yes, you're watching "street signs." i'm carolin roth. these are your headlines. sterling turns positive on the back of a dip, after surging to a six-month high against the dollar as prime minister theresa may prepares to take her snap election plans to a vote in parliament today. investors like the flavor of ab foods as its sugar business and primark sales boost first half profits and prompt the british firm to raise full-year forecasts. america goes out of fashion

for burberry, as the designer calls the market challenging, weighing on sales growth and sending shares lower in london trade. akzonobel's first quarter profit beats expectations as the paintmaker unveils a new strategy it hopes will secure its future as a stand-alone firm amid a bidding battle with ppg. good morning, everyone. yes, you're watching "street signs." glad you're with us on the show today we have all things covered coming from the political side in response to theresa may calling the snap election for june 8th. what does it mean for your money and your investments. we'll talk much more about this during the show. let's look at the european equity markets. looking at a fairly mixed picture. the ftse 100 off by 0.1% after the index saw its biggest one-day loss since the brexit

vote yesterday. this was in large part because of the strength that we saw in the pound sterling, but also the weakness in the mining stocks. xetra dax is up by 20 points. cac 40 hugging the flat line. ♪ let's continue with our top stories. british mps will vote later today on prime minister theresa may's call for snap elections on the 8th of june. may said the vote was necessary to secure a mandate for the upcoming brexit negotiations, adding that westminster was too divided to tackle a moment of enormous national significance. >> let us put forward our plans for brexit and our alternative programs for government and then let the people decide. and the decision facing the country will be all about leadership. it will be a choice between

strong and stable leadership in the national interest, with me as your prime minister, or weak and unstable coalition government led by jeremy corbyn, propped up by the liberal democrats who want to reopen the divisions of the referendum and nicholas sturgeon and vsmp. the announcement sent sterling to a six-month high, with the ftse seeing its biggest one-day loss since the brexit fallout. theresa may said early election also provide stability for the longer term. speaking to the bbc she said britain will be able to negotiate from a stronger position with the eu. currently cable is changing hands at 1.2817. off the six-month highs of 1.29. very important this currency pair has moved above the 200-day moving average. willem marx is in westminster.

we are less than 24 hours from the surprise announcement coming from the prime minister. what is the reaction? >> you heard there from theresa may laying down the gauntlet for her political opponents behind me. we're joined by joan hoey. what else might be behind this decision? >> i think the public reasons for calling this election may not be the most important ones. there's also the reasons we could surmise, temptation was too great. i think the thing that is really on theresa may's mind is her own party rather than the opposition or the country, because we para minister who is in a powerful position, she has triggered and taken control of the process and

triggered article 50. what she wants is a free hand in terms of her own party. the big question is a free hand to do what? >> the free hand is presumably softer brexit, harder brexit, not making concessions with european counterparts, not thinking that people will pounce on her for whatever decision she makes. >> free hand for a softer brexit or harder brexit, my thought is brexiteers will not like this because it's easier to hold her accountability with fewer ma majori majority. maybe the commitment will be

there to leave the single market, but she wants a free hand maybe to make concessions on other matters. >> by extending the time horizon on her own mandate to five years, she would have a much locker period aft longer period after those negotiations for a transition period. >> there's logic there. by calling the election she shifts the electoral cycle, so when we get to the difficult end of negotiations she won't be running into an election the following year in 2020. so, yes, it gives her more options. it gives her the possibility to organize a transitional period and avoid the cliff edge everybody is talking about. >> nicholas sturgeon essentially has claimed that the prime minister is putting the interest of her own party above the interest of the party. is that a bit rich cowhen they talk about independent referendum number two?

