welcome to "street signs." i'm willem marx. these are your headlines several european equity markets see modest gains after president trump tweets that missile strikes in syria may not be imminent, prompting u.s. stocks to stage a rally. and a new man behind the wheel, herbert diess replaces r matthias mueller as chief executive of volkswagen. and china's trade balance

swings to a surprise deficit in march as exports drop and imports jump a bigger than expected 14%. back from the grave. trump asks his top economic and trade advisers to reconsider the trade partnership, signaling he may sign on to the tpp if america gets a better deal. we are joined by neil atkinson from the iea. it seems we have a degree of numbness in terms of geopolitical risk until recently in the market. is it just this threat of potential missile actions in syria that prompted the crude market to go up so high? >> dollar weakness probably played some role, but mainly the

fact in syria you have a combustible mix. we have russia, iran, united states in some role. and obviously not sure where this could go. traders are becoming nervous about potential disruption to supply that's helped drive the price back above $70 for brent >> 73.09 i think wti 64.05. do you think missile strikes in syria could be something that they're watching >> it is part of that, and the fact that the underlying oil market is beginning to tighten we discuss that in our report. tighter markets tend to lead to higher prices over time. that's something else we're watching closely >> the other element is the possibility of an escalating trade war.

beijing seems willing to escalate following things following on from trump white house actions. do you think oil prices are complicated by concerns over a possible trade conflict with china? >> they will be in time. the latest edition of the report, we've done a look at this if the trade war were to escalate, clearly that will impact on global trade and impact the global economy, which leads to a negative impact on oil growth we're a long way from that yet we've seen signs of a slightly more conciliatory attitude we'll see how that plays out >> some of the analysts have been saying we're in a period where fundamentals could be ignored for the time being >> do you agree with that? >> no. you cannot ignore the fundamentals the underlying fundamentals in the market at the moment is that, as we say in the report,

that levels of oil stocks held in the oecd countries, held to be an indicator of the success, non-opec output cuts, those stocks are coming down to the five-year average, which the producer group identified as being a metric once that average has been reached, there's a whole set of decisions which might or might not be taken by opec and its supporters, which will drive the market fundamentals in the rest of the year. before then we have demand growing strong, ahead of what may happen with the fallout from the trade war. u.s. oil production growing strongly there's a lot of important fundamental factors going on out there. to say they're unimportant is just wrong >> let's talk about the u.s. numbers we've seen we had crude oil up more than 3 million barrels. u.s. crude production hitting a high of 10.5 million barrels a

day. do you think that's the major trend and focus going forward? >> u.s. crude production growth is one of the most important indicators of the oil market in 2018 and we think u.s. oil production willing going onward and upwards throughout 2018. there's nothing new as far as that is concerned. as far as stocks, yes, the weekly u.s. stock numbers did change this week those are weekly numbers the longer-term trend is that global oil stocks, held in the oecd including the united states, have been falling consistently now for nearly a year they're getting down close to the five-year average which the opec producers identified as being the target to which they were aiming. >> opec, non-opec meeting next week, what should people be watching for >> i think it's unlikely there will be a major new announcement coming out of that the next opec ministerial

conference is in june. that's where decisions can be taken. when producers do sit down next week, as you said they will, they'll look at the numbers that we put out, the opec secretary put out and others, they'll i think feel satisfied that the progress towards their target of reducing stocks to five-year average, that progress is steady and they're likely to achieve that objective fairly soon what happens beyond that is a matter for them. we'll have to wait and see what they decide. >> thank you very much for that. president trump is discussing his options in syria having come back from his previous decision that a u.s. air strike may be imminent in syria. jim mattis told congress that it with you important to gather enough evidence before taking action here in the uk, the country seems to have moved a step closer to endorsing military action after cabinet members

backed theresa may's call to respond to syrian government forces suspected use of a chemical weapon. downing street did not specifically mention strikes, but said it was highly likely the syrian government was behind saturday's incident. across the channel, french president emanuel macron said his government has proof that the syrian regime pulled out the chemical attack over the past weekend. he said he will make a decision on air strikes once all the necessary intelligence has been covered. hallie jackson has more on the story. >> a white house huddled tonight. >> we have to make some decisions. they will be made fairly soon. >> u.s. officials say military options range from targeted

