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[Bloomberg]( Brexit date postponed, German manufacturing slumps, and more signs of slow progress on trade. Two weeks European Leaders gave British Prime Minister Theresa May another two weeks to work out what she wants to do with Brexit. Under the [deal agreed](, if she cannot get lawmakers in London to endorse her withdrawal agreement she will have until April 12 to decide whether to leave without an agreement or ask for a much longer extension. In the – probably unlikely – event that the already twice defeated agreement is passed, then the U.K. will leave the European Union on May 22. [Market reaction to the deal]( was limited, as it does little to remove the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, and so far, only offers a short extension to the deadline. German pain The manufacturing sector in Europe’s largest economy [sunk even further into contraction]( in March, with IHS Markit’s purchasing manager’s index for the sector falling to 44.7 for the month, the lowest level since 2012 and well below economist’s expectations for a reading of 48. The yield on the German 10-year bund [briefly turned negative]( in the wake of the disappointing data. The reading was enough to drag composite PMI for the entire euro region lower – it also came in below expectations [at 51.3 for the month](. Markit’s PMIs for the U.S. are due to be published at 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time. Sponsored Content by Sprott Sprott CEO sees 'billionaires and family offices' buying gold. [Watch Video](.  Managing expectations The [back and forth]( over whether a trade deal between the U.S. and China is imminent – or even likely – continues, with American officials [playing down the chances of a breakthrough soon](. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will travel to Beijing for meetings at the end of next week, and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is expected in Washington in April. The current goal is to reach an accord after Liu’s trip, though President Donald Trump has said he wants a deal that [can be enforced](, not one that’s quick. Markets mixed Overnight, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.2 percent while Japan’s Topix index closed 0.2 percent higher as a rally in technology companies outweighed a plunge in pharma stocks. In Europe the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.5 percent lower at 5:45 a.m. as the miserable German manufacturing data weighed on the region’s stocks. S&P 500 futures [pointed to a drop at the open](, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 2.496 percent and gold was higher. Coming up… At 10:00 a.m. U.S. existing home sales numbers for February are released, with January wholesale inventories published at the same time. The weekly shale activity update comes at 1:00 p.m. with the Baker Hughes rig count. At 2:00 p.m. the Treasury releases its February budget statement which is expected to show a large deficit for the month. In corporate news, Tiffany & Co. reports earnings. What we've been reading This is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours. - Trump said to consider [Stephen Moore]( for Federal Reserve board. - A [beginner’s guide to MMT](. - ECB’s “remarkable” formula suggests [more easing needed](. - Everyone loves this stock after a [1,500 percent gain]( in five years. - Fed’s new abnormal marks a [watershed moment]( in a low-rate world. - German wineries are [running out of bottles](. - Fighting climate change [with nanomaterials](. Want the lowdown on European markets? Get the [European edition of Five Things]( in your inbox before the open, every day. And finally, here’s what Luke's interested in this morning The Fed U-turn came in January. Jerome Powell spent this week parallel parking the car into a tight space that'll be tough to get out of. The irony, from a market perspective, is that March Fed meeting may go down as the culmination of a massive about-face in the outlook for rates and transparent acknowledgement that the direction of the policy rate from here is anyone’s guess. The Fed outlook matters for stocks, to put it mildly. The momentum factor is now most correlated with utility stocks – a notoriously rate-sensitive sector – over the past three months. DataTrek Research co-founder Nick Colas notes that Powell actually changed the nature of the bull case for U.S. stocks. Before Wednesday, investors could hang their hats on a second-half pickup in activity. Now, the federal funds futures curve and 10-year yields are signaling “increasing concerns about a second-half 2019 slowdown,” which could imperil forecasts for the [hockey-stick]( earnings recovery expected at year-end. Now, the underpinnings of the bull case have firmly shifted to spillovers from the Eccles Building. Credit Suisse’s Jonathan Golub must’ve had a head start on this game-changer: earlier in the week, he [upgraded]( his target for the S&P 500 while downgrading his forecast for earnings growth this year. Sentiment, not the bottom-line, can carry the day over the short term, he reasoned. The end result for financial markets is that the big U.S. showdown to watch in 2020 may not end up being Donald Trump versus the eventual Democratic nominee, but the short-term interest rate battle. The Fed’s dot plot still points to one increase next year; the futures curve has fully priced in one cut. Like Bloomberg's Five Things? [Subscribe for unlimited access]( to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. 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