Commercial property and casualty insurance rates increased for the second consecutive quarter in the three months ended March 31, according to the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers' commercial P/C market index survey. Rates were up 1.7% across all-sized accounts in the first quarter, compared to 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Continued high levels of traditional and alternative reinsurance capacity rank prominently among the factors that bode well for the growing number of U.S. property and casualty insurers that operate so-called fronting arrangements.

Texas Windstorm Insurance Association is launching a $300 million multiperil catastrophe bond to the market, Alamo Re Ltd. series 2018-1, Artemis reported.

Florida-based insurer Heritage expects to claim $151 million from its Citrus Re catastrophe bonds as its Irma losses soar, Trading Risk reported, citing sources.

A ThinkAdvisor report draws attention to an upcoming meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners on variable annuity regulation issues.

Direct premiums written for certain business cybersecurity insurance policies more than doubled year over year in 2017. Premiums for commercial cyber liability policies bundled with other coverage increased to $1.09 billion in 2017 from $432.8 million in 2016, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Distinguished LLC has engaged Evercore Inc. to run a process that could lead to a potential sale of its New York-based program manager operation, Distinguished Programs Holdings LLC, The Insurance Insider reported.

White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd.'s subsidiary White Mountains Catskill Holdings Inc. closed its acquisition of a 95% stake in NSM Insurance HoldCo.

Coppell, Texas-based Integrity Marketing Group LLC has acquired Plymouth, Minn.-based GoldenCare USA, a national wholesaler of long-term care, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement products.

Allstate Corp. shareholders voted against a proposal that would have required the company to disclose political contributions.

Featured news

Trump lays out drug pricing strategy; US senators probe Novartis: U.S. President Donald Trump laid out his strategy to lower the prices of prescription drugs; and two U.S. Democratic senators are demanding answers from Novartis about why it paid $1.2 million to President Donald Trump's lawyer.

Financial news in other parts of the world

Asia-Pacific: Indonesian government to sell stake in Bank Bukopin; CBA CFO resigns

Europe: Barclays CEO fined; ABN AMRO posts Q1; Deutsche Bank names CIB co-presidents

Middle East & Africa: S&P upgrades Egypt; Fidelity Bank Ghana seeks M&A deals

The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, the Hang Seng was up 1.35% to 31,541.08. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.47% to 22,865.86.

In Europe, as of midday, the FTSE 100 was down 0.20% to 7,709.21 and the Euronext 100 was down 0.13% to 1,069.30.

On the macro front

No notable reports are due out today.

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