tomahawk strikes on syrian sites, to something more wide ranging like a sustained campaign affecting military operations and multiple targets. any action retaliation against the assad regime for another suspected chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians, including children. u.n. ambassador nikki haley with nbc's andrea mitchell. >> we definitely have enough proof. but now we just have to be thoughtful in our reaction >> reporter: nbc news learned of evidence of chlorine gas and a nerve agent in samples taken from victims according to two officials familiar with the intelligence the u.s. government is confident the syrian dictator was behind the horrific attack. >> our strategy is to engage by, with and through allies and all things we do. >> reporter: those allies include france and the u.k. where prime minister theresa may called the cabinet back to town for an emergency meeting agreeing on action to deter assad.

president emanuel macron says he has proof the syrian dictator did go after his people. any strike might be imminent or might be awhile, at least that's what president trump is suggesting after seeming to telegraph the military moves just yesterday -- no trying to re-inject the element of surprise tweeting could be very soon or not so soon at all. >> hallie jackson with that report. russia is supporting the syrian government and the country urged the u.s. and allies to avoid military action. moscow's ambassador to the united nations warned the situation could spiral out of control and said he could not rule out a war between the u.s. and russia head to cnbc.com to read about eight potential targets the u.s. is considering inside syria. that an more at cnbc.com. lawmakers in russia are proposing banning some u.s. products and denying entry to certain u.s. citizens in

retaliation for american sanctions. proposals are also on the table to halt cooperation with the u.s. on atomic power and rocket engines. in klechina the trade balan swung to a surprise deficit in march. exports fell 2.7%, imports jumped 14.4% the u.s. will reportedly detail which products are on the 1$100 billion list of chinese goods subject to potential new tariffs. the u.s. trade representative, robert lighthizer, is lightly to announceu duties like clothing. president trump has said the u.s. would join the tpp if the deal was better than that offered to president obama the white house confirmed trump

has told top advisers to investigate the possibility of joining the transpacific partnership. a spokeswoman said the president asked robert lighthizer and his new economic adviser, larry kudlow, to reopen negotiations. neel kashkari is sympathetic to president trump's trade approach to china. he said china needs to be pushed to open its markets to u.s. business and the current threat of tariffs could help level the playing field. kashkari added a trade war must be avoided given the impact it would have on the u.s. and global economies our colleagues state side will speak to the new york fed president, william dudley, next week feel free to get in touch with the show at

streetsignseurope@cnbc.com, and you can tweet us at @streetsignscnbc. coming up, a closer look at the new man of the driving see the of volkswagen. hotel, car and activity all in one place. ♪

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signs. slightly positive start to the day for european marks across the stoxx 600. up 0.16% slightly more green than red on the board there. we look at the specific markets across the continent you can see the ftse 100 in the red, down just over 0.1% in germany, the dax up 0.4%. in paris, the cac 40 up 0.20 the ftse mib up 0.20%. basic resources up the laggard at the moment is the retail sector. let's talk about volkswagen. shares are trading higher ahead

of the first press conference of newly selected ceo herbert diess. diess will replace matthias mueller and charged with leading volkswagen towards a sweeping transition volkswagen will start a press conference shortly in wolfsburg with speeches from the chairman dieter perch and herbert diess we are joined by annette in wolfsburg for that press conference what do you think is driving this positive reaction from the market to this news? >> actually ever since herbert diess was entering volkswagen he was responsible for the vw brand. this brand had huge problems in terms of productivity. he managed to install a restructuring program inside that very important unit of volkswagen so he has a track record of

really delivering when it comes to enacting bold changes, enacting productivity gains. that's something the market likes. also a positive is that he has managed to somehow negotiate those changes despite the very strong labor card. so he has okay relations with the labor council, which is a positive for volkswagen. if you look at the overall reorganization and reshaping, the labor council is also endorsing all these changes, as they also got a key personnel on board, the head of hr comes from there, and that's a positive also if you look at the changes the company wants to enact, they will streamline the business into more or less four big areas. we have volume unit, which is encompassing volkswagen, and

