rally in crude? 30 minutes into the trading day in the u.s., and you mentioned risk off, mark. julie hyman is here. the indices with suggest to much risk off, more intense than it looks. julie: definitely here. there is the risk-off attitude but it is not reflected in the magnitude of the drop we are seeing. it is in the uptick in volatility the past few days. the vix residue about 15 yesterday after a long streak below it, and it continues to hold above that level, even as we have the major averages with not much change and the sideways action has continued in the markets for much of the last month. let's get to individual movers. a lot of investor activism on various fronts this morning. general motors not up much even after dave van horn's greenlight capital said it was nominating three folks to the board there, saying that the gm misrepresented greenlight's proposal. pepsi raising a little bit. the analyst said that there was a possibility that kraft heinz would team up with ab and have and make a bid for pepsi. whole foods come interesting here -- amazon, still seen as a possible bidder for whole foods, apparently pondered a takeover of the company this -- last fall but nothing materialized, according to a person to million with the situation. weekber, earlier this jennifer garner said it was considering pushing for a separate we looking at -- jana hunter said he was considering pushing for a sale. and dispute with qualcomm over royalty paymentsblacerry getting a big boost over this. qualcomm down 1.7%. quick look inside the bloomberg to see what haven assets have been doing after we talk about risk-off here. white,ooking at gold and although i guess it should be yellow. yen in blue. both of them doing well even though we have not seen at all of pullback in markets thus far. we have seen buying of gold, pretty consistently. buying of yen consistently it does suggest risk aversion. oil in yellow. we see the big recovery and we might see some movement on the oil inventory numbers as well in 30 minutes. up.: julie, we are trading similar story yesterday. he started to drag us lower and we finished unchanged for the second consecutive day. the gauge is up to a 16-month high, led by media, food, and beverage companies. vix.alk about the it is declining a little bit today. falling for the first day in 11. we had 10 straight days of gains in our volatility index. that is the longest streak of advances since november. yesterday closed at its highest level since november 8, having doubled from its record level in march, 17. interesting chart to keep an eye on, as is this. it shows the cost-off hedging se 100 losses, the white line, and the blue light is stock losses. this is pretty much on average going back a year, hedging against euro stock 50 losses levels, asexit we approach the french election. u.k. stocks have outperformed area stocks in the last three days. big, big jobs number today. dig deep come it is the wages figure that matters. 2.2%. you remember inflation yesterday, 2.3%. adjusted for inflation, up by .ust .1% the weakest figure since the third quarter of 2014. realpage is being squeezed. is being squeezed. vonnie: breaking news out of the bank of canada -- it is maintaining a benchmark interest , bringing for the gap tog of the output the end of 2018. revising down potential growth for the first half at least. it is raising the first quarter year.recast for the 2017 decrease for the gdp forecast in 2018. the canada dollar's strength in about .25%. there we go. as mark mentioned, geopolitical risks are driving today's market moves. u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson and the foreign affairs minister in russia, sergey lavrov, launched talks in moscow. president trump tweeted this -- "had a very good call last night concerning north korea." all likely to be topics of conversation later today. joining us is kevin cirilli, chief washington correspondent for bloomberg news. by the time they mean we will have a joint statement from lavrov and tillerson. what will stoltenberg and donald trump speak about? kevin: earlier today secretary tillerson meeting with his russian counterparts in russia, and i have to be honest here, the statements could not have been more different from the 2 global leaders when they sat across the table. the russians feel that the u.s. should not be taking the action they are taking against the assad regime. all of that sent him our european counterparts are praising this administration for the measure that what they , thed measured response missile strike against the syrians. when you look at the communications coming out of the white house regarding china, regarding north korea, they hope that the message they are sending on syria will forecast to the north koreans as well as the chinese that this administration is taking a very different approach on the issue of syria, and by default, potentially north korea come than the previous and ministers. vonnie: kevin is staying with us because while president trump's foreign policy agenda has taken center stage, his domestic policy battles dominate headlines, tax reforms immigration. 