>> it is a bit rich. it's kind of a hostile observation, many people would say that's what nicola sturgeon is doing. we can speculate about the reasons why theresa may called this leak shuelection, having b adamant she wasn't going to do so. it's perfect timing from her point of view. those in the past who questioned her legitimacy to lead britain out of the eu can hardly turn around now and say this is illegitimate to go to the country and seek this. it suits ni s nicola sturgeon ar narrative to say theresa may wants to pursue a hard brexit. sturgeon would make this about independence for scotland, but that would raise quite a few

troubling questions. if you were an investor watching events here, the few weeks leading up to the leak shun ele early june, are you thinking this will provide stability over the next two years as these negotiations take place? >> i think definitely. we look at what is likely to materialize from the election. conservatives will be returned with a bigger majority. our thinking is it won't be the landslide that recent polls are suggesting. there won't be correlation between those polls showing voting intentions but the conservatives will increase majority. that will put theresa may and her government in a strong positio position. >> as you heard, this is about as much about domestic politics and freeing up theresa may in

her own party as it is brexit negotiations. >> as promised we will get to what this means for your investment with alex drieden from jpmorgan asset management. does this mean more uncertainty for investors or more certainty? where do you stand? >> for us it adds to the political noise coming around europe at this point in time. we're looking at countries representing 60% of eugdp due to hold elections in 2016. but for us, for uk investors it adds to the short-term noise. what it might lead to is a softer brexit, a bigger majority for the conservatives in the house of commons might allow theresa may to take a softer brexit stance, which is why we started to see the pound nose up since the election announcement. >> the trade for uk investors or any investor investing in the ftse has been clear, it was sell the pound sterling and buy the

ftse. now we've seen the reverse happening. it has been a major argument for the ftse, is that taken away? >> no, it's a powerful driver and big push. the ftse 100 sources about 70% of earnings from overseas. the weaker pound was helpful for those earners. the ftse 100 has been a 25% weighting towards commodity. they've been performing relatively well year to date. as well as that, the international benefit of the ftse 100, the global economy is looking much healthier, that's something that will be helpful for global index such as the ftse 100. it wasn't just a story about the pound. there are other drivers at play here. >> what does it mean for your outlook for europe then? you say 60% of the european gdp zone is looking at elections the next couple months. that seems like a lot of uncertainty and confusion

because we don't know, especially in the case of france what the outcome will be. are you still positive on europe? >> investors are nervous about the political risk, especially after brexit and u.s. elections in 2016. a lot of money got taken off the table in european equity heading into 2017. last year was the biggest year for outflows since the financial crisis in european equities. look at the start of the year, i think there's more opportunity than uncertainty. i think there's areas where you can dip back into, investors have been looking at europe in a more constructive way, relative to it is in the u.s., choose a sector, any sector, and it trades at a much lower discount than u.s. or global peers. in a world of relatively expensive valuations there's interesting opportunities in europe. >> basically it's about valuation. does that also apply to other parts of the world? i'm looking at a note from credit suisse, they added emerging markets to an overweight. is that your rational?

>> emerging markets is benefiting from a cyclical upswing in the economy, helped by commodity recovery, helped by currencies stabilizing versus the dollar. they also have undergone fundamental change. that's all starting to feed into emerging markets. it's important to remember they're still cheap, but not as cheap as maybe a year ago. you still need to be more selective over your region allocation. >> we have to leave it here. thank you very much for your time. alex dryden from jpmorgan. asml doubled its first quarter net income. the dutch semiconductor equipment supplier credited memory xhchipmaking customers. do e-mail the show. the address is streetsignseurope@cnbc.com. you can also find me on twitter, @carolincnbc. still coming up on the show, hundreds of companies get set to

show off their latest cutting edge technology. we'll be live at asia's largest motor show in shanghai. back in two.

welcome back to the show. plenty more earnings to get to. ab foods is trading higher after the company raised its outlook at a recovery in sugar helped boost profits by 36%. it also raised its dividend by 10%. primark also put in what it called a "resilient performance." heineken says market conditions in africa, middle east and eastern europe are challenging and this has adversely affected the volume of beer sales. however it reported slightly higher volumes in europe and asia pacific. the company reported an

increased first quarter profit of 293 million euros compared to 265 million in the first quarter of 2016. staying with drinks, remy cointreau has reported a 4% rise in full-year sales. the french drinks group says strong demand in the u.s. and a rebound in china helped fuel 1 billion in euros in 2016. it reaffirmed targets for higher profits this year. let's talk about fashion. off by 6% is burr bury. the company reported a 3% rise in comparability sales, but growth missed analyst expectations in the first quarter. it said it faced a challenging environment in the america's region despite double digit growth in europe and the middle east boosted by an exceptional performance in the uk. the fashion group reiterated its full-year target and said the market remains resilient.

