investors who had hoped for a significant rate hike to support the lira and ease concerns about the bank's independence. The Hungarian central bank kept its policy rate unchanged at 0.9%.

• China increased interest rates on the medium‐term loans it uses to manage liquidity, the strongest signal yet of tightening as it shifts focus to curbing risk in the financial system. The PBoC raised the one‐year Medium‐term Lending Facility rate to 3.1% from 3% and the six‐month rate to 2.95% from 2.85%.

• EMU FM's will not sign off on a review of Greece's bailout reforms at a meeting on Thursday, but they hope to do so as soon as possible, EU Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said.

• About 25 African, European and South American countries are set to join the China‐led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank this year, reinforcing Beijing's determination to push a global agenda even as US president Donald Trump rails against the ills of economic globalisation.

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