1470ter signed by economists to congress pleading for smart immigration reform could joining us, 2 of the composers and sing a tories of signatories of the letter, douglas holtz eakin, veteran republican advisor, and austan goolsbee, former chairman ofthe president's council economic advisers -- that was under president obama. thank you for joining. let's get to this letter. you might've written it. glenn hubbard to alan blinder signing this letter saying that smart immigration would benefit the usa. does immigration have an impact deleterious or otherwise on productivity? austan: on net it has quite a positive impact on productivity. in silicon startups valley, the majority of the big startups were started by immigrt founders productivity, there was a widespread bipartisan belief among economists that if you look at the demographics of the united states as compared to europe, japan, china, and other countries come in is a great advantage that the population is not shrinking or projected to shrink. -- the nativeborn population in the u.s. looks exactly like demographically western europe, japan, and china it is only because of immigrants that we have the population growth and it is important for growing the economy. vonnie: douglas faulty can come if i can ask you if there is the right level -- douglas holtz eakin, if i can ask you if there is a right level of immigration, and having the highly skilled come in and low skilled. is it fair to just have one part of that equation into the country? douglas: i don't think it is a question of too high or too low. the real question is are we going to take advantage of immigration as an economic policy? too often it is thought to be divorced from economic issues. stan pointed out, it is essential to having workers did it is an important part of economic policy. that is why the folks at new american economy and i put this letter together, to remind you and yes and the administration that if they are going to be immigration policy -- reminded the congress and the administration that if you are going to do immigration policy, remind them of what constitutes. you want a mixture of the skills. you don't want exclusively stem workers or exclusively low skilled workers. markets respond to a variety of skills in a variety of conditions. kevin: i want to read a portion of this letter you sent out. signed by nearly 1500 economists. hasigration undoubtedly economic costs as well, but the benefits immigration brings to society far outweighs the cost commencement immigration policy could better make the benefits of immigration while reducing the cost." ok, we have got a talk about the politics of this, because, austan, when we look in congress, the wall, so to speak. in u.s. and mexico border security -- bolstering u.s. and mexico border security, appears to be a nonstarter not only for democrats but also for a lot of republicans did do you anticipate his administration being able to get anything done if the wall is part of these political discussions? austan: you know, i don't -- you asked my political opinion. my political opinion is if you run on a campaign that doesn't have great specifics and then you are elected, you are going to have problems trying to enact your program in any sphere. if you wanted to tax reform them immigration reform, health care reform, if you are going to insist on things that were not workable or unrealistic from the campaign, you are going to be in trouble, and i think you are seeing that here. kevin: we just heard from austan, doug, that the wall could be in trouble. i can remember covering congress from before the campaign, the gang of eight, these political gangs, so to speak, these bipartisan commissions, were part of the political discourse. over or do you think on tax reform for immigration reform that we could see some type of bipartisanship in congress working on these issues from or does the wall make it too complex? douglas: i don't think it precludes this. there are two separate issues, one of which is illegal immigration and border security, and the second, which is how do you structure your core visa system over the long-term? the president when he addressed congress talked about a merit-based immigration system, precisely the thing we are talking about. that is a component that is separate from the border. it would be my hope that building on what i thought was an on the quality of immigration discussions -- 2007, 2008 -- and then the most recent attention which got very close to passage but didn't make it over the line, we will see a good, strong effort to take advantage of immigration as a way to build on the u.s. economy. everyone agrees that this is an arroof where the core problem is ur-trend economic growth. -- poor-trend economic growth. this is a policy aimed right at that. kevin: there is a foreign and thecalled "trump media" in washington, where you and presse newseum, secretary sean spicer saying that tax reform could begin in several months. you and i know this -- republicans aren't necessarily united on the inner workings of this, especially something like the border adjustment tax. do you think we could actually get some type of conference of tax reform this year? i think the chances of that are below 50-50 as we speak today but they are below 50-50 yearsyear for the past 50 and it will take a concerted effort by the president of the united states to say this is what i want, this is why i came to washington, to improve economic performance will stop that kind of effort is necessary to get tax reform done. if you don't have that, it won't happen. even with that it could be quite difficult. just because republicans can doesn't mean they agree on the nature of the reforms. we saw that on health care and tax reform -- not kevin kevin: d immigration. douglas: right. you need a tremendous amount of political capital by the white house to get this done. vonnie: are you concerned that the administration -- the agencies you are associated with might have the teeth to implement policies? austan, let me ask you first. austan: you are saying the cea or cbo, might they be politicized? vonnie: might they be not staffed enough? austan: oh, for sure there are staffing problems throughout the administration. regardless of what you think of the trump and administration, they have got to get people nominated for these positions-- treasure become other