The 6am Cut London

Cyprus banks to stay closed for days: “Cypriot banks will remain closed until Thursday, the government announced on Monday night, as President Nicos Anastasiades acknowledged that the country had come ‘a breath away from economic collapse’ before its last-minute bailout. Speaking after he agreed a €10bn international rescue that includes the restructuring of the island’s two biggest lenders with losses for bigger depositors, Mr Anastasiades also said capital controls would be imposed but as a ‘very temporary measure that will be gradually relaxed’.” (Financial Times)

Dell founder set to explore deal options: “Michael Dell has said he is willing to “explore in good faith” the possibility of working with Blackstone or Carl Icahn, after they each moved to top the $24.4bn buyout bid he made with Silver Lake Partners for the company he founded. Dell’s special committee said it had not yet determined if either Blackstone’s offer of at least $14.25 a share for the whole company or Mr Icahn’s offer of $15 for 58 per cent of the company constituted a superior proposal to the one on the table.” (Financial Times)

IPO fundraising jumps 50 per cent: “A bumper start to the year in the global market for new equity issues has seen funds raised through initial public offerings jump by 50 per cent so far, marking a shift in investor sentiment after years of declining deal volumes and high profile failures. Some $23bn worth of fresh equity has been raised in IPOs this year, up from $15bn in the same period last year, according to data from Dealogic.” (Financial Times)

Boeing flight-tests Dreamliner batteries: “Boeing took a key step to returning its 787 to commercial service when it undertook on Monday the first flight of an aircraft fitted with new batteries adapted to minimise the risk of overheating. A Dreamliner took off at 12:11pm Pacific time from the airfield at Boeing’s main production plant in Everett, Washington, for the ‘functional test flight’ and returned two hours later.” (Financial Times)

Berezovsky death ‘consistent with hanging’: “Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, whose body was found in the locked bathroom of his luxury mansion near London over the weekend, died by hanging, British police said on Monday.” (Reuters)

COMMENT AND CURIOUS

- Liberals find themselves in spending trap. (Gerald Seib)

- For the first time since 1998, emerging market stocks are underperforming in a global rally. (Bloomberg)

- Robots aren’t the problem: it’s us. (Richard Florida)

- Private RMBS take first steps to US comeback. (Reuters)

- A new online course on the Mexican economy. (Marginal Revolution)

OVERNIGHT MARKETS: DOWN

Asian markets
Nikkei 225 down -29.54 (-0.24%) at 12,517
Topix down -1.39 (-0.13%) at 1,046
Hang Seng down -130.77 (-0.59%) at 22,120

US markets
S&P 500 down -5.20 (-0.33%) at 1,552
DJIA down -64.28 (-0.44%) at 14,448
Nasdaq down -9.70 (-0.30%) at 3,235

European markets
Eurofirst 300 down -2.99 (-0.25%) at 1,186
FTSE100 down -14.38 (-0.22%) at 6,378
CAC 40 down -42.31 (-1.12%) at 3,728
Dax down -40.45 (-0.51%) at 7,871

Currencies
€/$ 1.29 (1.29)
$/¥ 94.32 (94.15)
£/$ 1.52 (1.52)

Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.10 at 108.07
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.06 at 94.75
100 Oz Gold (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 1,605
Copper (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 343.50

10-year government bond yields (%)
US 1.92%
UK 1.83%
Germany 1.34%

CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe -0.33bps at 101.5bp
Markit iTraxx Europe +3.33bps at 122.31bp
Markit iTraxx Xover +7.35bps at 480.83bp
Markit CDX IG +0.55bps at 91.13bp

Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit