Thursday 20 March 2014 3:50 am

What you need to know before the open

Following a broadly favourable Budget yesterday, then something of a curveball from Janet Yellen – her suggestions about the course of interest rates unsettling markets, European bourses are expected lower today, tracking Asian and US counterparts.

Markets sold off sharply on talk that the Fed could raise rates by the spring of next year, and in trading in Asia today, the Nikkei slid 1.2 per cent, with the Australian market losing 1.1 per cent.

Corporate news

All news from clothes and accessory retailers this morning. Next chief executive Lord Wolfson has warned about relying too much on a credit-based recovery. The store’s reported encouraging growth for 2013, though, with profit before tax up 11.8 per cent.

The chief executive of Mulberry, Bruno Guillon, has resigned with immediate effect. The store’s now on the hunt for a new boss.

And Ted Baker’s seen another “excellent” year, with revenues up 26.5 per cent to £321.9m.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank’s announced its total bonuses are remaining unchanged from last year at €3.2bn (£2.7bn).

And Llloyds Banking Group has said it’s agreed to sell a portfolio of European commercial real estate loans to MELF S.a r.l, an entity affiliated with Marathon Asset Management LP, for a cash consideration of approximately €280m (£235m).

Data in focus