then a premium sector, which is mainly audi, and then super premium which is porsche and the other high-end luxury carmakers. the reason for that is to be more efficient, faster to enact decisions. that's all about what herbert diess wants to do in the future for the carmaker the trucks and buses, they are preparing to be capital market ready. and analysts are expecting we will see an ipo as soon as early next year. those thinking we will see something like ipo'ing various units are most likely wrong. volkswagen wants to keep control over all these brands they're having and owning. so i don't think the new management will ipo a lot of these various brands but what we will see is more

capital market closeness, because herbert diess is known to be closer to the capital markets than mueller ever was. that's the reason why the markets like it. and it's always news it's always exciting if there's a new management coming in it might mean bold changes and that's a positive for volkswagen with that, back to you >> annette, thank you very much. she'll be live at volkswagen wolfsburg headquarters for herbert diess's first press conference as volkswagen chief executive in a few minutes time. l'oreal's liketor like growth was the strongest in eight years thanks to chinese demand the french beauty company posted more muted results in its mass market unit. sage group has cut its full-year organic revenue growth forecast after poor first half

performance. the uk company now expects to see sales rise by 7% this year, lower than the previous forecast sage reported a decline in first half organic recurring revenue growth compared to the same period last year the london stock exchange group appointed david schwimmer as new chief executive officer he joins after 20-year career at goldman sachs where he was global head of medals, mining and investment banking rolls royce says it will increase inspections of its trent 1000 engines this will lead to disruptions for customers and higher costs they previously replaced parts to the trent 1000. rolls royce said it will have to reprioritize spending plans.

and federated investor is buying a stake in hermes from bt pension scheme south africans are paying tribute to winnie mandela, the anti-apartheid campaigner who was married to nelson mandela. she passed away earlier this month. i'm joins by the ceo of brand south africa and was a close friend of both the mandelas. kingsley, thank you very much for joining us she lead a very interesting life, winnie at times a controversial life. do you think her reputation has been rehabilitated in her death? >> well, i'm not sure about rehabilitation because i don't think there's anything to rehabilitate i think she lived through the most interesting time.

all individuals should be defined in terms of the time and space in which they lived. she lived during a struggling times, during turbulence in the country and she responded well to the challenges of that moment and the country now is mourning. and they're all -- we are all united united against apartheid >> we had ten days of national mourning now having a national funeral. we heard from people celebrating that life what shouchltlife what should people take from that life as we go towards the future >> we need to deal with transformational issues here, unemployment, issues of violence across the country but we really need to empower people with knowledge they can contribute and making our

democracy a most interesting institution. >> let's talk about crime. that's been a constant challenge for your country's reputation. part of your job is to sell your country internationally. crime levels dipped a bit last year even your police minister says people do not feel safe in south africa how do you confront that >> well, we can't deal with clima climate -- crime in an isolated incident we need to look at how do we empower people, how do we deal with underlying poverty issues in the country that will help us deal with the crime. we can't look at this in isolation. it's a social phenomenon that we need to manage it's a challenge we vshhave, bu we're responding well. part of dealing with crime is

not only the responsibility of the government, but ordinary people have to deal with it we're seeing the benefits of dealing with this crime. we are better this time around than a few years ago >> unemployment at 27% in south africa you've seen growth since 2009 average 2%, that's well below your sub-saharan african fears how do you transform your economy? what changes need to be made >> we need to manage some of the issues that have stifled our econom economy, such as corruption. state-owned institutions that play a very important role in the development of the country there are issues we need do as a country, but also global trends. the world has been seeing less growth in the last few years,

but there are certain responsibilities we need to take and ramaphosa is dealing with some of these. >> thank you very much for joining us italy's five-star movement called on sill vylvilvio berlus step aside saying it's the only way to solve the political stalemate in the country they are said to be an obstacle in the formation of a government italian president sergio mattarella is holding a second round of talks today aimed at forming a coalition government a look at some of the players involved in that luigi di maio said he is ready

to form a government with the pd mateo salvini responded that di maio should be more willing to compromise. come up, we'll be live in wolfsburg for that wovolkswagen conference olay regenerist shatters the competition. hydrating skin better than prestige creams costing over $100, $200, and even $400. for skin that looks younger than it should. fact check this ad in good housekeeping. olay regenerist. ageless.

