Morning Brief: Facebook to begin notifying users about their data

Monday, April 9, 2018

What to watch today

The continued noise around trade will likely set the tone in the week ahead, while the corporate and economic schedule will also be busy.

The week’s biggest event will come Tuesday and Wednesday, when Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to appear before lawmakers on Capitol Hill to discuss the misuse of user data and its role in the U.S. presidential election. Facebook will begin notifying users Monday about how their private data may have been compromised in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

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Top news

Novartis bets big on gene therapy with $8.7 billion AveXis deal: Novartis (NOVN) is moving further into gene therapy with a $8.7 billion (£6.17 billion) deal for AveXis (AVXS) that gives the Swiss drugmaker a rare-disease treatment seen reaping billions in sales and bolsters its technology base. The acquisition is the latest example of a surge of interest in biotech deal-making this year as large pharmaceutical companies seek promising new assets to boost their pipelines. [Reuters]

Viacom asks CBS to raise its bid by $2.8B: Viacom Inc. (VIAB) has asked CBS Corp. (CBS) to sweeten its merger bid by about $2.8 billion or almost a quarter more than CBS’s offer, people familiar with the matter said, indicating the wide gap in the U.S. media firms’ price expectations. National Amusements Inc., the Redstone family company that controls CBS and Viacom, has pushed them to negotiate a merger by forming independent board committees. Viacom’s request shows how the companies have yet to make progress in their talks. [Reuters]

China studies yuan devaluation as a tool in trade spat: China is evaluating the potential impact of a gradual yuan depreciation, people familiar with the matter said, as the country’s leaders weigh their options in a trade spat with U.S. President Donald Trump that has roiled financial markets worldwide. Senior Chinese officials are studying a two-pronged analysis of the yuan that was prepared by the government, the people said. One part of the analysis looks at the effect of using the currency as a tool in trade negotiations with the U.S., while a second part examines what would happen if China depreciates the yuan to offset the impact of any trade deal that curbs exports. [Bloomberg]

Deutsche Bank’s CEO replaced: Deutsche Bank, which has been battling heavy financial losses, announced on Sunday that its chief executive officer will leave within weeks and is being replaced by a longtime executive known for his leadership skills. The bank’s supervisory board said CEO John Cryan, who took over in 2015, will leave at the end of April. It said it had appointed Christian Sewing the new CEO with immediate effect. [AP]

For more of the latest news, go to Yahoo Finance

A firefighter looks out from the window of a fire damaged apartment in Trump Tower in New York on Saturday, April 7, 2018. The Fire Department says the blaze broke out on the 50th floor. The apartment in Trump Tower, where a man was killed in the raging fire, did not have sprinklers. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

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The Morning Brief provides a quick rundown on what to watch in the markets, top news stories, and the best of Yahoo Finance Originals.