new cars lobbed a solid increase in the european union last month with gains for all brands. new cars registrations reached the highest margin on record with an 11% growth year on year. the biggest rise was reported in the british, german and italian markets. and it is the event that car enthusiasts have been waiting for -- the 2017 shanghai auto show kicks off today with more than 1,000 companies getting to show off their latest technology at asia's biggest auto show. let's get out to eunice also at the show. what are the biggest trends? >> you know, the car industry here is bracing for one of its weakest years. based on the buzz we're seeing at the shanghai auto show you wouldn't know it. as you were saying, more than 1,000 companies are showing off their wares with over 100 global debuts.

why? because china is still the largest auto market in the world. it's one of the most important for many carmakers. for years carmakers have seen this market as a profit center, but this year, 2017, is really proving to be a challenging one because of economic conditions slowing down, disappearing tax incentives, price wars brought on by increased competition. i spoke about all of this with the ceo of vw. this is what he had to say about the outlook. >> translator: it's a difficult market with cut-throat competition out there. but volkswagen is looking ahead. i think that after a successful year, 2016, this year, too, will also be positive for us. so i think it's going to be a successful year. >> what kind of strategy will you put in place to expand the market? >> translator: volkswagen has been in this market for 34 years.

very successfully. so we have lots of experience. i think we know very well who the customers are. they trust us. there's a lot of high level trust. and here volkswagen with its 12 brands is very well positioned. also in china, this year we will launch 30 new models, and we'll improve our status. >> vw hopes to see growth of about 4% to 5% in this market for the year. that's pretty much in line with the overall industry estimates. to navigate the chinese car market, two trends are shaping up. we're seeing carmakers tackling two different ways. longer-term, because the chi nee government is pushing the idea of getting more electric vehicles on the roads to clear up the skies in china, all the pollution, a lot of carmakers are showing off evs or some type of hybrid or energy vehicle. the other tactic that qucarmake

are taking, because of cuts in demand today they're showing off a lot of gas guzzlers. suvs are still all the rage. over to you. >> that's interesting. eunice stick around. i wonder what the strategy is of some of the german automakers grappling with the expectation of the bacorder adjustment tax the u.s. do they look increasingly towards asia? >> i don't know if they're related, i talked to the ceo of vw and the chairman of audi about the border adjustment tax issue in the united states, they both said they are worried, they're watching it, but because the policy has not been formed and it is not in place, they're just monitoring it at this stage. i asked the vw ceo, he said he has a plan "b," i asked what it was, but he would not share that information with me. >> thank you very much for that.

let's change direction and talk about oil. because march's compliance data shows higher come formity with t conformity with the opec deal reached last year. let's get out to hadley. >> i'm joined by the opec secretary-general, he's on his way to another meeting. i wanted to catch him quick limit talk to us about what's happening here today. you're encouraged by what's happening? you say this is working according to plan. what happens next? >> thank you very much for having me. i think this is an important for forum, ti think the oil ministe of the uae for bringing this important forum together. you saw the quality, level of attendance and not only is the

uae a key country, because the advocacy programs we thought that coming here will give us the opportunity to meet the good people of the media, our partners in this industry, to compare notes, to exchange views. it's a new world of cooperation between opec and the media. and thanks to you, we have been able to elevate the level of outreach and advocacy in the interest of all our member countries and all the non-opec member countries that are participating with us in the cooperation. >> mr. secretary-general, a lot of people are asking the big question, which is are you planning on extending these cuts for another six months? >> i think several of the ministers and myself inclusive have explained the process.