i'm willem marx. these are your headlines several european equity markets see modest gains after president trump tweets that missile strikes in syria may not be imminent, prompting a u.s. rally overnight. and a new man behind the wheel, herbert diess replaces matthias mueller as chief executive of volkswagen. as the carmaker plans to create new business areas and a china-focussed portfolio we will be live at volkswagen's wolfsburg headquarters for that

in a few minutes time. and china's trade balance swings to a surprise deficit in march as exports drop and imports jump a bigger than expected 14%. and trump asks his top economic and trade advisers to reconsider the transpacific partnership, tweeting he may sign on to tpp if america can get a better deal. a few hours ahead of the u.s. trading open. let's look at the futures. the s&p 500 looking to open very, very slightly up the dow jones with an implied open up 32 points. and nasdaq looking like it will open very slightly softly there this morning as we look at the european markets, the ftse 100 is the only major index in the red, down slightly less than 0.1% in germany the dax is up more

than half of a percent in paris, the cac 40 up 0.25%. similar with the ftse mib. the euro is stronger against the u.s. dollar. the dollar straiglightly strongr against the yen. the pound strengthening against the dollar, up more than 0.4%. the dollar slightly weaker there against the swiss frank. i mentioned volkswagen they are due to start a press conference shortly in wolfsburg with statements from the chairman, dieter perch and the incoming chief executive her beert dieher -- herbert diess. matthias mueller hardly in charge for all that long he oversaw record sales and profits. why is he going?

>> it's a very good question i think he didn't do that bad of a job in getting the business back on to its feet after the dieselgate scandal results have shown that. maybe the company feels they need to move away now that they got to that point and they need to start looking forward, and herbert diess is the man to do that >> why is that what is so good about herbert diess? >> with the track record of cutting costs, appeasing labor unions to some extent, he's forward looking. he's looking towards the future of electrification, a change in the business model in the way carmakers need to. >> he's not just looking at how fiat are doing, daimler, he's also thinking about tesla? >> yes he mentioned in interviews that tesla is the new competition and they have attributes that vw doesn't. >> the conglomerates will reorganize into three separate

units, volume, premium, super premium. also they will divide into six different business areas do you think this will make a difference to the bottom line or is this about streamlining management >> i think a lot of this is process. that's one thing he was good about with the vw brand. he managed to get the business back on its feet through process. that's another sign of that. but i think bottom line it won't be as big a deal >> you mentioned herbert diess' suitability. he's quite new to the firm does that help as well >> i think it does i think when you had something like dieselgate it helps to have a new face he's quite new to the company, 2015 i think we've seen similar with other carmakers. ford got a complete industry outsider mary barron, not new to gm, but

a new face, she wanted to bring a new culture. it seems to be a common move >> but won't he face the same challenges that his predecessor takes in terms of things like you try to make a major strategic shift at a big conglomerate like that firm, you come up against half the supervisory board being controlled by labor unions, 20% of the votes falling to lower sac saxony, it will be difficult to streamline, won't it >> it will be. one other positive he may have going for him, he and the labor union have had a slightly rough relationship to start with, but both sides know what to expect from each other now. maybe that will help in negotiations >> we'll have a quick listen in to the press conference there where chairman dieter perch started explaining >> translator: the main reasons

behind that decision personally. yesterday was an important day for the volkswagen group the day sending clear and we are confident positive signals heralding the next phase in our company's restructuring. we've already accomplished a great many things during the past two years the volkswagen group since autumn of 2015 not only had to manage the greatest crisis in its corporate history, but we also had to contend with the imminent fundamental change as a new era dawns, and to be well prepared for the deepest era in history for the automotive industry both have indeed been

accomplished by our company. we worked our way through the large part of the diesel crisis. they set the course for the fundamental transformation that is second to none. the group has fundamentally realigned and reinvented itself on the basis of its ambitious strategy together. strategy 2025, and how thoroughly sound it is as a business integrity and compliance are the foundation of all our actions. this is not least an achievement of matthias mueller who has led

our company and he guided us safely and brilliantly through these difficult times. not only that, he's also started the fundamental and necessary change with a lot of personal commitment and we must be grateful in that volkswagen not only state the cause, but also its operationing a ins and stra positioning is better than ever before i would like to thank him on behalf of the whole enterprise one thing is safe to say, volkswagen is leaving this diesel crisis in better shape than we had entered it now we can focus fully on competitiveness and being ready for the future in a rapidly changing environment, which brings me to the resolutions adopted yesterday.