agencies. the congressional budget office isc littl different because thy go through congress, but they only just now named kevin cea chair.be the staffing is an important issue but the potential politicization of agencies like the cbo, that could be a very big issue, if that comes to pass. will traditionally objective outfits be sidelined, do you think, doug? douglas: i think it is important that the administration takes a broader set of opinions. i understand that the president likes businessmen. i understand that he is fond of generals in the national security sphere. but when those policies go public, they are going to get criticized for all sorts of points of view. it is better to get the feedback internally in the policy formulation process than to wait until you have launched and find out things you didn't know. i hope no one gets sidelined. i hope they take a broad you and develop policies towards that. vonnie: i faxed to both of you, the first of many conversations on the -- my thanks to both of you, the first of many conversations on these policies, i hope. presidentlater today, trump and the secretary general of nato will hold a joint news conference. we will bring that you live 4:30 eastern, 9:30 london time. mark: great discussion. let's check "first word" news. emma chandra has more. emma: u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson is trying to convince russia to end its support for syrian president assad. he met with russian foreign and her sergey lavrov says he has concerns about what he calls an vigorous and contradictory ideas from the u.s. russia rejects allegations that assad was behind chemical weapons attack. in asia, china's president xi jinping told president trump the issue of north korea's nuclear weapons program should be resolved through peaceful means. xi spoke with the president tweeted thatump north korea was looking for trouble. the u.s. as set and your current carrier to the region. that is raised fears that conflict could breakout. 2 islamic extremists were the focus of an investigation into a bomb explosion near a bus carrying one of the country's top soccer teams. one of the suspects has been detained. one player was injured. schedule champions league quarterfinal match with monica was delayed until tonight. -- with monaco was delayed until tonight. global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2600 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i am emma chandra. this is bloomberg. mark: coming up, oil falling off its highs with data do this hour. this is bloomberg. ♪ vonnie: from new york miami vonnie quinn. this is "bloomberg markets." mark: and i am mark barton. gold is nearing its highest level in five months. oil company off the highs -- to be fair, that is off the prospect of extension to production cuts. joining us for futures in focus, tim evans, founder and chief market strategist at longleaf trading group. we have the eia stockpile data do in a matter of minutes. up the seventht consecutive day. best run of the year. it is stockpile data going to get a further upside to those bulls? tim: well, i mean, is the eia data reflects what we saw in api barrels,of 1.3 million absolutely. it gives bulls something to look for. it would definitely come on top of the geopolitical tensions come to give bowls a lot to work with. mark: a lot of things to digest here. reports out of opec, the monthly report, compliance levels, 104% in march. that is a bullish signal. on the bearish side, they are highlighting the threat of u.s. production. are you leaning more towards the bullish side or the bearish side? tim: well, i think the market got a little overdone when we headed towards 47. i think the rally off of those lows has been justified. but the balancing we are trying to find from the drops== dr-- draws and the results from production cuts and the increase in production from u.s. shale, i don't think, until we see some hard evidence that global supplies are winding down some, a move much higher from here is going to be ultimately justified, at least in the short term. mark: tim, talk to me about gold. gold futures are up at levels we have not seen since november. is this a pure hedge against your political worries? tim: it is that for you and i's break from the way gold has been training for months -- it is actually a nice break from the way gold has been trading for months. the uncertainties in the market have given a reason to buy gold. we've taken out february highs and has line is the market. level, the upward trend cannot continue higher towards 1500. mark: always good to see you. more markets next. this is bloomberg. ♪ mark: ahead of the economic commission says no brexit deal would be that he meant death would be bad for the u.k. and the eu. -- would be bad for the u.k. anti-e.u.. he spoke to bloomberg earlier. >> they want to respect the global standards, they want to act in the framework of the g-20. mark: brexit talks unlikely to start before late may. still ahead, just moments away from the biggie, the release of the u.s. oil inventory data. we will bring it to you live. this is bloomberg. ♪ mark: live from bloomberg world headquarters in new york and london, i am mark barton. vonnie: i'm vonnie quinn. this is "bloomberg markets." u.s. oil inventories are about to come out, calling for a drawdown in stockpiles earlier. developed nations cut inventories by 23 million barrels in february, sending food on a seven-it winning -- seven -- sending crude on a seven-day winning streak. we got a julie hyman. julie: 2.1 7 million barrels draw down there. this was larger even that came out last night as well. there was a built in cushing, .klahoma the drawdown in gasoline and distillates larger than estimated. gasoline inventories, nearly 3 million barrels. isdates, 2.2 milion barrels. --inery utilization and 02 0.2%. let's look at my terminal. it looks like that is showing a little more clearly the reaction, the leg up we are seeing after oil had taken a leg down. this point. you can get more analysis on this inventories report not just today but every wednesday on our block on the bloomberg, where a lot of different reporters and analysts weigh in on this report every single week. it looks like oil is strengthening on the back of it, mark. mark: great stuff. 