we have established a monetary economy at the administrative level. this monetary committee is meeting monthly, and there is a subcommittee meeting monthly, which will be friday in vienna. so we are giving the implementation process the top priority that it deserves. because our credibility is at stake. we have achieved historic feat last year for the first time bringing together 24 producing countries to take the decision we took. and therefore we have stretched a lot in the process of implementation. i can tell you that we are very comm

committed to complying fully with the voluntary decisions that we took. so far so good. the numbers are looking robust, very encouraging going forward. by the 25th of may, the leadership in kuwait will release the report to the joint 24 producing countries. >> right now you're satisfied that opec and non-opec members are pulling their weight? >> correct. >> in terms of prices, there's been speculation, analysts at citi and goldman suggesting prices could be back in the mid 60s by the end of the year. are you also encouraged? >> we in opec are not pricing as a part of policy. we are look at fundamentals, and we saw prices crashing by 80%,

the single largest drop we've seen in the previous five cycles to the detriment of the industry producers and as part of the global economy, but in working together with the non-opec partners to ensure full and timely conformity to this adjustment production level, we are confident that we will hasten the rebalancing of this market that will eventually produce the equilibrium price that will be fair to all investors, and encourage them to continue to invest not only in short-cycle projects as we've seen with producers, but also the base load, which is the long

cycle. >> mr. secretary-general, thank you for joining us. >> guys, back to you. >> hadley, thank you very much for that very important interview. i guess no news yet as to whether that production cut agreement will be extended past june. we'll go for a quick break. do check out world markets live, our blog which runs throughout the european trading day. we'll be back with more brexit and snap election discussions on "street signs."

. hello. welcome. yes, you're still watching "street signs." i'm carolin roth. these are your headlines. sterling wobbles after surging to a six-month high after prime minister theresa may prepares to take her snap election plans to a vote in parliament today. burberry calls the market challenging sending shares lower in london trade. investors like the flavor of ab foods as its sugar business and primark sales boost first half profits and prompt the british firm to raise full-year forecasts. akzonobel's first quarter profit beats expectations as the paintmaker unveils a new strategy it hopes will secure its future as a stand-alone firm amid a bidding battle with ppg. good morning, everyone.

if you're just tuning in, we have a lot going on in the markets after yesterday's surprise announcement of snap elections in the uk on june 8th. let's kick things off with a look at u.s. futures. the s&p 500 seen oup by 5 point. the dow jones up by 3. the nasdaq set to add 13 points. this after all three fell for the fourth time in five sessions yesterday. let's show you what's happening in european markets. by in large we are seeing a recovery in the stoxx 600 after yesterday's underperformance. this is in part because we're seeing a bounce back in the mining sector. the ftse 1 00 is still underperforming or down by 1 071%. it is underperforming despite the fact we are seeing sterling levels coming up after yesterday's spike. that takes me to the fx markets.

all eyes on cable. we're seeing that pair trading at 1.2815. maybe a bit of profit taking after that plus 2% spike overnight. we hit that 6 1/2 month high of 1.2908. so we're back below the 1.29 level. that pair did move through the 200-day moving average for the first time since brexit. that is a measure of momentum, but it seems like that wasn't sustainable. looking at the bond markets. we saw gilt underperforming in yesterday's trading session and prices moving lower once again on the day with the yield at 1.037. british mps will vote later today on prime minister theresa may's decision to call a snap general election on the 8th of june. in a stunning u-turn, may said the vote was necessary to secure a mandate for the upcoming

brexit negotiations adding that westminster was too divided to tackle what she called a "moment of enormous national significance." let's get out to mike aimee portfolio manager from pimco. let's hear what you have to say about how this impacts your portfolio and what your clients are saying. are they getting over the initial shock? >> i don't think anyone expected the events the last 24 hours. when we look at the market response, i think the market response is pretty rational given the information that we received. i think the fact that we'll see the snap election, i think we and most other people would expect conservatives to come back with a bigger majority. that takes the pressure off the risk of the so-called cliff edge risk on march of 2019. so i think the fact sterling was up and gilt has yun punderperfo is fine. i would say there's two-way risk on sterling and uk bond yields