after the successful first phase of our realignment, the vw group accelerates its transformation with dedication. we are using our track record experience from the last two years to realign those structures and processes within the enterprise for the needs for future earning power and competitiveness needed to this effect, the auto management and supervisory board decided to further develop and renew the executive structure, the leadership team of the volkswagen group we remain convinced we are creating the conditions to secure our position in the top segment of the motor industry, and we are mobilizing all our strength, the strength of our group brands to design

automobiles of tomorrowal the f tomorrow. the structures need changes in leadership to ensure the core brand volkswagen success and its good management in a time of tremendous dynamism, and our strategy towards 2025 and the next phase to follow this up with dedication the supervisory aboard has appointed dr. herbert diess as a successor to matthias mueller. leading the core brand vw is also an office that dr. diess will fill. in the transformation process of the volkswagen brand, he's proven with what dedication he

leads and manages these fundamental transformation process. and he will ensure that this works in the long run. he has shown what fundamental changes he introduces for the vw brand and how decisive and dedicated he is in doing that. and this performance and achievement has predestined to get the mandate to implement our strategy 2025 in the next and decisive years fully in addition to that, dr. oliver broomer, will become part of th new group board. over the two years there's been a substantial contribution to the realignment of the group and

the volkswagen brand dr. francisco leaves the company at his own behest. since 2001 he has been building a procurement operation of modern design at volkswagen. leading the diesel task force he has made a central contributi contribution -- >> that's the volkswagen chairman speaking there in volkswagen an annamarie is still with us we have the head of porsche on the management board we have the head of human resources approved by the labor uni unions let's talk more about those labor unions do you think they would have been behind this move to introduce a new ceo? >> it's a n interesting question i think initially they didn't like him he got a hostile reception at one event he was at.

the fact that he managed to make so many cuts without actually involving massive job cuts i think has helped his position with the labor unions. the fact he concentrates on processes rather than cutting jobs helps him >> let's hear from herbert diess now speaking in wolfsburg. >> translator: and i'm looking forward to tackling this challenge together with our brands and the employees in our group. this is the second phase of the restructuring process of our group. as mr. perch said, the place for this process lies in our strategy 2025. there's no reason to have any doubts in the avenue we have taken. it's important to follow along with vigor and a focused manner. and in doing so we have to

compete in a very difficult environment and have to increase our pace considerably again. it's our goal to to sustain innovative capacity an turn it to a leading company of our industry we're well on our way. i would like to thank matthias mueller at this point for his achievement over the past years. as group ceo he has always fully and unconditionally backed and supported the activities and agreements at the brand level from back to the future with decisions at the brand level with his work he has laid the basis at top management with which we can now restructure our company. an important lever for this is

the comprehensive and further development of the group structure which was adopted yesterday by the supervisory bore the basis for this evolution resides in the conviction we have that this streamlined group should manage strong brands. that's the basic brands factor of the new group whachlgroup. what are our plans in further terms? the group will be broken down into six operating units and the region of china the operation of the new brand clusters of volume, premium and super premium and the capital market readiness of truck and bus constitute the basis for a more subsidiary management. the ceos of the new brand clusters will assume additionally cross-brand

management functions at the group level. hence the group responsibility is closer to the operating business and divided by several persons. there will be group sales, group production and corporate i.t in accordance with this principle, further group functions will be distributed. group development and research and vehicle i.t. will be managed by me. my function as group ceo comprises the responsibility for the top managers and the development of their skills. the reorganization development for the group and also the group and product strategy and brand strategy with this new complex structure we will perform the basis to be fast in our decisionmaking process and the implement of such decisions we will streamline the group management and we will

