{"id":53997,"date":"2018-01-04T09:13:45","date_gmt":"2018-01-04T09:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-open-11\/"},"modified":"2018-01-04T09:13:46","modified_gmt":"2018-01-04T09:13:46","slug":"what-you-need-to-know-before-the-open-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-open-11\/","title":{"rendered":"What you need to know before the open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today's top story: <\/strong>Three of the world's largest exchange groups granted last-minute reprieve from Mifid II futures rules<\/a><\/p>\n

Today's leader: <\/strong>Don't be fooled by Next results: One festive jumper does not a Christmas make<\/a><\/p>\n

We may be nearing the end of the week, but European stocks don't look to be running out of steam just yet.<\/p>\n

They are poised to open much higher today \u2013 following in the footsteps of Wall Street's climb and highs in Asia.<\/p>\n

The successful first day of trading under the new Mifid II rules<\/a> could also be bringing more uncertain investors back into the fold, according to London Capital Group. More on those here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 18 points higher at 7,689, the Dax up 72 points at 13,050, and the Cac is set to open 29 points higher at 5,360.<\/p>\n

Asian shares were hovering at 10-year highs with investors buoyed by positive economic data in the US and Germany. <\/p>\n

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was nearly flat, though Japan's Nikkei rose 2.5 per cent on its first trading day of the year, while the Topix index struck its highest point since 1991.<\/p>\n

LGC said it had been tracking the optimism that left Wall Street closing at record highs over the past two trading sessions. <\/p>\n

Corporate news<\/h2>\n