2 wonderful functions. let's check in on " first word" news. emma chandra has more from london. moscow, u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson got a chilly reception today. sergey foreign minister lavrov accused u.s. of carrying out an unlawful attack against syrian forces, referring to the u.s. attack on an airbase last week in retaliation for chemical weapons being used on syrian civilians. tillerson conceded that the two sides have large differences but that talks could bring them closer together. white house press secretary sean spicer has apologized after yesterday claiming that hitler didn't use chemical weapons. mr. spicer: i would ask for folks' forgiveness to understand that i should not have tried to make a comparison. there is no comparing atrocities. and it is a very solemn time for so many folks, that this is part of that. that is obviously a very difficult thing personally to deal with because you know a lot of people who don't know you wonder why you would do that. spicer was ridiculed for drawing a comparison between the not see leader and syria -- nazi leader and bashar al-assad, failing to knowledge the systematic killing of jews with poison gas. retractedil" has the story about melania trump and agreed to settle 2 losses. a story last summer question her work as a model, claiming she provided services beyond modeling could the first lady see, saying the stories caused tremendous -- suit, saying the stories caused tremendous damage to her reputation. global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2600 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i am emma chandra. this is bloomberg. mark: daimler reporting stronger than estimated first-quarter earnings. n automaker said profits nearly doubled from a year earlier. daimler shares are moving up on the news. there you go. stock performance is driving european equities, helping to push the stoxx 600 high today. joining us to break down the numbers, bloomberg europe managing editor. you know when a company releases earnings early that they are going to be good or bad stop these are good, stronger than expected. what is behind it? benedikt: the numbers came out last night after the markets closed in europe and they were in for a positive surprise. they were due at the end of the month. what we see here is a solid set of numbers. the mercedes-benz division is up, trucks are up, buses are it across the board, really a very good picture here. they have one-time gains from asset sales, taking fewer write-downs. the company is doing extremely well right now. this is a company that last year completed a very positive year, a very upbeat year. they managed to take that momentum into 2017 and continue in the first quarter along those lines. mark: overtaking bmw as the biggest seller of luxury cars. the question for this year will be candid sustain that. daimler or mercedes, whatever you want to call it, compare it now to a decade ago. benedikt: right, they have had quite a turnaround in thlast ,ole of years, in particular supplanting bmw as the number one seller of luxury cars. that was a gold they had initially only planned for the end of the decade. doing a lot of things right right now. they have the right cause, the right products. people like the compact cars, the big sedans. mercedes has found new design language. they are doing well in the suv arena. again, an area where maybe a decade ago there were not this they were not as strong. traditionally they were a staid, conservative position. appealve managed to to a younger crowd and also with the breath of their offerings. vonnie: how does bmw meet this challenge, if possible? is it even possible at this point? benedikt: well, if mercedes teaches us one thing, you can fairly swiftly turn things around in the industry. not all is lost for bmw. they came out with the numbers of their own today. first quarter deliveries look fairly solid. profit, boost -- contributor for them came out fairly strong. always compared to mercedes not where they want to be. it will take them time to catch the sadie again. they want to come out with what they claim to be the biggest model offensive in history. we shall see if they catch up again. udiorrow we will get a numbers. audi will remain a third at this point. mark: benedikt carmel in berlin today. we are joined by david westin. he is down at the new york auto show and joined by a very special guest from the bmw board, in fact. david: exactly, vonnie. it is yen robertson, a bmw board member. you have news out today about sales. ian: we announced quarter results, up 5.5%. very importantly, 254,000 sales in march, an all-time high. cowboy years ago it would have been almost unimaginable in one sickle months. -- a couple years ago it would have been almost unimaginable in one single month. david: are you fighting the trend, and how? ian: when i came in last year the market had peaked and we took steps last year to reduce our inventory and we kept things pretty tight during the year. reasonable.is being we are not releasing much growth in the markets. relatively flat. maybe a push by some manufacturers. we will see how it goes. david: part of the strategies behind us here. tell us what this is. ian: this is the next member of our plug-in hybrid family. this has just gone into the marketplace. having great sales all around the world. more importantly, it shows that a lecture mobility -- electro- mobility across our whole range. david: tell us about electro- mobility, because we have a president in the white house not as emphatic about climate issues. do you think this will take over the car industry? ian: last year we did 62 2000 electric sales and we are planning 100,000 this year. put that into perspective -- it took us three years to get to 100,000. now we will do it in one year. it is increasing. some markets -- norway is when we is -- 25% of the total market 's electric because there is a plan -- incentives, free charging, free parking. consumers are liking it. david: when you give us those numbers, does that include hybrids as well as elecical? ian: combined number. david: another trend has been suvs, light trucks. where is bmw on that? we really started a lot of this trend because we started to bring what we call the sport activity vehicle. most of them were made in our facility -- david: happens to be the united states, which donald trump likes. ian: absolutely. last year, $10.6 billion of exports from north america. more than any other manufacturer. coming add to that -- x2 at the end of this year and x7 not far away. another billion dollars of investment in the united states. david: we like a horse race, and there is a question release -- you are mercedes-benz. do you plan to take back the ground? is one of our measures for profitability is a more important one. 20 seven quarters of being within our guidance. we are always balancing this out. when i look at the first quarter of this year, it is a very close race. ultimately, we will see how the year develops. we make a whole range of vehicles, and a broad range of bmws in the middle. it will be a race around the world. david: profitability, and that is where your goal -- ian: absolutely. david: what will drive it? ian: something like one in five dollars remake around the world comes from the 5 series. david: even though suvs are taking over. is inhe sedan market seeing a lot of growth but it is very, very stable around the world. suvs are definitely from you. it hundred 50,000 from adding more as we go through this year. sedan is still -- the market is still a very strong one. will the trends change a little? maybe in percentages in some markets, but overall there is room for those types of products. david: are you seeing softening in the consumer spending market? ian: it is confidence which really drives the premium car market. generally it is not about how much money people have or are making. it is where they look to the future and feel confident about it. the world we have seen markets like spain and italy in recovery mode since the crisis. we have seen china go from the market 10 years ago, really year. 520,000 last that market has been one of the growth drivers good david david: ian robinson, thank you. vonnie, b back to you. vonnie: how thanks to david westin at the auto show. you see mercedes-benz presenting at the new york auto show. that is just about three minutes time. vonnegut we will hear from the imf managing director christine lagarde. does she think the united states will label china a currency minute later? -- currency manipulator? this is bloomberg. ♪ vonnie: from new york, i am vonnie quinn. mark: i am mark barton. this is "bloomberg markets." time for the biggest business stories in the news right now but more problems for the embattled chief executive of barclays. according to "the times of london," the u.s. justice department has joined british regulators investigating him for trying to root out a whistleblower. the berkeley board has reprimanded him and make callback last year's $1.6 million bonus. john paulson will step down from the board of american international group now that his hedge fund has sold shares in the interim. according to a person familiar with the matter, the move will be announced in the next few days. paulson had proposed splitting aig into three companies. the firm posted a $3 billion loss in the fourth quarter. step to challenge the world's biggest retailer, offering discounts on more than one million online items that customers then pick up at stores. walmart says it costs less than the company to ship to stores, so customers should share in those savings. "bloombergr latest business flash." vonnie: time for our "quick take." with britain heading out of the european union, greece back on the bank, and discontent feeling the rise of published politicians, "quick take" asks whether the world's foremost international experiment can survive. , therope's common currency euro, has been cheating death for years. now with the u.k. heading for the european exit, greece in perpetual crisis, and economic discontent fueling nationalism across the continent, can the euro, the most ambitious financial experiment, survive? here is the situation -- voters are fed up with the economic failings of some eu countries and the loss of controls to brussels. withdrawal from the euro has become a rallying cry for nationalist movements, including italy's five star movement and marine le pen's national front in france. meanwhile, the greek tragedy continues. the government is struggling to meet creditors' domesticate the bailout funds flowing germany's insistence on more austerity lisa lingering sense that greece might have to leave the currency union sooner or later. adding to the problem is the euro area's slow recovery from the worst ever recession. on up limit f people under 25 has been stuck above 40% in greece and spain, creating what some call a lost generation of european youth. here is the argument -- the