look lee to uow to us. >> we saw sterling rally yesterday. today maybe a bit of profit taking. but do you see that this rally in sterling is sustainable? can it continue? i fell, yes, domestically the conservatives may have the stronger position after the snap election, but internationally nothing has changed when it comes to their negotiations position, has it? >> that's right. all that's really happened is that theresa may will give herself a bit more wiggle room with her domestic audience. the european union starts are clear. they want to go through the three stages, the bill, the future arrangements and the transition. this does take the pressure off. i think it does lower the risk of a disruptive outcome. there is good reason why sterling has popped up a bit. when we look at sterling, there's good reasons for sterling to trade better if we get some more conciliatory

signs. i think the key thing with us for sterling is that sterling is and continues to be one where there is two-way risk. sterling rallying on better days for the uk and selling off when life looks trickier. sterling to us is decent two-way risk. 130 is a level the markets will look at versus the dollar, but two-way risk is the way we see it we wouldn't argue for a big position one way or the other. >> let's talk about gilt. gilt yields usually track an economic outlook. has the economic outlook for the uk fundamentally changed given the announcement yesterday? >> i think the tail risk of a bad economic outcome is lower. when we look at uk interest rates, the things that surprise us is how low intermediate rates are, ten-year yields at 1 %, it's a flat curve. when you look at what is priced in, the first rate hike is

priced for the second half of 2019. the economy has been doing well, even before this snap general electi election. our forecast is the economy will run around 2% growth this year, not radically different to most other major economies. we think the risk profile of the gilt market is one where the bad news is priced in. you can look at that in various ways. we look at it versus u.s. treasuries, where the yield difference between the two is a 20-year high. we think uk rates look rich to us, expensive. we prefer to deploy our capital in the u.s. rate markets. >> i want to come back to sterling and what it means for inflation. we have seen a huge surge in uk inflation. do you think that now the boe will re-think its tightening schedule as and when it comes because of the change of what pound/sterling is doing? >> i don't think the move in sterling is enough to radically alter the bank's forecast. they have a lower peak on cpi

than we do. we think cpi could hit 3% by the turn of this year. their peak is about 2.75. i don't think this kind of move in sterling is something that would cause them to significantly reassess their forecast. don't forget, some of this rise in cpi will be baked in the cake. there's typically a 12-month lag between import prices coming through the cpi and a move in sterling. so a rise up in cpi is baked in the cake. i don't think the move in sterling is a big game changer for the bank. >> want to talk to you about the corporate sector, corporate bonds, now that a risk premium has been taken out of the market what do and what does it mean for corporate bonds? >> the bank is coming to the end of the bond buying program. uk corporate bond yields relative to government bonds are pretty close to the long-term averages. so you can own them for some

expectation of incremental yield. we wouldn't expect them to outperform government bonds here. i think once we see the bank stopping the bond buying program, maybe we'll get more upwards momentum in corporate yields as well. particularly if you see this pressure on the ftse. we would caution about getting too bullish on corporate bonds. our suspicion is they will track government bond yields higher. >> mike, always a pleasure speaking with you. thank you very much for your time. mike aimee from pimco. let's change tact and talk about the elections in france. authorities in france say they thwarted an imminent attack in marseille as presidential candidates urged tougher protections ahead of the elections on sunday. police confiscated explosives as they arrested two islamic radicals. claire fournier is covering the

elections in paris. is this a game changer for any of the candidates, claire? >> well, the islamist threat has made a spectacular comeback at the center of this presidential campaign. it had been pretty -- it had not been at the center of the stage in the meetings apart from marine le pen's plemeeting. in the final days she has been stressing about rhetoric about security and islam. when the news broke yesterday, it was for her a way to talk more about islam and security, and immigration. all the candidates reacted to the event, two men arrested yesterday were of french origin, which, you know, raises the question of radicalism within the french population. emanuel macron who is seen softer than le pen on these issues immediately reacted