strengthen the brands with more responsibility within the groups and we utilize our synergies in a more consistent manner than before hence the direction for the evolution and further development of our group and management structure is obvious. we will intensively work on the fine tuning of this new structure in the weeks and months to come ladies and gentlemen, with our new structure we will further promote our process for transformation in every respect and more dimensions, and this we can rely on a solid foundation the volkswagen group is a conglomeration of strong brands with great potential the management will be taken over by a streamlined group. our strategy 2025 is correct, our results have been positive so it is rather -- >> listening to herbert diess, the new chief executive of volkswagen group

annamarie has also been listening. the word streamline comes up a lot in that speech there is that the most significant element to this reorganization the streamlining of things like decisionmaking >> absolutely. this is one of the problems for long time for vw and the criticism they faced mueller was frustrated at the speed of change with the company. if these different divisions get more autonomy, that should be a big help for vw. >> do you think diess will be able to make that change happened that matthias mueller was not able to make >> should give him -- yeah, a lot more power to get things don done >> does seem like quite a complex situation in terms of this reorganization. i want to ask you, do you think the major focus will be what people call the electric revolution

it's something they want in world leaders, so that's a big pushover, especially as they commented on china and china becoming a real focus. we're forecasting 0% ining 10%s vehicle sales to be evs by 2027. so they need to be moving there, especially with the quotas brought in in the chinese market it's the same for all carmakers. electrification, youautonomy, t traditional model is not working anymore. >> thank you very much for joining us and sticking with us. through that press conference. you may not be aware, but if you're not you should be, cnbc launches in abu dhabi from monday it will be co-hosted by nancy hungerford and hadley gamble here is a preview of the show. >> here we are in the heart of

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welcome back to "street signs. big banks are set to kick off a hotly anticipated earnings season stateside when jpmorgan, wells fargo and citi group report earnings later today. they're expected to deliver strong first quarter numbers with jpmorgan to post the biggest profit gains growth will largely be thanks to volatility, driving a resurgence in trading revenue rising interest rates have been welcomed and a wave of deal making on the back of tax reform helped revive markets. however the tougher tax code

could cloud the capital payouts for banks. cheryl spasheryl sandberg hn with jourova about the data scandal. this after revelations that an estimated 87 million users had data improperly shared with cambridge analytica. we will talk to vera jourova about that conversation with sheryl sandberg after this program. untethered to the truth and devoid of human emotion, those are some ways donald trump has been described in former fbi director james comey's new book. excerpts have been releasreleasd comey was fired by trump about a year ago with his dismissal

sparking the appointment of special counsel robert mueller and president trump is less likely to sit down with robert mueller for an interview, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter saying the raid on president trump's personal lawyer infuriating the president. he said he agreed with the cooperative disciplined approach he had taken with robert mueller. tracie potts is live for us from washington we had understood until recently that president trump was considering a sit-down interview with robert mueller at some point in the future. that now seems to be off the table, doesn't it? >> it seems that's not going to happen based on what our white house team has learned yes. they had been working for months on possible parameters, how and when and where this might happen after the raid on his attorney's

office and home in new york, the chances of that happening waned. now there's likely not to be an interview in this russian investigation of president trump in any shape or form, in person, in writing what that means is that the investigation may wrap up much sooner sometimes between may and late july, because they don't have to deal with the interview and they wouldn't have to deal with the follow-up from the interview from whatever the president might say. >> james comey in his new book criticized congressional leadership for president trulear ship for the response to president trump's behavior what is the gop saying? >> they're putting talking points out to surrogates, to do interviews, as james comey will be going out and doing interviews promoting the book. they are attacking comey's credibility as someone focused

mr. on himself than the work he was doing on the investigation this morning they already have a website live criticizing the book and criticizing comey. >> it's already number one on amazon's best seller list, ahead of its release let's look at the u.s. futures ahead of the market open s&p 500 slightly up for its implied open dow jones implied open up 32 points the nasdaq down slightly ahead of the open there. that's it for today's show i'm willem marx in london.

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it is 5:00 a.m. in atlanta here's the top five things happening now. president trump tweeting that he may be willing do a big about-face on trade and why japan is in his cross hairs. china posting a rare trade deficit in march as exports plunged. a new report says increased political uncertainty in the middle east could cause gasoline prices to rise heading into summer. bitcoin is going bonkers the huge moves in all the cryptos. and five, are you ready for a little earnings season maybe the most important numbers for wall street set to roll out in a few hours