global financial crisis exposed the floors in the common currency. when it was created by 11 countries in 1999, they agree to a shared central bank and set interest rates, but only a limited unified approach to government spending or bank regulations. when banks began to wobble and countries like greece and spain were pushed to the brink, the common currency meant they were tied to the euro, leaving them with little option but to accept massive government bailouts in the euro area. germany, as the area's biggest economy, paid the lines share. then, euro-area leaders say they have strengthened the role to make the common currency more resilient, arguing that even if greece falls out of the bloc, the euro will survive. european leaders have shown time and time again they will do whatever it takes to keep the currency going. then there is the politics. the euro, unlike other currencies, is more than a means of payment. it is a symbol of europe's aspiration to unite in peace and prosperity. but some business leaders and politicians suggest that the structural deficiencies means its demise is just a matter of time. more about can read the future of the euro and all on the "quick takes" bloomberg. mark: still ahead, jean-claude touché share his opinion on the ecb, and the fed. this is bloomberg. ♪ london inm new york, i mark barton. vonnie: i'm vonnie quinn. central banks cannot be the only game in town -- former ecb president jean claude trichet spoke to francine lacqua in brussels earlier today. it is designed for 19 countries as a whole and it is up to each country to take that into account and, knowing thathe curncy will be stable , inflation will be in line in the medium-term with the definition of price stability, it is up to them to have the national policies that could be appropriate. let me say that taking the 19 countries as a whole, we see that growth is there. we see a lot of derivatives are going in the right direction, including unemployment, which is going down regularly. all this is encouraging. encouraging for the policies which are pursued, and encouraging for the ecb policies . now, of course, a lot of hard work needs to be done. i would say that the ball is in the camp -- up to the governments parliament -- central bank cannot be the only game in town. but this is something mario draghi has been saying for weeks years. you have been saying before -- 46 years. you have been saying beforehand. mr. trichet: and he should continue, which he does, because it is true, simple as that. if the job is not done now, we will have a lot of difficulty tomorrow. tomorrow interest rates will go up again and tomorrow the policies will not be as accommodative as they are the world over, not only in europe. we know that. it is in the cards. what happens with the debt outstanding, which is too high, and so forth? we have to be very clear on the message. it is the case not only in europe come i have to say. in the japan, in the u.s. come all advanced economies have hard work to do. francine: mr. trichet, when is the time, given elections in europe, to talk about the balance sheets for the ecb? , everybody: well knows that since the beginning of this month, they've slow down the pace of purchases. to the end of the year it would be the same level. i expect the ecb to be clearer vis-à-vis the markets in the last month othis year, to say what is -- what are the likely year? ns for the next in any case, everybody knows that this extraordinarily accommodating policy cannot be pursued internally. it is clear. all the economic agents have that in mind. francine: what is the one thing you worry when you look at the fed? is gdp noisy? hastrichet: well, the fed an economy in front of it that is very much in the cycle, the business cycle, on the upward episode of the cycle. that is clear. unemployment is extremely low. it is absolutely necessary for the fed to take that into account. i think they are very clear, obviously. the increasedon rates. unless accommodative policies. -- and less accommodative policies. i think everything is clear and there is no ambiguity on the position of the fat and it is in line with what is needed for the u.s. economy. vonnie: that was former ecb president jean claude trichet with francine lacqua earlier today in brussels. mark: coming up on the european close, we will follow stocks until the end of the penultimate trading session of the week. no trading on friday because of good friday, holiday here. stoxx 600 is up today come up to a 16-month high. small declines in london, small gains in germany. it is that sort of day. look at the currency board today. one of the more interesting run of losses has been the euro against the yen. the yen is up against the yen now. pound is up against the dollar. you're a down against the pound -- euro down against the pound. we have the court benchmark arising. core bond yids falng. periphery yields gaining. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> it is 11:00 a.m. in new york, 4:00 p.m. in london and 11:00 p.m. in hong kong. from london, i am mark artan. >> from new york, i am vonnie quinn. this is the european close. mark: we are going to take you from new york to london in the next hour. covering stories out of moscow and geneva. here are the top stories on the bloomberg and from around the world. the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson is in moscow. a meeting with russian foreign minister sergey lavrov. will there be another step in russian relations? vonnie: imf managing director christine lagarde discusses the biggest risks to the global economy. why she is still worried about the elections and the euro. and one of president trump's most popular tainlking has been railing against trade deals like tpp and nafta.