saying we have to show unity against terrorism. and for francois fillon, he said we are facing a totalitarian islamism, israel ct's radical structured and expansionist ideology. we have not seen if it changed anything in the polls. one can only imagine that it would have been a game changer if the attack had succeeded. at any rate, the security, which has already been reinforced over the past few days, because marine le pen and macron's campaigns had received warnings about an imminent threat. even the photographs of the two men arrested yesterday. so all of the candidates congratulated the police force for their excellent job. but at any rate, it is too early to say if it would have changed anything. but there are a lot of risks

surrounding this election. the risk of terrorist attack, the rise of the extreme, the risk of a frexit. i asked this morning my guest, christopher denbig from saxso bank if there was a risk of capital flight if marine le pen got to power. >> the risk is close to zero. that will be no capital flight. i think that investors, especially foreign investors think too much about this election. it's not that easy. we think it will be macron or fillon elected, but no way will it be marine le pen. >> most probably, carolyn, we will hear in the coming days reassuring words from investors, economists, and even people responsible for the business

compensation. at any rate, with the four main candidates being 4% to 6% away from each other in polls, it's way too close to call. the suspense is still very high here. >> claire, thank you very much for that. on a programming note, you can join me and us on sunday as we keep you up to date with the latest from the first round of the presidential elections. that's live on cnbc. u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson said iran remains compliant with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal that allowed the lifting of sanctions against the country. tillerson did say president trump ordered a review of whether or not the suspension of sanctions was in the interest of national security adding that iran remains a "leading state sponsor of terror through many platforms and methods." last week president trump warned north korea north korea ththat

an air carrier group to the region, but the group was heading in the opposite direction in the indian ocean, roughly 2,500 miles away. andrea mitchell has more. >> reporter: the question tonight, why were the white house and pentagon brass confused about the location of this giant aircraft carrier, the "uss carl vinson" last week, saying it was heading toward korea as a show of force. president trump last wednesday. >> we are sending an armada, very powerful. >> reporter: and the secretary of defense. >> she's on her way up there because that's where we thought it was most prudent to have her at this time. >> reporter: in fact the aircraft carrier was headed in the opposite direction towards australia for military exercises, a confusing message during the tense showdown with north korea. >> it comes across to your potential adversaries as a lack of determination, a lack of

will, a lack of certainty about the signal you want to send. >> reporter: administration officials say confusing guidance from the pentagon as a ship tonight is headed to north korea. a reset in tone from vice president pence in japan, only yesterday warning north korea to look at the missile strikes in syria. and the mother of all bombs against isis, and to not test u.s. resolve. today pence emphasizing diplomacy. >> with diplomatic and economic pressure we have a chance, a chance to achieve our objective of a nuclear-free korean peninsula. >> reporter: late today, the president also dialing down his rhetoric about kim jong-un with wtmj in milwaukee. >> hopefully he wants peace. and we want peace. and that's going to be end determination. but we are going to have to see what happens. president trump signed an executive order to stage a review of the h1b svisa program. the order directs a review of government agencies to hire more

american companies. at a factory in wisconsin trump touted what he said would be a boost to american jobs. >> this historic action declares that the policy of our government is to aggressively promote and use american made goods and to ensure that american labor is hired to do the job. america first. you better believe it. it's time. it's time, right? it's time. >> all right. still coming up on the show, mark zuckerberg lays out his next big baet. details of the social giant's new platform is next.

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akzonobel revealed a new strategy which including spinning off its chemicals arm and paying investors a dividend, this among pressure from elliott management for akzo to consider a take overbid from ppg. the dutch firm also reported record profitability in the quarter. gemma joins us now. i see what they're trying to do. they're trying to get shareholders on their side to rebuff the order from ppg. >> we have concrete numbers here. 1 billion euro special dividend and a boost to the regular dividend as well weighk that against ppg's offer. the other number we have to factor in here is how much will

shareholders get back from the separation of the chemicals business. this is where there's a lot of opaqueness still. we don't know how they intend to proceed with this. they say they're running a dual track process. it could be a de-merger which could not create value, or an ipo which could create value to shareholde shareholders. that's a big unknown here. pending execution risks, yes, clearly a lot of risk inherent carrying out an acquisition on ppg's part, americmerging who companies with different cultures, backgrounds and business spaces, but also a lot of execution risks with the target akzonobel has set for itself. it's up to analysts, investors, commentators to decide where the valuation will be. >> what will ppg do next? they made two offers that were rebuffed. will they come back for a third

time? >> i think that. they have clearly been waiting to see what akzonobel delivered today to see if they would pitch it. >> or do they go hostile? >> they said they're willing to do that. >> thank you very much for that. yahoo! beat expectations in what is likely its last earnings report ahead of the sale of its core internet business to verizon. the company posted better than expected earnings per share of 18 cents for the first quarter. revenue jumped 22% boosted by strength in the mobile video native and social advertisen units. marissa mayer said yahoo! was preparing for the best possible integration with verizon. ibm posted a decline in revenue missing estimates for the first time in five quarters. total revenue fell 2.8% weighed down but weak demand in core technology and cloud services. shares fell over 5% in after hours putting the stock on course to raise gains this year and likely this will be a drag

on the dow at the open. in the u.s. corporates, ebay, morgan stanley, qualcomm are set to report today. we'll bring you those highlights tomorrow. mark zuckerberg is betting big on augmented reality. speaking at facebook's developer conference, zuckerberg called the technology act 2. julia boorstin has more from the conference in san jose, california. >> reporter: more than 4,000 developers flocked to san jose to hear about facebook's latest inventions and new tools they'll be able to access. but ceo mark zuckerberg kicked off his keynote by addressing uproar surrounding a video shared on facebook sunday of a murder and demand for stricter controls. >> we have a lot more to do here. and we're reminded of this, this week, by the tragedy in

cleveland. and our hearts go out to the family and friends of robert godwin sr. and we have a lot of work, and we'll keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening. >> reporter: but zuckerberg tried focus the conversation on facebook's technological innovations, particularly when it comes to augmented reality and the growing power of artificial intelligence. >> we're making the camera the first augmented reality platform. >> reporter: while zuckerberg talked about the focus on bringing people together through augmented reality, extending the physical world online, many of these features won't go mainstream for years. but now facebook messenger is already implementing the latest artificial intelligence, to give consumers so many different tools and experiences within that messenger app that they never swipe away. announcing that bots on facebook will be open to group conversations, to enable

gaming and sharing of music. an ai virtual assistant will make everything from restaurant reservations to payment reminders. >> there will be a lot more things you can do like booking a restaurant table, ordering food, buying movie tickets, and find out when the movie will play, the show time and many, many more launching starting today. >> reporter: it all fits into zuckerberg's ten-year plan to connect the world, bringing people together whether it's a virtual space or in a group chat on messenger. for "nightly business report," i'm julia boorstin in san jose, california. before we wrap up the show. let's look at markets once again. u.s. futures first, we're expecting to see slightly higher start to the trading session. over in the u.s., the s&p off 2 points.

let's look at what the ftse is doing. in fact, it erased its gains for the year. it's down by 0.1% after that big slide in yesterday's trading session which was the biggest one-day loss since the brexit vote closing down 2.3%. it's slightly lower today despite the fact that sterling is not spiking sterling is just off the six-month high we saw overnight. unchanged on the day. that's it for today's show. i'm carolin roth. "worldwide exchange" is up next. we'll see you here same time, same place tomorrow.

good morning. markets now. the ftse slips again after turning in its worst day since brexit. the move today much smaller. a big vote happening in just hours from now on theresa may's call for a snap election. a live report from london straight ahead. another day, another corporate pr debacle. this time adidas is underfire. why they are apologizing to customers. and is china's red hot economy about to hit a giant speed bump? we'll explain details on that. it's april 19, 2017, and "worldwide exchange" begins rit